common white-cheeked jumping spider

(Pelegrina proterva)

Conservation Status
common white-cheeked jumping spider
Photo by Alfredo Colon
  IUCN Red List

not listed

     
  NatureServe

NNR - Unranked

SNR - Unranked

     
  Minnesota

not listed

     
           
           
 
Description
 
 

Common white-cheeked jumping spider, also called reckless jumper, is a small jumping spider. It occurs in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains and in adjacent Canadian provinces.

The female is to 3 16 (4.4 to 5.6 mm) long and has a ¼ to 5 16 (6 to 8 mm) legspan. The male is smaller, (3.3 to 4.2 mm) long.

The front part of the body (cephalothorax) is high and convex when viewed from the side. The plate covering the cephalothorax (carapace) is mostly rusty brown, with a broad white stripe on each side and black in the area around the eyes. There are four pairs of eyes arranged in what appears to be three rows occupying only two fifths of the carapace. The first row of four eyes, consisting of the anterior median eyes (AME) and anterior lateral eyes (ALE), is curved backward. The AME are the middle and forward-most pair of these. They are by far the largest of all of the eyes and can be moved. The AME are about twice as large as the ALE. The second row of two eyes are the posterior median eyes (PME). They are very small and are barely or not at all noticeable on most photos. The third row of eyes is the posterior lateral eyes (PLE). The PLE are set far back on the head and are only slightly wider apart than the first row of four eyes (AME and ALE together). The PME and ALE form a wide rectangle. There is a bold white band on the forehead that touches the top of the AME, and a broad white stripe on each cheek that is separated from the side stripe by a dark area. The narrow plate above the mouth (clypeus) has a prominent, diamond-shaped patch of white scales between the AME. The prominent mouthparts (chelicerae), corresponding to jaws, are brown. They do not have a patch of pale scales and do not have a ridge near the base of the fang.

The abdomen is on the male is iridescent bronze with a broad white stripe on each side. On the female it is tan or yellowish with four pairs of squarish black spots separated by oblique to transverse white stripes.

The legs are short, oriented forward, and adapted for jumping. On the male they have alternating black and pale areas form distinct rings. On the female they are yellowish with brown rings and spots.

 
     
 

Size

 
 

Female Body Length: to 3 16 (4.4 to 5.6 mm)

Male Body Length: (3.3 to 4.2 mm)

Legspan: ¼ to 5 16 (6 to 8 mm)

 
     
 

Similar Species

 
     
     
 
Habitat
 
 

Weedy fields and nearby trees and shrubs

 
     
 
Biology
 
 

Season

 
 

 

 
     
 

Behavior

 
 

 

 
     
 

Life Cycle

 
 

Young spiderlings overwinter and become mature adults in the spring.

 
     
 

Food

 
 

 

 
     
 
Distribution
 
 

Distribution Map

 

Sources

24, 29, 30, 82.

Conservation Biology of Special Concern Jumping Spiders (Araneae: Salticidae) of Minnesota; Ehmann, William J. Ehmann; 12/2/2002.

 
  6/24/2022      
         
 

Occurrence

 
 

Abundant in woodlands

 
         
 
Taxonomy
 
  Class Arachnida (arachnids)  
 

Order

Araneae (spiders)  
 

Suborder

Araneomorphae (typical spiders)  
  Infraorder Entelegynae (entelegyne spiders)  
 

Superfamily

Salticoidea  
 

Family

Salticidae (jumping spiders)  
 

Subfamily

Salticinae (typical jumping spiders)  
 

Tribe

Dendryphantini  
  Subtribe Dendryphantina  
 

Genus

Pelegrina (white-cheeked jumping spiders)  
       
 

Synonyms

 
 

 

 
       
 

Common Names

 
 

common white-cheeked jumping spider

reckless jumper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glossary

Carapace

The hard, upper (dorsal), shell-like covering (exoskeleton) of the body or at least the thorax of many arthropods and of turtles and tortoises. On crustaceans, it covers the cephalothorax. On spiders, the top of the cephalothorax made from a series of fused sclerites.

 

Cephalothorax

The front part of a spider’s body, composed of the head region and the thoracic area fused together. Eyes, legs, and antennae are attached to this part.

 

Chelicerae

The pair of stout mouthparts, corresponding to jaws, in arachnids and other arthropods in the subphylum Chelicerata.

 

Clypeus

On insects, a hardened plate on the face above the upper lip (labrum).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s in a Name?

The species epithet proterva means “reckless”, and may refer to the spiders bold behavior.

 
 
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Alfredo Colon

 
 

 

common white-cheeked jumping spider      
           
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    common white-cheeked jumping spider   common white-cheeked jumping spider  
           
    common white-cheeked jumping spider   common white-cheeked jumping spider  
           
    common white-cheeked jumping spider   common white-cheeked jumping spider  
           
    common white-cheeked jumping spider   common white-cheeked jumping spider  
           
 
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slideshow

       
 
Visitor Videos
 
       
 

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Other Videos
 
  Leaf Life: Reckless Jumper
Carl Barrentine
 
   
 
About

Published on May 30, 2015

This short film introduces the male Reckless Jumper (Pelegrina proterva), a small salticid spider that was found foraging for prey on a Basswood leaf. Photographed at the Turtle River State Park, Arvilla, North Dakota (30 May 2015).

   
  Pelegrina Proterva Jumping Spider-Male
Torn80cj
 
   
 
About

Published on Jul 27, 2012

Male pelegrina jumping spider I found while looking for some food for my jumping spiders. I found this one the same evening I found the red jumping spider. The very next morning I would end up finding a female and a male Phidippus Carolinensis and also a large female platycryptus undatus jumping spider. No video of her yet because she laid eggs and built a sac, so it will be a while before I can record some video of her.

   
  Pelegrina sp. (proterva) - Jumping spider
Dick Walton
 
   
 
About

Published on Nov 25, 2010

male and female Pelegrina sp. jumping spider

   
  Cute Jumping Spider-Female Pelegrina Proterva
Torn80cj
 
   
 
About

Published on Sep 5, 2013

This jumping spider was recorded in the front yard right by the woods. I found out that it is a female Pelegrina Proterva jumping spider.

   

 

Camcorder

 
 
Visitor Sightings
 
           
 

Report a sighting of this arachnid.

 
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Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com.
Be sure to include a location.
 
  Kendra Johnson
5/30/2023

Location: Sioux City, Iowa

in car jumping around- very small

 
  Alfredo Colon
8/24/2022

Location: Albany, NY

common white-cheeked jumping spider  
  Alfredo Colon
8/8/2022

Location: Albany, NY

common white-cheeked jumping spider  
  Alfredo Colon
8/7/2022

Location: Albany, NY

common white-cheeked jumping spider  
  Alfredo Colon
6/4/2021

Location: Woodbury, MN

common white-cheeked jumping spider  
  Alfredo Colon
6/2/2021

Location: Woodbury, MN

common white-cheeked jumping spider  
  Alfredo Colon
8/9/2019

Location: Woodbury, MN

common white-cheeked jumping spider  
  Alfredo Colon
8/29/2018

Location: Woodbury, Minnesota

common white-cheeked jumping spider  
           
 
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings
 
 

 

 

 

 

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Created: 8/23/2019

Last Updated:

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