Alice Springs Fauna •

Alice Springs Spiders > Alice Springs Spider Index

The genus Cytaea belong in the family Salticidae, a group commonly known as the Jumping Spiders.

Cytaea spp. are small to medium-sized spiders, ranging in body length from 3 to 9 mm. The cephalothorax is rounded, widest behind the posterior median lateral eyes. Some species are brightly coloured with colours changing between localities to match the substrate.

Source: A Key to the genera of Australian Jumping Spiders (Araneae: Salticidae)3

The specimen pictured here is currently identified to the genus Cytaea, discoverred in Alice Springs, Northern Territory.

Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
Cytaea sp (family Salticidae, Jumping Spiders), Alice Springs NT © Fin J Bowles
  • Scientific classification
  • Kingdom: Animalia
  • Phylum: Arthropoda
  • Subphylum: Chelicerata
  • Class: Arachnida
  • Order: Araneae
  • Infraorder: Araneomorphae
  • Family: Salticidae
  • Genus: Cytaea
  • Species:
    • at time of writing, iNaturalistAU currently list 39 named species

Footnote & References

  1. Cytaea sp, Photographs © Fin J Bowles
  2. Many thanks to Autumn Lai for ID, member of Australian spider identification page, https://www.facebook.com/groups/australianspidereducation
  3. Cytaea Keyserling, 1882, A Key to the genera of Australian Jumping Spiders (Araneae: Salticidae), https://apps.lucidcentral.org/salticidae/text/entities/cytaea_keyserling_1882.htm
  4. Cytaea Keyserling, 1882, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/d7b7ae8e-ff3c-4824-99e6-146fecb653a9
  5. Striped Jumping Spiders (Genus Cytaea), iNaturalistAU, https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/taxa/347006-Cytaea

Alice Springs SpidersAustralian Golden Orb Weaver Australian Huntsman Spiders (Sparassidae) Backobourkines Banded Garden Spider Beautiful Badge Huntsman (Neosparassus calligaster) Cytaea sp Desert Huntsman Spider Elegant Water Spider (Dolomedes facetus) Gnaphosid (Ground Spider) Hackled Orb-weavers Hortophora sp Long-jawed Orb Weavers Long-tailed St. Andrew’s Cross Spider Lynx Spider (Oxyopidae) Miturgidae (Elassoctenus spp) Neosparassus sp Orange-legged Swift Spider (Nyssus coloripes) Red-headed Mouse Spider Redback Spider (Latrodectus hasselti) Sondra aurea Uloboridae – Cribellate Orb Weavers Wall Spider (Oecobius sp) Zodariidae

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