Appearance
The body of the female may be as much as 22 millimeters long. The male is smaller, being slenderer and averaging 12 millimeters in length. There often is a red patch between the eyes, with a few red spots on the body. The eye region is clothed with white appressed hairs. The dorsal surface of the abdomen bears about six Chevron-like marks with the centres pointing forward. The legs are green to yellow, bearing long black spines such as appear on the legs of most species of Oxyopidae, and with a generous scattering of black spots. "Peucetia viridans" is confusingly similar to "Peucetia longipalpis", the other "Peucetia" species to occur in the United States, but "Peucetia longipalpis" tends to have a shorter, fatter, more domed abdomen, with less pronounced markings in its upper surface.Late in the season "Peucetia viridans" is prone to change its colour from predominantly green to paler yellow, typically with streaks of reddish, suggesting degradation of the tetrapyrrole pigment in the blood. Gravid females may change their color to fit their background. This takes about 16 days.
Naming
The species name, "viridans", is Latin for "becoming green". It should not be confused with either "P. viridana", a species that occurs only in India and Myanmar, or "P. viridis" from Spain and Africa.
Distribution
This species occurs in the southern United States, some parts of Northern California, Central America, the West Indies, and Venezuela.References:
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