Sheepy jumping spider, Oviballus vidae, Salticidae

Found in South Africa

Photo 1 by craigmain, 2-9 by hrodulf, and 10 (for scale) by sallyslak

happy spoder sundey

spider mothiva (it's a surprise tool that'll help us later)

Vida's Sheep Jumping Spider: researchers believe that these tiny spiders developed their "woolly" appearance as a way to mimic lacewing larvae or scale insects

The scientific name for this species is Oviballus vidae, but it has also been referred to as the "sheepy jumping spider" or "Vida's jumping spider." It was discovered in 2015, and first described (in a formal context) back in 2020.

As this article (PDF) describes:

Recently, two new salticids, R. legitima and Oviballus vidae were described from South Africa, and suggested to be mimics of either scale insects (Hemiptera: Coccoidea) or lacewing larvae (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae), due to their white colouration and the presence of peculiar tufts of white setae on the body.

The possibility of [scale insects] being the model is supported by Oviballus vidae being regularly collected from plants with woolly scales, although the movements of O. vidae quite closely resemble those of chrysopid larvae.

In fact, a fourth species of possible scale mimic, a new Rhene species, was recently discovered in a collection of salticids from southern Mozambique, indicating that this phenomenon may be more widespread than has previously been known or even suspected.

O. vidae was named after Vida van der Walt, the photographer who captured some of the first images of these spiders back in 2015, just after the species was discovered by Dr. Galina Azarkina. Vida van der Walt also took the photographs that appear in this post.

Sources & More Info:

Arthropoda Selecta (scientific journal): Rediscovery and Redescription of Rhene cooperi, another possible mimic of scale insects (PDF)

Spider Club of South Africa: Two New Species Named After SA Photographer (PDF, with the relevant info on page 5)

Field Guide to the Spiders of South Africa: Section on Vida's Sheep Jumping Spider

Introducing The Superb Sheepy-Spider!

Character sheet and facts about Sheepy under keep reading vv

Just your average teenager given superpowers

She/They

Can’t swing (Believe me, she’s tried) but she can jump!

Doesn’t actually live in SF (It’s expense over there!)

They use Uber or BART (main train system here) to get to SF

Fangirl Nuisance Buddy of Venom

Eddie and Venom work in SF in this universe, btw

Doesn’t know that Eddie is a part of Venom

Also they’re not a fan of Eddie outside the mask ( .3.)

Speaking of outside the mask, she’s an intern at the same newspaper company as Eddie (For the spicy reveal, you know?)

No dead parents… yet :3

15/10/19 TumuTumuToobing in Waitomo

Had a lazyish morning on the farm, then headed down the road to Waitomo. The whole area is karst landscape and peppered with caves, famous for both being epic and being full of glowworms.

In the morning we did the Ruakuri bush walk, which was more impressive for its caves than for its bush. We had a lovely hour scampering around, climbing in a big cave (and spotting our first few glowworms!), walking along the river and peering through the natural tunnels and cool rocks.

We had lunch at a little café in Waitmomo, then set off on our caving adventure afternoon. We met our group, four twentysomethings from Singapore, and our Belgian leader, and spent quite a long time getting kitted out with welly boots, wetsuits, wet jackets, helmets and head torches. After a short walk across some sheepy farmland we climbed down a ladder through a man made hole into the Tumo Tumo cave.

The caving was a wonderful experience. With our headtorches off it was pitch black, and the longer we looked the more glowworms we could see, covering the whole cave ceiling like a magical grotto. We jumped off rocks into a pool with rubber tubes and held each others ankles in a chain, drifting along the cave gazing at the glowing ceiling. Our guide told us that they are not really worms but starving cannibalistic maggots with shiny poo. Apparently that looks worse on the leaflets but we liked it. We were in the cave for hours, scrambling along trying not to touch the speleothems. In places it was quite dry but most of the time we were following the stream, half wading and occasionally swimming. There were a few skinny tunnels that Sam and Joey crawled/squeezed through, the others didn’t seem so keen. Sam was very brave with the giant spiders.

Eventually we reached a sink hole and climbed a ladder back to the surface, blinking in the cloudy daylight. We changed into dry clothes and drove over to Raglan to meet Crinnie and Rach’s home from home.

The only dangerous jumping spider in existence is the Sheepy Jumping Spider.

You will die from their cuteness.

(technically true for all jumping spiders but meh. lol)

It's TRUE.

Anyone who hasn't seen one can view them here.