Lynx spider fact sheet | Field of Mars EEC

What are lynx spiders?

Lynx spiders are active hunting spiders. Unlike orb-weaving spiders or black house spiders, they do not build a sticky web to trap insects. Instead, they wait on plants, watch for movement and then leap or run after their prey.

They are called lynx spiders because they stalk and pounce like a lynx. They are arachnids with eight legs, eight eyes and two main body parts called a cephalothorax and an abdomen.

A lynx spider.

Lynx spiders have long spiny legs that help them move through plants and hold prey.

What do lynx spiders look like?

Lynx spiders usually have slim bodies, long legs and rows of strong spines or hairs along their legs. Many species are brown, cream, orange or green, with stripes that help them blend in with leaves and grass stems.

Their eyes are important for hunting. Lynx spiders have eight eyes arranged in a pattern that helps them notice movement around them. This makes them different from spiders that mostly rely on web vibrations.

Lynx spiders often wait on flowers and low plants where insects are active.

Where do lynx spiders live?

Lynx spiders are usually found on living plants rather than on the ground or inside houses. They live among shrubs, grasses, heath plants, garden plants and low vegetation in forests and woodlands.

At Field of Mars Reserve, suitable habitat may include grassy edges, shrubby understorey, flowering plants and sunny patches of bushland where insects are active.

Lynx spiders often hunt from leaves and other low plants.

What do lynx spiders eat?

Lynx spiders are predators. They eat insects and other small arthropods, including flies, moths, leafhoppers, small beetles and sometimes other spiders.

They do not spin a web to catch food. A lynx spider usually waits on a plant, watches carefully, then pounces when prey comes close enough. It uses its front legs, spiny hairs and venomous bite to hold and subdue the prey.

Lynx spiders catch insects and other small invertebrates on plants.

What is the life cycle of lynx spiders?

Lynx spiders begin life as eggs inside a silk egg sac. The egg sac helps protect the eggs from drying out, overheating and some predators.

After hatching, the young spiders are called spiderlings. Some female lynx spiders guard their egg sacs and young spiderlings for a period of time. When the spiderlings are ready, they disperse into the surrounding vegetation to find their own food and shelter.

Female lynx spiders make silk egg sacs and may guard them until the spiderlings hatch.

What adaptations do lynx spiders have to help them survive?

Lynx spiders have several adaptations that help them survive as plant-dwelling hunters. Their good eyesight helps them notice moving insects. Their long legs help them move quickly through grasses and leaves. Their spiny leg hairs help them grip plants and hold prey.

Their colours and stripes can make them difficult to see among stems, leaves and flowers. They also use silk, but not mainly for catching food. Silk is used for safety lines, egg sacs and shelters.

Stripes and body colour help some lynx spiders blend in with leaves, stems and flowers.

Why are lynx spiders important?

Lynx spiders are important predators in bushland and garden food webs. Their hunting on leaves, flowers and grasses helps control small insect populations in the same areas where many insects feed, shelter and reproduce.

They are also food for larger animals such as birds, lizards, frogs, wasps and other spiders. This makes them both predators and prey in the ecosystem.

Lynx spiders help bushland food webs by catching small insects and becoming food for larger animals.

How can you help lynx spiders?

You can help lynx spiders by protecting the plants they live on. Leave patches of grasses, shrubs, leaf litter and native flowering plants in gardens and bushland. These provide hunting places, shelter and food sources.

Avoid spraying insecticides unless they are really needed, because sprays can remove the insects spiders eat and may harm the spiders too. If you find a lynx spider, observe it carefully and leave it where it is.

Flowering shrubs, grasses and native plants provide hunting places for lynx spiders and habitat for their prey.

Related fact sheets

More invertebrate fact sheets

• Invertebrate fact sheets – overview
• Arachnids fact sheet – explains the main features of spiders and other arachnids.
• Flower spider fact sheet – describes another plant-dwelling hunting spider that waits on flowers and leaves to ambush visiting insects.
• Jumping spider fact sheet – explores small hunting spiders with excellent eyesight that stalk and leap onto prey instead of using a capture web.
• Wolf spider fact sheet – compares lynx spiders with ground-dwelling hunting spiders that chase prey through leaf litter, soil and grassy areas.
• Net-casting spider fact sheet – explains how some spiders use silk in unusual ways, including casting a small web over passing prey.
• Black house spider fact sheet – describes a web-building spider that catches prey using a messy silk retreat rather than hunting on plants.

Habitats and ecosystems

• Tree habitats fact sheet – explains how bark and tree trunks provide shelter for spiders and other animals.

• Shrub habitats fact sheet – explains how shrubs provide shelter for invertebrates.

• Ground cover habitats fact sheet – explains how ground cover plants provide shelter for invertebrates.

• Eucalypt forest fact sheet – explains the local bushland habitat at Field of Mars Reserve.

• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet – explains the reserve habitats that may support lynx spiders and other invertebrates.

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