Dick Walton - Natural History Services
al and hdt

Hakka himeshimensis (Doenitz & Strand 1906)

NA Range Map
Salticidae of North America
Richman, Cutler & Hill 2012

Personal discovery motivates every naturalist each time they go into the field and every so often we are part of something more significant. In August of 2011 I came across a set of images on BugGuide of an unidentified jumping spider taken by Tom Adams in Marblehead, MA. The same species had also been photographed in Rockport, MA in 2010 by Peter Cristofono. Ryan Kaldari had commented that although Cristofono’s photo was of a jumper it was a salticid he had not seen before. My curiosity and GB Edwards’ encouragement led me to Marblehead. With Adams’ help I was able to collect specimens, subsequently identified by Kaldari, confirming the first record of Hakka himeshimensis in North America.
The video seen here is a part of the story. The publication describing this record includes a serendipitous ending – not in Marblehead, but in Cape May, NJ where later that year I found H. himeshimensis on the rocky embankments of the Cape May Canal.
Kaldari, Ryan, Edwards, G.B., and Walton, Richard K. 2011. First records of Hakka (Araneae: Salticidae) in North America. Peckhamia 94.1.

Massachusetts – First State / County Records

MA County Map

  • ♦ D. Walton / FSCA – Hakka himeshimensis
    Essex (Marblehead Neck), 17 August 2011 – Kaldari, Edwards Walton, 2011: 1, f. 1, 2A-B

H. himeshimensis