Everything You Need to Know About the Bright-Green Lynx Spider

 

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Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Arthropoda

Class: Arachnida

Order: Araneae

Family: Oxyopidae

Genus: Peucetia

Species: Peucetia viridans

Peucetia viridans, a bright-green lynx spider, is usually spotted on vegetation. It belongs to the Oxyopidae family and is the biggest species in North America. Large populations of this spider may be found in the southern United States, Mexico, Central America, and various West Indian islands, including Jamaica.

Peucetia viridans, North America's biggest lynx spider, is called by its brilliant green body colour and ability to sprint very quickly before jumping on its victim. The Latin name viridis, which means green, or the Spanish word araa (spider), verde, are used to describe these long-legged hunting arachnids (green).

They are not to be confused with Peucetia viridis, which is found in Spain and Africa, or Peucetia viridana, which is only found in India.

Based on collected data from the University of Florida, the geographic range for Peucetia viridans includes 2 countries and 8 states in the United States. Peucetia viridans are most often sighted outdoors and during the month of September.

Let’s Take a Look at Its Appearance

The female has a body length of 22 millimetres, while the male is somewhat shorter at 12 millimetres. It is typical to have a crimson region between the eyes and red spots all over the body. The eye area is covered with white appressed hairs.

The legs range in colour from green to yellow, with long black spines and black patterns. It looks similar to Peucetia longipalpis, the other Peucetia species found in the US. Females who are pregnant may change their colour to fit their environment. This takes around 16 days.

What Routines Do They Have?

During the summer, the Green Lynx Spider can be found on shrubby vegetation, in gardens, and in bushes. This free-roaming arboreal spider is commonly spotted contentedly lounging on the tops of telegraph weeds. The plant's vivid green colour provides excellent camouflage, allowing it to blend in with its surroundings and pursue its prey.

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They look for insects in the blossoms or on the pads of prickly pear cactus.They are busy during the day, hunting for tiny insects while leaping and darting across low bushes and plants with incredible agility. They hunt similarly to cats, typically lying in wait, moving slowly toward their prey, then quickly pounce on it, so the term "lynx."

They are as precise as only real leaping spiders. The Green Lynx Spider has vision that rivals that of wolves and fishing spiders.

Do They Have an Interest in Humans?

Peucetia viridans is the only spider that can squirt or spew poison in addition to spewing spiders (Scytodidae). Although they attack their bug prey viciously, Green Lynx Spiders seldom bite people. In order to safeguard their egg sacs, in particular, females have been seen biting.

Their bite, however, often has no symptoms, is barely uncomfortable, and only faintly irritates. Medical experts think they are secure. Although they are aggressive, green lynx spiders stay away from people and are seldom encountered indoors.

These spiders occasionally deposit their eggs in private gardens, but because they prefer heavily forested regions, they may attack and bite anyone who approaches their egg sacs, even people. In Arizona, prickly pear cactus plants are common in yards where spiders can be observed.

Additionally, green lynx spiders have the ability to poison their prey. The spider's fangs may inject venom up to 8 feet away. There have been several stories of the toxin they spit harming people.

Time for Mating

Mating occurs while suspended from a silk strand. Females who are pregnant can change the colour of their abdomens to blend in with green, purple, yellow, and white backgrounds. Green Lynx Spiders reproduce once a year, with females laying one or two egg sacs in September and October.

The inseminated female does not construct webs or retreat, but instead spins a silken egg sac that is loosely fastened to old foliage in the top branches of woody bushes, fitting on beautifully with plants that have gone to seed. She frequently builds protective shelters from scattered leaves and covers and secures her eggs with her silk.

The egg sac is bright green when new but becomes straw-colored with age, and the thick outer layer is covered in countless little, sharp spikes. The sac can grow to be more than an inch in diameter, flattened on one side and rounded on the other, with a web of silky threads running from it to neighbouring leaves and stems.

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This maze will keep the young until they are old enough to care for themselves, and it can wrap a whole branch in a silken web.When the female is connected to the plant, she either sits directly on top of the egg sac with her legs wrapped around it or hangs upside down from it. She zealously guards the egg sac in any scenario, attacking everything that comes close to it.

Conclusion

This is rather prevalent in the world of spiders. The mother Green Lynx Spider is an outstanding mom, protecting her young until they are able to stand on their own. She achieves this by protecting her eggs. Each egg sac may contain 25 to 600 gorgeous orange eggs, with an average of 200.

Written By: Dharchini Priya P