Arthropods • Earth.com

Striped lynx spider

(Oxyopes salticus)

galery

Description

Oxyopes salticus is a species of lynx spider, commonly known as the striped lynx spider, first described by Hentz in 1845. Its habitat tends to be grasses and leafy vegetation; grassy, weedy fields, and row crops. Adult specimens have some color variation between orange, cream and brown. Adult females typically have stripes on both the carapace and abdomen, though on many specimens, the stripes are more pronounced on the abdomen. There is a generally a diamond cardiac mark, and macrosetae covering legs I-IV. There is a broad clypeus. Adult females range in size from ~5-6mm, and adult males range in size ~4-5mm. Eastern United States from Massachusetts and Iowa south to Florida and Texas, along Mexican border, north along Pacific coast to Oregon. Also much of South and Central America Recently, O.salticus has been found in great numbers on the Big Island of Hawai'i as well as the island of Maui. A number of authors (Brady 1964, Laster and Brazzel 1968, McDaniel et al. 1981, Young and Lockley 1985) have noted the importance of Oxyopids as a major predator of economically important agricultural pests. In 1961, Kayashima released 45,000 O. sertatus spiders into a Cryptomeria forest in Japan (in a test plot) and noted a 53% reduction in damage by the gall midge Contarinia inouyei. Other studies in India (Sharma & Sarup, 1979; Rao et al., 1981) have noted similar results. However, some studies note that O. salticus (and other Oxyopids) also predate beneficial insects (e.g., bees and other pollinators), so their importance in pest control is somewhat questioned. Oxyopes is a genus of lynx spiders found worldwide. It includes arounds 300 species and is classified under the lynx spider family Oxyopidae. Like other lynx spiders, they are easily recognizable by the six larger eyes arranged hexagonally on top of the head (prosoma), with the remaining smaller two eyes in front. They are also characterized by long spine-like bristles (setae) on their legs. They are ambush predators, actively hunting prey by sight. Though they produce and use silk, they do not build webs to capture prey. The genus was first established in 1804 by the French zoologist Pierre André Latreille. The generic name means "keen-eyed", from Ancient Greek ὀξύς (oxús, "sharp") and ὤψ (ṓps, "eye").

Taxonomic tree:

Domain:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:
Class:
Order:Araneae
Family:Oxyopidae
Genus:Oxyopes
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