Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Genus Zora

ID Request - Zora pumila Zora hespera female - Zora hespera - female Zora pumila - male Zora hespera immature  - Zora hespera Zora hespera My first Miturgid - Zora hespera - male Zora pumila Zora pumila
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)
No Taxon (Entelegynae)
Family Miturgidae (Prowling Spiders)
Genus Zora
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Zora was transferred from Zoridae to Miturgidae by Ramírez, 2014.
Numbers
2 species in BugGuide's range (North America north of Mexico)
Size
Small: 2.8-6.8mm in body length(1)
Range
Zora hespera - western North America from southern BC to ID and south to CA and AZ.(1)
Zora pumila - eastern United States from eastern KS to MA and south to eastern TX and FL.(1)
Habitat
Ground and shrubs. Most often found in open, sunny areas.(1)
Season
Adult females can be found year-round, adult males from spring to early summer.(1)
Life Cycle
Eggs typically laid in the summer. Egg sac is loosely woven and attached to the undersides of objects. Female usually stays and guards them.(1)
Remarks
Zora spp. are diurnal and hunt "on foot" (they don't use a web).
Print References
Corey, D. T. & D. J. Mott, 1991. A revision of the genus Zora (Araneae, Zoridae) in North America. Journal of Arachnology 19(1): 55-61. [free download here]

The morphology and phylogeny of dionychan spiders
By Ramírez, Martín J.(2)
Internet References
http://www.wsc.nmbe.ch/
Works Cited
1.Spiders of North America: An Identification Manual
D. Ubick, P. Paquin, P.E. Cushing and V. Roth (eds). 2005. American Arachnological Society.
2.The morphology and phylogeny of dionychan spiders
Ramírez, Martín J. 2014. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History.