Eris militaris (Hentz, 1845)
bronze jumper
Verified Images
Males
Females
How to Identify Eris militaris (Hentz, 1845)
Family: SALTICIDAE Blackwall, 1841
Genus: Eris C. L. Koch, 1846
Species: Eris militaris (Hentz, 1845)
Origin of Name: Eris is the Greek goddess of discord or strife (known as Discordia in Roman mythology). The specific epithet militaris means "of a soldier, military, or martial" in Latin.
Official Common Name: bronze jumper
Can Be Confused With
Eris militaris (Hentz, 1845) can be confused with Eris flava (Peckham & Peckham, 1888). However, E. flava, though widely distributed in eastern North America, is more common in the southest and tends to prefer marshes and fields.
Males of these two species are easy to distinguish because E. flava males (right, below) have a white band between the large, forward-facing eyes and the jaws whereas E. militaris males (left, below) do not.
| Males |  |  |
| Eris militaris (Hentz, 1845) male (image courtesy W. Maddison) | Eris flava (Peckham & Peckham, 1888) male (image courtesy W. Maddison) |
Females of E. militaris have a continuous white band from their small, side-facing eyes down to the edge of their carapace, but females of E. flava have a darkly colored patch between their side-facing eyes down to a thin white band that rings the lower edge of their carapace.
Range
USA, Canada, Alaska.
Collection Map of Museum Specimens
in The Nearctic Spider Database
Extra Reading
Edwards, G. B. 2004. Revision of the jumping spiders of the genus Phidippus (Araneae: Salticidae). Occasional Papers of the Florida State Collection of Arthropoda 11: 72-76.
Maddison, W. 1986. Distinguishing the jumping spiders Eris militaris and Eris flava in North America (Araneae: Salticidae). Psyche 93: 141-150. 
Other Web Pages
Salticidae: Diagnostic Drawings Library (http://salticidae.org/salticid/diagnost/eris/milita-m.htm)
The Nearctic Spider Database (http://www.canadianarachnology.org/data/spiders/33233)
Recent Submissions
Observation:
Was moving some lumber down from the yard into a brishy area, and found one of these ladies on a board, not sure if she was already on it or jumped onto it from the tree I rested it against. Didn't get a chance for a picture, as she didn't stick around - too bad, she was very plump and pretty ;-)
Discuss (0)Observation:
I observed a large, gray female jumper on the dashboard of my car. I pulled over, and it jumped to the door. I was able to open the door and it jumped out onto the pavement. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture.