Species Sassacus vitis

See the World Spider Catalog.

vitis is Latin for "grapevine"

♀ 3.5 mm, ♂ 4.5 mm

Palp

Epigynum (ventral/dorsal)

British Columbia and Alberta south into Mexico and west to Kansas and Texas (also Florida) (1)

On shrubs and vines and in fields. Best know as a common resident in vineyards.

Insects and smaller spiders. Said to like thrips and small flies, but not leafhoppers

Odonate exuviae are often found to be occupied by this species (and sometimes other salticids) along the Pacific Coast (2).

The body is covered in iridescent scales which flash either green or gold in strong light (often doesn't show up well in photographs). This iridescence has been explained as mimicking of certain beetles, but more recently it's been suggested that it may be for mimicking of water droplets. Sassacus vitis in Florida, Mexico, and Central America often have white patches behind the posterior lateral eyes and longitudinal white stripes on the abdomen:

Metaphidippus manni