Nutrition

"What do Zebra spiders eat and how do they capture their prey?"

    As their name suggests, they do leap, often pouncing twenty times their body length or more to seize prey. Whereas, most spiders have poor vision, jumping spiders have excellent eyesight; which they use to capture prey. Jumping spiders have even been seen leaping off vertical surfaces, while anchored by a bungee cord of silk, to capture insects in flight. They ignore unappetizing insects such as ants. But a dead ant does not look like an ant, and a jumping spider will carefully stalk and jump on a dead any. The spider will go away in disgust of course after finding out that it was just an ant.

    Check out this video of a Zebra spider eating their prey  ARKive.





 

  
   
      
   
   
Zebra spider verse Domestic cat
   
    Jumping spiders use the method of hunting and stalking their prey. This approach is a good comparison to those of a domestic cat. They crouch motionless, and then by imperceptible degrees squirms forward close to the earth until they are close enough to pounce on their prey. To learn more about domestic cats, check out a fellow UW La Crosse student's website.

"What structures and functions enable the Zebra spider to be an excellent predator?"
   
    The jumping spiders does not make webs for catching prey. They use their large front eyes to locate and stalk their prey. Moving slowly, towards their prey until they are close enough to pounce on top of their victim. Their acute eyesight enables to accurately judge the distances they need to jump, before jumping they glue a silk thread to the surface that they are jumping from so that if they miss the target they can climb up the thread and try again. Their powerful chelicerae are then used for chewing up their prey prior to sucking up liquid contents.  Now that you know how zebra spiders eat, learn about how they reproduce.