Identification

• Pelegrina tillandsiae is a jumping spider that lives exclusively in Spanish moss. It has strong yellow and black markings on its abdomen. It is found in as far north as North Carolina, south into Florida and west into Texas.
  
  

Numbers

• In a 1989 study published in the journal "American Arachnology," scientists recorded 600 different spider species living in the moss.
  
  

Significance

• Seventy percent of the spiders found in the study were Metaphidippus tillandsia and Anyphaena maculata. Peak spider populations in Spanish moss occurred in spring and fall.