Carrhotus xanthogramma

A jumping spider found in parks and near houses.

Scientific name	Carrhotus xanthogramma
English name	Carrhotus xanthogramma
Japanese name	猫蝿捕蜘蛛
Class	Arachnida
Order	Araneae
Family	Salticidae
Genus	Carrhotus
Species	xanthogramma
Full length	Approximately 1 cm
Distribution	Distributed from Hokkaido to Kyushu.

Carrhotus xanthogramma Characteristics and Morphology

A jumping spider with a body length of just under 1 cm. Males and females differ in color.
The eyes are black. The abdomen is teardrop-shaped. The legs have hair.

Male

The cephalothorax is completely black, with no other colors. The legs are also black. The abdomen is light brown. The central part is darkish.

Female

The entire body is pale brown.
The cephalothorax is dark brown. The center of the abdomen has a darkish color.

Carrhotus xanthogramma Ecology

Habitat

Found from lowlands to mountains. It is commonly seen in parks near residential areas and may enter houses in search of small animals to prey on.

Food

Preys on small insects such as flies.

Carrhotus xanthogramma Photos

Carrhotus xanthogramma Photos are introduced.
Tap the photo to open the detail page.

This is a female looking at us with her large compound eyes.

This is a male with a completely black body.

The legs have what appear to be stiff hairs.

This is a male performing a threat display.

Carrhotus xanthogramma Behavior

Walks around in search of food. When males confront other males, they perform a threat display by opening their first pair of legs to the left and right. The way it walks around in search of food, combined with its appearance, gives it a cat-like impression, as reflected in its Japanese name.

Carrhotus xanthogramma Information

Naming

The specific name "xanthogramma" means "having yellow stripes" and is derived from the female's coloration.

Honchi Game

In some parts of Kanagawa Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture, there is a custom of holding insect sumo called "Honchi Game," in which male jumping spiders are made to fight each other. The male spiders that are made to wrestle are called "Honchi (Hunchi)."

Carrhotus xanthogramma Found Locations

Komiyakoen Park, Hachiōji

In April, I found several males and females in the forest road of Komiyakoen Park, Hachiōji. They were wandering around on the fence, looking for insects to prey on. When I overlapped their wandering gait with that of a cat, it didn't seem so far off. They looked up at me without running away when I pointed the camera at them.