Know Your Enemy
Accurate identification of pests is as important as choosing the best preventive pest management available on the market today. Preventive Pest Control has compiled a list of most common pests to help you identify the problem.
Green Lynx Spider
(Peucetia viridans)
Characteristics
The green lynx spider prefers to live on plants. They can somehow blend well with the leaf they are staying in because of their very bright leafy green body, although this spider can also be found having a white or tanned body. Its legs are yellow that are concealed with black spines. The female green spiders measure to 9/20 to 9/10 inch in length while the males measure to 1/4 to 3/5 inch in length.
Habitat
The green lynx spider prefer to stay in natural environments. They stay in gardens, woods, open fields, and the likes.
Behavior
This spider can sit and wait all day for its prey to come. However, when it finds its prey, it can jump from plant to plant to chase and capture its prey. While they may not have a good eyesight, this spider can still see its prey up to 4 inches away from it. When hunting, they are like a cat, waiting silently for their prey, then slowly approach their prey without them knowing. Once they are near, they will pounce on their unsuspecting prey like a lynx. They can also spit venom on their prey, which will immobilize their victim.
Food
This spider’s main diet consists of smaller insects.
Life Cycle
This spider has only one life cycle to live. Mating happens while the female and male meet on a strand of silk. The female spider is known to change coloration on her abdomen during the time of her pregnancy. Depending on the color of the leaf she is staying, she can change colors to green, purple, white or yellow.
The green lynx spider does not build webs or retreat for its eggs instead their egg sac are placed loosely on the upper parts of plants where they will be camouflaged by other plants. She will guard her egg sac by sitting at the top of it. Her egg sac can contain 25 to 600 eggs. Once the spiderlings are ready to get out of the sac, the mother will tear the egg sac open. The spiderlings are commonly found during fall and will overwinter. The mother will stay with her sac until it is time for the spiderlings to disperse by ballooning.
Other Information and Tips
The green lynx spider is a known beneficial spider since it concentrates on feeding on different types of pests. However, it is still necessary to take precautions when handling or approaching them, especially when it comes to female spiders that are protecting their egg sacs. They can be very protective with their egg sac, which may cause them to spit their venom on unsuspecting victims. Although their venom is not known to be dangerous to humans, others may still find an allergic reaction towards it. But, do not worry since irritation may just be mild and may even go away in a day or even an hour.
Photo: Peucetia Viridans by tdlucas5000, used under CC BY 2.0 / resized from original