A lot of folks talk about welcoming Butterflies, Moths, and even Bees into their homes. What you might not have seen yet are online communities fawning over a small yet feisty hometown hero. These online groups have been sharing adorable posts of the Jumping Spiders that they find at home — and even treating them like community Cats and Dogs.
JUST A JUMP AWAY
You don’t have to look too hard to meet Jumping Spiders. They are one of the most common Spiders, with more than 6,000 known species hopping around the world, according to the World Spider Catalog’s last update in September 2024.
And that number is still going up. According to a feature article from the University of the Philippines Los Baños Museum of Natural History, three new species of Jumping Spiders were discovered by Drs. Aimee Lynn B. Dupo and Alberto T. Barrion at Cavinti, Laguna in 2020.
Fortunately, meeting your own Jumping Spiders is a hop, skip, and jump away. There are probably already some hiding around in your own home. Here’s how you can tell which ones they are.
WHAT BIG EYES YOU HAVE!
Apart from their hopping behavior, Jumping Spiders also have adorably large eyes. According to Dupo, they’ll have a pair of large eyes in the middle of their heads, which have telescopic vision.
They also have two pairs of smaller eyes sandwiching those large ones and a pair of extra tiny ones closer to the top of their head. The positions of their eyes mean they can see almost all around their head, giving them great visual advantage and making them highly efficient hunters.
Their eyes make Jumping Spiders an important part of the ecosystem as they keep Insect populations in check. They are then a great addition to the home as natural Insect control.
HOW TO WELCOME JUMPING SPIDERS INTO YOUR HOME
There seem to be several websites on the internet with instructions on keeping Spiders out of your home. I reviewed a couple of them and wrote down some tips doing the exact opposite of their anti-Spider recommendations.
PROVIDE HIDING PLACES
Spiders need little nooks and safe spaces to rest. Jumping Spiders in particular may even create a little tent made out of webs called hammocks. Using houseplants is a great way to make these hiding places.
AVOID USING INSECTICIDE
When possible, avoid killing the Insects around your home. They could make excellent snacks for the Spiders. Who wouldn’t want free pest control and a new friend at the same time?
LET EGG SACS HATCH IN PEACE
If you see any egg sacs, try not to sweep these away to let them hatch. If you’re lucky, you’ll have even more little jumping babies around your home in no time.
HOW CAN THEY HOP SO HIGH?
Have you ever wondered why Jumping Spiders can jump the way they do but other Spiders can’t?
Jumping Spiders don’t have blood like we do. Instead, they have hemolymph flowing through their body, which functions the same way our blood does, except for one thing: It controls how their body moves.
To do their signature leaps, Jumping Spiders need to fill their limbs with hemolymph and snap their legs out. According to a study by Dr. Chantal Göttler and team, a Jumping Spider’s limbs can have the fluid pressure of 8.7 pound-force per square inch — which is around the pressure of a basketball — when doing intense activities like jumping and running.
That’s a lot of kicking force, making these Spiders extremely efficient hunters!
DO I NEED TO KEEP THEM IN AN ENCLOSURE FOR SAFETY?
Short answer: No. While it may seem safer to keep your Jumping Spider friend in an enclosure, they are still wild animals and need their own space and freedom. Your new small friends are tougher than they look and are more than capable of taking care of themselves.
Whether it’s because of their adorable face or their hunter skills, Jumping Spiders have captivated many hearts. I hope this article helped you love them, too! Don’t skip the next article where we’ll leap head first into the daily lives of Jumping Spiders.
