Cool Green Spider
Location: Panhandle of Florida
September 17, 2011 4:20 pm
I noticed our hummingbirds weren’t using this particular feeder and then I saw why. This big yellowjacket killing spider took up residence underneath it. I took this picture and relocated the spider. Do you know what kind of spider it is?
Signature: Jeff Gibbs
Green Lynx eats Yellow Jacket
Hi Jeff,
Your spider is known as a Green Lynx, and it is a hunting spider that does not use a web to snare prey. Green Lynx Spiders are often found on blossoms where they wait for pollinating insects, and we are amused that it had taken up residence on this nectar substitute. We don’t believe the Green Lynx would prevent the hummingbirds from visiting the feeder. Yellow Jackets can be ornery, and it is our theory that if the Yellow Jackets frequent the feeder, they may be keeping the hummingbirds away.
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Green Spider
Location: Montecito Heights
August 31, 2011 8:04 pm
What is this? I’ve never seen one before and it’s in my house!
It’s about an inch and a half. The narrow depth of field in my camera requires that I show you the crazy antenna things and apparent eyes in two different pictures.
Signature: Martha Benedict
Male Green Lynx Spider
Greetings from the other side of the 110 freeway Martha,
Our offices are in Mt Washington, Los Angeles, CA, and though you did not provide a state, we are guessing you might be our neighbor. This stunning spider is a male Green Lynx spider, Peucetia viridans. Green Lynxes do not snare their prey with a web. They hunt and pounce on insects and other arthropods. They seem to have a fondness for awaiting on blossoms for pollinating insects and they often gravitate to rose bushes. A female will eventually mature and once she has mated, lay one or more egg sacs that she fiercely guards. Green Lynx Spiders are perfectly harmless to humans. We have taken the liberty of combining the sharp focus components of your individual images so that both the eyes and pedipalps are sharp. Male spiders have more developed pedipalps than females and they are used during mating. According to Encyclopedia Britannica online: “Spiders have six pairs of appendages. The first pair, called the chelicerae, constitute the jaws. Each chelicera ends in a fang containing the opening of a poison gland. The chelicerae move forward and down in the tarantula-like spiders but sideways and together in the rest. The venom ducts pass through the chelicerae, which sometimes also contain the venom glands. The second pair of appendages, the pedipalps, are modified in the males of all adult spiders to carry sperm (see below the section Reproduction and life cycle). In females and immature males, the leglike pedipalps are used to handle food and also function as sense organs. The pedipalpal segment (coxa) attached to the cephalothorax usually is modified to form a structure (endite) that is used in feeding.” The additional explanation continues: ” In male spiders the second pair of appendages (pedipalps) are each modified to form a complex structure for both holding sperm and serving as the copulatory organs. When the time for mating approaches, the male constructs a special web called the sperm web. The silk for it comes from two sources, the spinnerets at the end of the abdomen and the spigots of the epigastric silk glands located between the book lungs. A drop of fluid containing sperm is deposited onto the sperm web through an opening (gonopore) located on the underside of the abdomen. The male draws the sperm into his pedipalps in a process known as sperm induction. This may take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. Sperm induction may occur before a male seeks a mate or after the mate has been located. If more than one mating occurs, the male must refill the pedipalps between copulations. “
Male Green Lynx (composite image)
Thank you so much, Daniel! This is way beyond my wildest hopes. Absolutely fascinating!
And yes, we are neighbors across the Arroyo. I forget that you have an international following and I should have been a little more complete.
I will not hesitate to send you photos of all my mystery insects. I have some powerful macro lenses and love to get a good photo. In this case, I didn’t even set up my tripod. Next time! Thanks for compositing the detail shots.
What a thrill!
Martha
If we can use our PhotoShop skills to improve the anatomical renderings of our favorite local species of spider, then we will have to overlook the blatant disregard for journalistic journalistic integrity it connotes. Our biggest defense is that when it was conceived, this website was an art project. It has really metamorphosed from that remote time in another millennium.
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¶ Posted 01 September 2011 § ‡ ° green lynx spider
Location: coastal san diego
February 2, 2011 1:04 pm
This will be the last time I visit your site. You have sent me two pass words and neither work. Just wanted to tell you that your life span information on the Green Lynx spider is incorrect. I have watched one continuously and she is now sitting on her second egg sac. She survived the December rains with her first spiderlings and became pregnant again. Since spiderlings winter over, I have to assume she started life in 2009. You can see the older egg sack in the picture to the left
Signature: meredith french
Green Lynx Spider with Egg Sac
Dear Meredith,
We are sorry to hear that you are having technical difficulties. Our technical staff is completely separate from our editorial staff. All we can say is that if our awesome webmaster cannot correct your problem, there must be a major system incompatibility that is creating the problem. Thanks for sending your photo of a Green Lynx Spider protecting her second egg sac. Green Lynx Spiders may produce multiple broods, but even under ideal conditions, it would be highly unusual for a female to live through a second season.
