Habronattus signatus (Banks, 1900) - Jumping Spider

The Anza Borrego Desert is one of my favorite spots in California. However, in February 2010 I spent a week there and was frustrated in my search for jumpers as I found only one salticid - an unmarked female. Naturally I wanted to know what species I had seen. While there is no standard field guide for jumping spiders a variety of information and identification help can be found online. A good place to start is BugGuide. Your search may also turn up regionally useful sites. The Hedin and Maddison site covering California Habronattus (link, below) is among the best. Besides providing images of female Habronattus (one of which is this species H. signatus), the website includes sections on habitats and evolution. This resource is in many ways better than a field guide as it offers a virtual tutorial on the Habronattus fauna of California and Baja, Mexico.
Griswold, 1987; Hedin and Maddison, 2009. California Habronattus