Evarcha falcata

Evarca falcata (Clerk, 1757) is considered by some authors a complex of three sibling species - E. falcata s.str., Evarcha proszynskii Marusik & Logunov, 1998, Evarcha hoyi (Peckham & Peckham, 1883) - and their range is largely allopatric. [2]

Two subspecies are currently recognised: [3]

• Evarcha falcata nigrofusca (Strand, 1900) (Norway)
• Evarcha falcata xinglongensis Yang & Tang, 1996 (China)

This species is present in the Palaearctic ecozone, from Europe,[4] Turkey, Caucasus, Afghanistan, Russia to Kazakhstan and China. [5][6]

These jumping spiders prefers dry habitats, especially the sunny edges of forests with dense vegetation, grass, shrubbery, clearings and sparse woodlands. [6][7]

Evarcha falcata can reach approximately a body length of 5.0–7.7 millimetres (0.20–0.30 in) in females, while males are slightly shorter, reaching about 4.3–5.9 millimetres (0.17–0.23 in).[6][8] In these medium sized spiders the upper side of the cephalothorax (prosoma) of the male is light brown in the anterior half, dark brown or black in the back half. [6] Behind the eyes and at the sides of the cephalothorax there are wide, light beige, or white stripes. [6][9] The center of the abdomen (opisthosoma) is light brown, framed by black and white stripes. The two central eyes of the face are rather large. The frontal area of the eyes is covered with light hairs. Also pedipalps are covered with longer, light hairs. Legs are light brown.[6]

Females differ from males also in color (Sexual dimorphism). Cephalothorax and abdomen are densely covered with brown hairs,[6] without any light or black stripes and spots. On the abdomen of the males there is sometimes an indistinct drawing of bright oblique spots,[6] similarly to Evarcha arcuata , but the latter has longer white hairs on the face. [9]

Adult of both sexes can be found from March to November. [6][7][9] They are diurnal jumping spiders with a good visual and hunting ability. These spiders hide mainly in the lower tier of vegetation. They move in the thick of the grass, looking for their prey. During mating the male climbs the female backwards and in this condition moves along with the female for a long time. Then the male moves down to the side and inserts the pedipalps into the external genital structure of the female (epigyne).

• 
  Male, front view
• 
  Male, dorsal view
• 
  Female with prey

• Clerck, 1757 : Svenska spindlar, uti sina hufvud-slågter indelte samt under några och sextio särskildte arter beskrefne och med illuminerade figurer uplyste. Stockholmiae, p. 1-154.
• Heiko Bellmann: Kosmos-Atlas Spinnentiere Europas. = Spinnentiere Europas. 2. Auflage. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-440-09071-X
• Yang & Tang, 1996 : Three new species of family Salticidae from Gansu, China (Araneae). Journal of Lanzhou University Natural Sciences, vol. 32, p. 104-106.

• Photos of Evarcha falcata at Eurospiders
• Invertebrated Online