Green Lynx Spider
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Well, it’s Friday again, and that means it’s time for another spider!
I had a nice phidippus picture ready to go for today, but yesterday Troy Belding sent me this amazing photograph of a green lynx spider, peucetia viridans, from his yard down in Houston, Texas. This is a male–VERY much so, as identified by the long, rosebud-tipped pedipalps.
Lynx spiders are extremely adaptable. Sometimes they’ll hunt prey by chasing it down, other times they’ll hang out on a flower and wait for prey to ambush. Entomologists say they are voracious predators, but their value in your garden is sort of a wash because while they are really good at eating pest species, they are also really good at eating beneficial species.
They certainly are cute, either way!
Slowly getting the site back onto an even keel. It's nice to get back into the old posting rhythm.
Solarn said,
October 5, 2007 @ 12:53 pm
AAAAAGH! KILL IT!
…
Sorry, I have a phobia of things with long spindly legs.
David Brady said,
October 5, 2007 @ 12:57 pm
Solarn: You might want to browse the SFA category. It’s everything on the site except spiders.
DeeJaye6 said,
October 8, 2007 @ 1:31 am
The spider looks like he’s imitating a cactus… Are there cacti in Texas that come even *close* to resembling the spider here?
Solarn said,
October 8, 2007 @ 6:40 am
I don’t have a problem with most spiders. On the other hand, I’m deathly afraid of craneflies, which are utterly harmless, but have incredibly long, thin legs and infest my family’s apartment in the summer.
David Brady said,
October 8, 2007 @ 1:17 pm
Solarn: Hee… yeah. There’s something about craneflies, isn’t there? I know they’re utterly harmless, but can NOT bring myself to touch them with bare hands to take them out of the house.
It probably doesn’t help that I call them “bone marrow skeeters”, does it.
David Brady said,
October 8, 2007 @ 1:18 pm
DeeJay6: Actually, the green lynx spider uses its hair and mottling to blend into tall grasses. It’s not perfect camouflage, but it’s decent. It has to move and run to hunt down prey, so it doesn’t need perfect camo–just enough to lure a prey close enough to chase down.