"Visual highlight"

House of the Sea is now home to jumping spiders

This jumping spider now lives together with other members of its species in the Haus des Meeres in Vienna.(Bild: APA/Haus des Meeres)

Vienna now has jumping spiders - at the Haus des Meeres. "The eight-legged creatures, which are only around two centimetres in size, may not impress with their size, but they do impress with their extraordinary appearance and behavior," it says in a press release.

The spiders leap over distances up to several times their body length. They also have excellent eyesight, which enables them to recognize colors, and are skilled hunters. Their prey includes flies and other small insects.

The jumping spiders have a bright, whitish coloration, shimmering metallic jaw claws and eight large eyes. They are a "visual highlight", the team said of the new arrivals.

"With these new inhabitants, we also want to introduce our visitors to fascinating little creatures that play an important role in nature. The jumping spiders are an impressive demonstration of how complex and fascinating even the smallest hunters in the animal world can be," said zoo director Jeff Schreiner.

There are more than 5000 different species of jumping spiders worldwide. The majority are native to the tropics, but dozens of species also live in Europe. Jumping spiders only bite humans in very rare cases, the venom is only poisonous to their prey.