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Aelurillus

Genus of spiders From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aelurillus
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Aelurillus is a genus of spiders in the family Salticidae (jumping spiders).

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Distribution

Species of the genus Aelurillus occur in the Palaearctic and Africa, with a few species known from India (A. improvisus, A. minimontanus) and Sri Lanka (A. kronestedti, A. quadrimaculatus). Aelurillus subfestivus is found in Japan.[1]

Description

Species of the genus Aelurillus are typically about 7 mm long in females, and up to five mm in males. They are stout, squat-shaped and rather furry, with females often uniformly mottled sandy brown, while males are often black, sometimes with a pattern and with light, annulated legs.[2]

Habits

Spiders in this genus mainly catch and feed on ants (myrmecophagy).

A Southeast Asian species of the genus Aelurillus has been observed to jump around 30-40 times its body length straight onto the back of a large gnaphosid spider and kill it.[3]

They like hot, dry, stony places or small bare open areas with dead twigs or similar amongst low vegetation.[2]

Species

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Perspective

As of October 2025, this genus includes 72 species and two subspecies:[1]

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References

Further reading

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