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Sticker of Beardfooted spider
Bug card No. 0313 of 4,939

Beardfooted spider

Saitis barbipes
Name means: “bearded foot”
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersHouses and farms8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The beardfooted spider is a tiny jumping spider from the Mediterranean. The male is probably the most colourful jumping spider in Europe, with bright emerald green eyes and a red band above them. His back legs are extra long, red and black with white tufts at the ends.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
Southern Europe, Turkey and North Africa, on walls, rocks and indoors
Length
3.8 to 5.7 mm (0.15 to 0.22 in)
Top speed
about 0.78 km/h (0.48 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It hunts small insects by jumping on them.
For real!Photo of Beardfooted spider
Picture by Kaldari. CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Beardfooted spider about 5.7 mm long (0.22 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 4.6 secondsmoves 38 times its own body length every second

How big is Beardfooted spider compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Its long third pair of legs lets it jump a long way.

2

To impress a female, the male lifts those long legs high in the air and makes them buzz.

3

Its name barbipes means bearded foot in Latin.

4

Its closest cousins may be the famous peacock spiders of Australia, which also dance for females.

you asked

Most asked questions about Beardfooted spider

?Why is it called beardfooted?

Its legs have hairy white tufts, and its Latin name barbipes means bearded foot.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Saitis barbipes
Named by
Simon, 1868
Group
Spiders
Family
Salticidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Salticidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia, Africa

Where the facts come from

  1. Saitis barbipes (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Kaldari. CC0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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