¶ Posted 03 February 2011 § Eggs ‡ ° Daniel, the green lynx spiderlings emerged
Location: South Pasadena, CA
January 24, 2011 12:40 am
I was happy to spot these tiny spiders yesterday morning.
Signature: Barbara
Green Lynx Spiderlings
Hi Barbara,
Thanks so much for continuing to document to the life cycle of the Green Lynx Spider in your garden. Your hatchling Spiderlings are so cute. The weakest among them will most likely provide food for their more aggressive siblings, ensuring that only the most robust individuals with the best survival skills will contribute to the gene pool of future generations. Since we both know that Daniel is the only person who deals with the content of What’s That Bug? I can dispense with the use of the royal we in this response. I am currently creating some homemade signage to post in Elyria Canyon Park where there is a patch of native milkweed, Asclepias eriocarpa, that comes up every year, though it sometimes gets trampled to the ground when brush clearance is too aggressive along the paths. I would like permission to use some of your monarch caterpillar photos with the signage, though I have never seem any Monarch Caterpillars at the location. More on this later because I will be late for work if I don’t tear myself away from the computer now.
Green Lynx Spiderlings
¶ Posted 24 January 2011 § ‡ ° Spider in the Rain
Location: South Pasadena, CA
December 21, 2010 1:03 am
Here’s the lynx spider sheltering her egg sac from the rain.
Signature: Barbara
Green Lynx shelters Egg Sac
Dear Barbara,
Thanks for continuing to send us documentation the female Green Lynx Spider living in your garden. We have stated previously that the strong maternal behavior exhibited by this species is rivaled by few other species of spiders, though the Nursery Web Spiders are named because of their protective instincts. Since our Mt Washington offices are but a few miles from South Pasadena, we know that this protective Green Lynx has already kept at least five inches of precipitation from drenching her eggs during this Pineapple Express storm that is predicted to be the worst in a decade by the time the rains subside on Thursday.
Update: December 30, 2010
Hi Daniel. I’m sad to report that the Green Lynx Spider did not survive. Too much rain and nothing to eat I suppose. The egg sac looks collapsed as well. I haven’t taken pictures, because it’s just too sad, but I have left it on the roses, hoping the baby spiders will emerge in some kind of Charlotte’s Web happy ending.
Hi Barbara,
Green Lynx Spiders only live a single season, so this death is not unusual. We hope you see some young spiderlings in the spring.
¶ Posted 21 December 2010 § ‡ ° I Found the Lynx Spider
Location: South Pasadena, CA
December 12, 2010 10:37 am
I was very happy to spot this lynx spider mother. I’ll keep on eye on her and try to get some baby spider pictures.
Signature: Barbara
Green Lynx with Egg Sac
Dear Barbara,
We are happy that you have located your female Green Lynx Spider and that she has produced an Egg Sac. She will defend it against any potential predator, and the seemingly fearless mother does not even seem intimidated by a human thousands of times her size approaching her precious clutch. Luckily, Green Lynx Spiders are not harmful to humans.
¶ Posted 12 December 2010 § Eggs ‡ ° A chameleon lynx spider?
Location: South Pasadena, CA
November 4, 2010 11:15 pm
I’m sending two pictures, which were taken six days apart. I’m nearly certain it’s the same spider. Apparently a lynx spider, though not all that green. It seems to have changed color to conceal itself. It also seems to be displaying a nice pink peace sign, although it’s quite a killer.
Signature: Barbara
Green Lynx eats Honey Bee
Hi Barbara,
Judging by the size of your Green Lynx Spider, she is getting ready to lay eggs. Your second photo shows a tangle of silk that she will probably use as a nesting site if she is not disturbed. She will remain in the vicinity of the egg sac guarding it and the emerging spiderlings if she lives that long. There is variation in the coloration of Green Lynx Spiders and your pink individual is most attractive. BugGuide has a posting of a similar pink female and there is discussion about a comment by Lynette Schimming that older females sometimes turn red. When she lays eggs, we hope you will send us some additional photos.
Green Lynx
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¶ Posted 05 November 2010 § ‡ ° Tagged: food chain Green Lynx?
Subject: Green Lynx?
Location: Sierra Madre, California
November 2, 2010 4:11 pm
Here’s a momma spider with recently hatched babies. My uncle thinks it’s a Green Lynx spider. You agree?
Signature: John
Green Lynx Spider defends her Spiderlings
Hi John,
You are absolutely correct in your identification of a Green Lynx Spider. This is our personal favorite spider and we are in awe of the maternal aggression exhibited by the female while she is guarding her egg sac and her newly hatched Spiderlings. The Green Lynx Spider is a common spider in Southern California and the adult spiders are often found on blossoms awaiting the arrival of pollinating insects. It is our observation that the male spiders are frequently attracted to lights.
¶ Posted 03 November 2010 § ‡ ° 
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