Habronattus texanus (Chamberlin, 1924) - Jumping Spider

Most of the jumping spiders in the genus Habronattus are placed in larger groups (eg. the agilis and the viridipes groups) indicating a close kinship with other members of the same group. The present species Habronattus texanus falls outside the typical groupings and is sometimes described as incertae sedis (Latin: uncertain seat). This normally indicates the taxonomist is awaiting more data before attributing additional taxonomic details regarding relationships for the species. Despite its name, H. texanus has been recorded across much of eastern North America with records from Manitoba, North Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas eastward as well as in eastern Mexico. While widespread, there seem to be relatively few records for this species. The male and female shown here are from the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. While Texas is always an exciting place for the visiting naturalist (see Sassacus vitis), local help is often critical to success. My thanks to Marci and Terry Fuller, residents of "The Valley," for taking me around to many of the "hot spots" including the one where we found these jumping spiders.
Griswold, 1987; Richman, Cutler and Hill, 2012