Marpissa lineata (C. L. Koch, 1846) - Jumping Spider

This species along with Marpissa formosa were reassigned from the Peckhams' Onondaga by Barnes in 1958. While Onondaga was superfluous, a look at the description and drawings in the Peckhams' 1909 work leaves no doubt about the species to which they refer. In fact from a naturalist's point of view the Peckhams' volume is more useful (assuming you bring the synonomy up-to-date) than the Barnes revision as it includes many fine Emerton drawings of the entire spider! These habitus (general appearance) views make it a useful resource for field identification. My favorite part of their book, however, is the introduction. Here we are treated to the Peckhams taking on none other than Alfred Russel Wallace. While Wallace's fame is secure as the naturalist who independently proposed the theory of natural selection, in his joust with the Peckhams (to be fair it is the Peckhams' version) he comes off rather poorly. The Peckhams were early converts to Darwin's ideas and spent much of their field time observing the behavior of both jumping spiders and solitary wasps. And so when Wallace proposed that the extraordinary colors, patterns, and morphology of adult male Habronattus spiders, "results from the correlation of high vitality with intensity of color and a tendency to abnormal developments of the integument," the Peckhams take him to task for dismissing sexual selection.
Peckhams, 1909

• ♦ J. H. Emerton - Menemerus lineatus - Essex (Manchester), Middlesex (Medford) - Emerton, 1891: 239, pl. 19, f. 5
• ♦ - Marpissa lineata - Barnstable (Woods Hole) - Banks, 1958: 25
• ♦ *BSNH - Menemerus lineatus - Suffolk (Hyde Park) - Bryant, 1908: 95
• ♦ T. Murray - M. l. - Worcester (Lancaster), April 2006 - BugGuide node 46617
• ♦ T. Murray - M. l. - Norfolk (Canton), April 2006 - BugGuide node 48946
• ♦ A. McKenna-Foster / MCZ - M. l. - Nantucket (Squam Swamp), July 2006 - Catalog #126843
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• ♦ Connecticut - Onondaga lineata - Kaston, 1948: 494, 6 records
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• *See Bryant, 1908
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Barnes, 1958. North American Jumping Spiders of the Sub-family Marpissinae (Araneae,Salticidae). American Museum Novitates: 1867: 1-50.