Red Lynx Spider - Oxyopes rubicundus
FAMILY OXYOPIDAE
This page contains pictures and information about Red Lynx Spiders that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Body length 10mm
- We found this spider when it was hanging in mid-air and holding a jewel beetle as prey. The spider has a dark pattern on its creamy pale brown abdomen. There is the dark red pattern on each side.
- In Daisy Hills near Buhot Creek, there were the blooming Wallum Wedge Pea which is the host plant of the Pea Flower Jewel Beetles. There were many of those beetles they were flying around between flowers. The Red Lynx Spider might have jumped and captured the beetle in mid air when the beetle was passing by.
- The spider was feeding while hanging from a silk line. It landed on a stem due to our disturbed, although it still kept on feeding.
- When the Lynx Spider was feeding, we saw a few small flies tried to share the meal. Of course the spider did not happy about this and tried to drive them away. We saw those small flies many times when there were the feeding spiders.
- Male Red Lynx Spider, body length 8mm
- On the same plant, we found another Lynx Spider which look similar but with slender abdomen. We believed this could be the male of this species. We found the spiders once in Daisy Hills near Buhot Creek on Oct 2009.
- Found the young Red Lynx Spider on Nov 2009 in Carbrook Wetland.
- Reference:
- 1. Lynx spider - The Find-a-spider Guide for Australian Spiders, University of Southern Queensland, 2007.
- 2. Spiders - family Oxyopidae - Nick Monaghan, lifeunseen.com.
- 3. Oxyopes rubicundus? Red Lynx Spider - Save Our Waterways Now.
