Jumping spiders have many assets and abilities that allow them to be successful hunters. These spiders have excellent vision and the ability to jump as far as 20 times their body length. To put it in perspective, that would be like a six-foot-tall man jumping 120 feet, the length of three school buses! (The Olympic long jump record is just over 29 feet.)
Jumping spiders are also quite agile and can move backward and sideways very quickly. They hunt for their prey and can be found doing so in many different places. Outdoors, they can be seen among rocks or leaves, running across branches or tree bark, and on bushes or fences. Indoors, they are mostly found hunting in places where they will find prey, such as near doors and windows.
These spiders will sometimes wait for prey to pass by and will pounce upon it. Other times, they will pursue their prey and then leap on it. They usually jump a matter of inches, but can go much farther if they feel threatened.
Jumping spiders create webs as a place to retreat, hibernate, molt, or lay eggs. Often times, they construct a separate retreat for each of these functions. They construct these webs in cracks and crevices, under furniture, under loose bark or leaves, and other hidden areas. The female will suspend an egg sac in the web and usually just creates one at a time. The sac can contain as many as 160 eggs. The eggs are generally laid in late spring or early summer and the spiderlings remain in the web through winter.
Adult jumping spiders are hairy and are usually black, sometimes brownish or gray with lighter colored markings on their abdomens. There are approximately 300 different varieties of jumping spiders in the United States and Canada.