''Peucetia viridans'', the green lynx spider, is a bright-green

lynx spider Lynx spider (Oxyopidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1870. Most species make little use of webs, instead spending their lives as hunting spiders on plants. Many species frequent flowers in particular, ...

usually found on green plants. It is the largest North American species in the family

Oxyopidae Lynx spider (Oxyopidae) is a family of araneomorph spiders first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1870. Most species make little use of webs, instead spending their lives as hunting spiders on plants. Many species frequent flowers in particular, ...

. This spider is common in the southern U.S., Mexico, Central America, and in many West Indies islands, especially Jamaica.

Description

The body of the female may be as much as long. The male is smaller, being more slender and averaging in length. There often is a red patch between the eyes, with a few red spots on the body. The eye region is clothed with white appressed hairs. The

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage * Dorsal co ...

surface of the abdomen bears about six Chevron-like marks with the centres pointing forward. The legs are green to yellow, bearing long black spines such as appear on the legs of most species of Oxyopidae, and with a generous scattering of black spots. ''Peucetia viridans'' is confusingly similar to '' Peucetia longipalpis'', the other ''Peucetia'' species to occur in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, but ''Peucetia longipalpis'' tends to have a shorter, fatter, more domed abdomen, with less pronounced markings in its upper surface. Late in the season ''Peucetia viridans'' is prone to change its colour from predominantly green to paler yellow, typically with streaks of reddish, suggesting degradation of the

tetrapyrrole Tetrapyrroles are a class of chemical compounds that contain four pyrrole or pyrrole-like rings. The pyrrole/pyrrole derivatives are linked by ( =- or -- units), in either a linear or a cyclic fashion. Pyrroles are a five-atom ring with four car ...

pigment in the blood. Gravid females may change their color to fit their background. This takes about 16 days.

Habits

The female constructs one to five egg sacs in September and October, each containing 25 to 600 bright orange eggs, which she guards, usually hanging upside down from a sac and attacking everything that comes near. Remarkably, one of her means of defense is to squirt (spit) venom from her

chelicerae The chelicerae () are the mouthparts of the subphylum Chelicerata, an arthropod group that includes arachnids, horseshoe crabs, and sea spiders. Commonly referred to as "jaws", chelicerae may be shaped as either articulated fangs, or similarly ...

, sometimes for a distance of about a foot (300 mm). The eggs hatch after about two weeks, and after another two weeks fully functional spiderlings emerge from the sac. They pass through eight

instar An instar (, from the Latin '' īnstar'', "form", "likeness") is a developmental stage of arthropods, such as insects, between each moult (''ecdysis''), until sexual maturity is reached. Arthropods must shed the exoskeleton in order to grow or ass ...

s to reach maturity.

Human interest

The green lynx spider very seldom bites humans, and when it does, its venomous bite, though painful, is not deadly but may cause surrounding swelling (

edema Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's Tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels t ...

) up to 7"-10" in diameter. The species is primarily of interest for its usefulness in agricultural

pest management Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range ...

, for example in

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

fields. The spiders have been observed to hunt several

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

species and their larvae, including some of the most important crop pests, such as the bollworm moth (''

Helicoverpa zea ''Helicoverpa zea, ''commonly known as the corn earworm, is a species (formerly in the genus ''Heliothis'') in the family Noctuidae. The larva of the moth ''Helicoverpa zea'' is a major agricultural pest. Since it is polyphagous (feeds on many ...

''), the cotton leafworm moth ('' Alabama agrillacea''), and the cabbage looper moth (''

Trichoplusia ni The cabbage looper (''Trichoplusia ni'') is a medium-sized moth in the family Noctuidae, a family commonly referred to as owlet moths. Its common name comes from its preferred host plants and distinctive crawling behavior. Cruciferous vegetab ...

''). However, they also prey on beneficial insects, such as

honey bee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current co ...

s.Weems, H. V., Jr. and Whitcomb, W. H. Green Lynx Spider, ''Peucetia viridans'' (Hentz) (Arachnida: Araneae: Oxyopidae). EENY-249 Entomology and Nematology Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Published: November 2001. Revised March 201

/ref>

Distribution

This species occurs in the southern United States, California, Mexico,

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, and

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

Name

The species name, ''viridans'', is Latin for "becoming green". It should not be confused with either '' P. viridana'', a species that occurs only in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, or '' P. viridis'' from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Images

File:Green lynx spider Peucetia viridans.jpg, Peucetia viridans, Female, Mason Regional Park, Irvine CA File:Peucetia viridans Green lynx spider.jpg, Peucetia viridans, Female, Mason Regional Park, Irvine CA File:Female Green Lynx Spider.jpg, Green lynx spider, Chesapeake, VA File:Green Lynx Spider (Male).jpg, Male Green Lynx Spider, Chesapeake, VA File:Green Lynx Spider feasting.jpg, Green Lynx vs Pisauridae, IN File:Green Lynx spider in our garden...jpg, Green Lynx spider in our garden, Big Bear City, CA 92314 File:Green Linx Spider 2.jpg File:Green Lynx Spider in Tyler Texas.jpg, On a rose in Tyler, Texas File:Green lynx spider with carpenter bee.jpg, Female Green lynx spider with her carpenter bee prize in Fort Mill, SC File:Peucetia Viridans (Green Lynx Spider - TX) 01.jpg, alt=Green Lynx Spider, Green Lynx Spider in North Houston, TX (July 2021) File:Green Lynx spider Vs Indian Yellow Paper Wasp 3.jpg, Green Lynx Spider vs Yellow paper wasp in

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...

, India.

References

Green lynx spider
on the UF / IFAS Featured Creatures Web site

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q1968737 Oxyopidae Spiders of South America Spiders of North America Spiders described in 1832 Taxa named by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz