u/AffectionateKoala963

Ocrisiona leucocomis is an introduced salticid from Australia, however i believe it is considered naturalised and non invasive. Apparently 17-18mm is the top end of their size range which is exactly how big this gal was! Compared to the max 14mm size of our largest native salticid Trite planiceps - she is a monster! A very friendly, slow moving calm monster.. but huge!

Ps apologies for my disgusting nail bitten landscaper fingers 😅

Stopped on the way home to look for Holoplatys appressus specimens at the park and located a presumed male and female jumper on the bark of a puriri tree in close proximity.

iNat not giving anything more than salticidae family. The animal it most resembles the I know of is Hinewaia embolica but the pattern and colouration are not quite consistent.

Incredibly cryptic in habitat, only visible due to movement. Gorgeous spiders. Banding on legs, male has black front legs like genus Trite often does (although the poor fellow is missing one). Prosoma and opisthosoma covered in dull green and brown ‘camo’ pattern.

Gorgeous animals. Behaviour and temperament is most similar to genus Trite, they are guarded but curious - not frantically fleeing as Maratus griseus would - but flinching at sudden movement and maintaining vigilance.

Interestingly the ‘female’ reminds me of a female/juvenile cyclops spider with a camouflage palette swap while the male is proportionally more reminiscent of genus Trite.

On the off chance there’s any kiwis in this sub. Anyone seen these fellows before?

Stopped on the way home to look for Holoplatys appressus specimens at the park and located a presumed male and female jumper on the bark of a puriri tree in close proximity.

iNat not giving anything more than salticidae family. The animal it most resembles the I know of is Hinewaia embolica but the pattern and colouration are not quite consistent.

Incredibly cryptic in habitat, only visible due to movement. Gorgeous spiders. Banding on legs, male has black front legs like genus Trite often does (although the poor fellow is missing one). Prosoma and opisthosoma covered in dull green and brown ‘camo’ pattern.

Gorgeous animals. Behaviour and temperament is most similar to genus Trite, they are guarded but curious - not frantically fleeing as Maratus griseus would - but flinching at sudden movement and maintaining vigilance.

Interestingly the ‘female’ reminds me of a female/juvenile cyclops spider with a camouflage palette swap while the male is proportionally more reminiscent of genus Trite.

Anyone seen these fellows before?

These are my two Trite planiceps aka Black Headed Jumping Spiders.

The larger one with the yellow-brown abdomen is a captive bred individual named Ember.

The smaller one with the mainly black abdomen is a wild caught individual who I found looking like he was starving to death, his abdomen was so small I was concerned he might have damaged his fangs. I took him home with the intention of just feeding him and he has been gobbling up fruit flies no problem but I have grown attached and decided to keep him. I’ve been calling him Tiny for obvious reasons.. he’s about the size of an ant but at some point that name will no longer fit so suggestions are welcome!

Fun fact: the markings on these guys abdomens fluoresce green under UV!

I tried to introduce these two Maratus griseus peacock spiders to see if I’d see any courtship behaviors and although the male didn’t do his courtship dance I did get to observe something I read about where if a female has already mated she will mirror the male courtship behaviour back at him to let him know he better shove off. She (the lighter coloured one) lifts her third pair of legs in the air while raising her abdomen and swaying it back and forth. This is what the males do in between approaching the female and zigzagging back and forth advancing and retreating.

I only caught it when rewatching the video as in the heat of the moment I thought she had just been throwing up a more generic threat pose. She did it a couple more times before the male attempted to pounce at her which prompted me to shut it down and separate them since he hadn’t shown any courtship behaviour I was concerned he might see her more as prey than a potential mate.

But it was really cool to see that from her and now I know she has mated in the wild before I found her so could potentially lay an egg sac at some point!

She’s probably only a little bigger than an ant, she loves fruit flies, honey water and walking around on my hand!

Put some spring tails in with Mr Jumpers to hopefully be the cleanup crew but he had other ideas! I’ve put some extra moss over the substrate so hopefully they’re a bit better hidden, is that pretty much all there is to do?

You gotta look at the photos in order! And yes I researched to make sure she’s safe!