
Striped Lynx Spider - Oxyopidae
Caught making a quick retreat
Oxyopidae: The body is small and has obviously spiny legs, the spines pointing outwards perpendicular to the leg surface. The eyes are arranged into a hexagon. The body colours are light green, brown or yellow and pale red or black stripes may be present along the body. Oxyopids prefer to forage on small garden plants and easily jump from leaf to leaf. They are very common in the well vegetated parts of Australia but surprisingly little recent work has been done to photograph and describe them taxonomically.
As the species names suggests, this Lynx spider is extremely variable In pattern and colour. It is found in most types of vegetation, favouring grasses. Mostly found in Queensland, but also in coastal and inland parts of Western Australia, Northern Territory, South Australia and NSW. Both males and females may be light coloured, dark, blotchy, reddish, brown, cream, white or yellow. The front legs do not have black lines running lengthways along the inside, instead being rather textured with scales... more