Menemerus Bivittatus – Gray Wall Jumper

Menemerus bivittatus, commonly called the gray wall jumper or the gray jumping spider, is a jumping spider that can be found in hot and tropical regions around the world and in the South of the United States.

Gray Wall Jumper Description

As its name suggests, the gray wall jumper has a gray body color. It will often be a mixture of shades of gray, giving off the appearance of darker and light gray patches across its entire body. Their body is covered with thin, grayish-white hairs.

The gray wall jumper has two black stripes on both upper sides of its carapace and abdomen. Similarly, it has black rings around its four legs.

Size

The larger female of the gray wall jumper can reach a size of up to 1/2 inch (1.2 cm). They can take down insects up to twice their own body size.

Web

Since the gray jumping spider is a hunter spider, it doesn’t spin a web to catch prey. Sometimes, it creates a drag line with its web during the jump as a safety line in case the jump fails.

Bite

Like the bite of any jumping spider, the bite of the gray wall spider is not dangerous to humans. Jumping spider bites are also very rare since the timid spiders usually jump away from any humans very quickly. A bite may lead to some minor swellings but will not cause any great discomfort.

Scientific Classification of Menemerus bivittatus

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Arthropoda
• Subphylum: Chelicerata
• Class: Arachnida
• Order: Araneae
• Infraorder: Araneomorphae
• Family: Salticidae
• Genus: Menemerus
• Species: Menemerus bivittatus

Common Names

Gray wall jumper or gray jumping spider

Distribution of the gray wall jumper in the USA

In the United States, the gray wall jumper can be found in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Texas,