Lynx Spiders

One of my favorite families of spiders to photograph is Oxyopidae, the Lynx Spiders. They're called "lynxes" because of their quickness and agility in hunting (similar to cats). Not web builders, they prowl among plants, trees, and grasses, hunting insects and even other spiders. You'll often find several patrolling the same area. They hunt during the day as well as at night, though I usually observe more close to sundown. Like the Jumping Spiders of Salticidae, they can leap to catch their prey. Their barbed legs serve as useful implements in that regard. Like Crab Spiders (Thomisidae), Lynx Spiders prefer to sit back on their hind legs with their front legs raised and extended, as they hunt.

In addition to the distinctive barbs on their legs, Lynx Spiders have a thick, rectangular cephalothorax with a high carapace. The clypeus (space between the eyes and jaws) is wide and flat, practically vertical, with two black lines in the middle. The abdomen is oval-shaped, tapering to a point. In the genus Oxyopes (which inhabits our yard), the six largest eyes are arranged in a hexagon on the carapace, with two small eyes at the top of the clypeus. You can spot at least the topmost eyes even in low magnification. Another unique feature is the iridescent sheen of the spider's body, created by dusky scales reflecting sunlight.

For my region, only three species of Oxyopes apply: O. aglossus, O. salticus, and O. acleistus. I'm not ruling out O. acleistus, but I believe it's too southerly to be commonly found in SC. Now, I am definitely not an expert on Lynx Spiders, so my IDs could be totally wrong here. I'm more confident about the females than the males, as it's hard to tell the latter apart. If you think I've identified any of these specimens incorrectly, please let me know!

Female O. aglossus (1 specimen):

Male O. aglossus (5 specimens):

Female O. salticus (1 specimen):

Male O. salticus (2 specimens):

References:

http://bugguide.net/node/view/1965 (Oxyopidae)

http://bugguide.net/node/view/15150 (Oxyopes)

http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/pdf2/003128600029970.pdf (Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College, v. 131 (1964): Oxyopes)

http://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/Spiders/Oxyopidae/Oxyopidae.htm (the spider that hunts like a cat)

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12044694 (food imprinting & subsequent prey preference in O. salticus)

http://www.americanarachnology.org/joa_free/joa_v14_n3/joa_v14_p395.pdf (prey of O. salticus on cotton in Mississippi Delta)

http://tolweb.org/Oxyopidae/2753 (Tree of Life)