A spider cloaked in green

Yolando Dimino took this photo in Stallion Springs of what appears to be a Green Lynx Spider. Like crab spiders, these are primarily garden spiders who spend their days catching primarily flying insects on shrubs, tall flowers, etc., and are seldom encountered inside.

Green Lynx Spiders (Peucetia viridans) are the greenest spider you’re likely to encounter in the Tehachapi Mountains. The verdant color helps camouflage them as they hunt among foliage.

Green Lynx Spiders get their name because they sometimes stalk and pounce on their prey in cat-like fashion, as an actual lynx would. These spiders have good vision, like jumping spiders. Most spiders have poor vision and some, like tarantulas, are practically blind and can do little more than distinguish between light and dark.

While they don’t build webs to ensnare prey, Green Lynx Spiders typically trail a dragline behind them, even when they jump. This can act like a potential safety line to help the spider retreat if its jump takes it into dangerous territory.

As with many spider species, the female Green Lynx Spider is larger and more noticeable than the males, with bodies that are a little over half-an-inch long. The green color is an easy identifier, as are their legs, which are pale to translucent and have long spines on them. Their venom is considered insignificant to humans.

Green Lynx Spiders have attracted attention from agronomists for their potential in crop pest control, since they actively prey on many pest species, but unfortunately they are quite indiscriminate and will also happily dine on pollinators and other beneficial insects.

The Nuwä (Kawaiius or Southern Paiute) word for spider is hüküba, pronounced huh-KUH-bah.

NATURAL SIGHTINGS is a regular feature of the Tehachapi News edited by Jon Hammond which showcases photos of the natural beauty that enhances the quality of life in Tehachapi. If you have a good quality image of plants, animals, insects, trees, birds, weather phenomena, etc., taken in the Tehachapi area, you may submit it to the Tehachapi News for possible publication. Submissions can be dropped by the News office in the form of a print or CD, or sent by email to: editorial@ tehachapinews.com.