Metacyrba punctata (Peckham & Peckham, 1894) - Jumping Spider

Metacyrba punctata is a native of the New World tropics ranging from the lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas south to Ecuador. During the last decade this species has also been found on the western side of the Florida peninsula. Edwards considers the Florida population to be established in the wild (feral) but introduced. The subadult male shown in the initial clip of the video is the second record for Texas and was found in Cameron Co. (the same location for the initial record: Davis, Dec.1934). While Florida's M. punctata spiders are often associated with man-made structures (a characteristic of many introduced salticids), the immature male was located on a xeric hillside where it was foraging in the leaf litter. This latter habitat is consistent with habitats recorded for M. punctata throughout their native range. Additional individuals were found in November 2013 including an adult and a subadult male at the 2012 location and an adult female at another city park in Harlingen, TX. In 2014 an adult female was found foraging on a observation platform overlooking the resaca at Resaca de la Palma S. P.
Edwards pers. comm.; Edwards, 2005