Phidippus otiosus
# Phidippus otiosus

Phidippus otiosus is a species of jumping spider that is found in southeastern North America. It is primarily a tree-living species. Females reach a body length of about 16 mm. Its iridescent chelicerae can range in color from purple to green.

## Life cycle

Females position their single egg sac under the bark of oak and pine trees. These are laid from December to February in South Carolina, and from January to June in Florida. The egg sac can hold anywhere from 19-150 eggs, and the spiderlings (slings) will disperse between January and February. The spiderlings mature during fall.

## Systematics

Phidippus otiosus is grouped with the closely related species P. californicus, P. pius and P. regius in the otiosus group.

## Distribution

Phidippus otiosus naturally occurs in the southeastern United States from Florida and Texas to North Carolina. However, this species is sometimes exported with plants such as Tillandsia, and has been found in countries as remote as Sweden and Germany.

## Name

The species name is possibly derived from Latin otium "leisure, peace, quiet" + the suffix -osus "full of, prone to", or from Ancient Greek oto- "ear", referring to the tufts of black hair.

A common name for this species is Canopy Jumping Spider.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Roach 1988
* ↑ Phidippus otiosus "Canopy Jumper" | Tarantulaspiders Online
* ↑ Roach, Steven H. (1988). "Reproductive Periods of Phidippus Species (Araneae, Salticidae) in South Carolina". The Journal of Arachnology. 16 (1): 95–101. ISSN 0161-8202.
* ↑ bugguide.net
* ↑ Edwards 2004
* ↑ Salticidae.org: P. otiosus from Sweden
