Lynx spider

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Lynx spiders
Green lynx spider with eggcase
Green lynx spider with eggcase
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Superfamily: Lycosoidea
Family: Oxyopidae
Thorell, 1870
Diversity
9 genera, 419 species

Genera

Oxyopes
Peucetia

Lynx Spiders are hunting spiders that spend their lives on plants, flowers and shrubs. Nimble runners and jumpers, they rely on their keen eyesight to stalk, chase or ambush prey. Six of their eight eyes are arranged in a hexagon-like pattern, a characteristic that identifies them as members of the family Oxyopidae. They also have spiny legs.

Common genera in the United States include Oxyopes—the common lynx spiders—and Peucetia—the green lynx spiders.

Some members of the genus Oxyopes are abundant enough to be important in agricultural systems as biological control agents. This is especially true of the striped lynx spider Oxyopes salticus.


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