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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Magnolia Green Jumper

In the span of just a couple days, I spotted both male and female specimens of Lyssomanes viridis, the Magnolia Green Jumper. They belong to the subfamily Lyssomaninae, or Translucent Green Jumpers. You can easily recognize a male of this species by his enormous red chelicerae and long slender abdomen. Also, the two large front eyes frequently change from dark to clear, indicating movement.

Male (found on holly):

Female (found on white hydrangea):

References:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/2040
http://www.cirrusimage.com/spider_magnolia_green_jumper.htm
http://www.jumping-spiders.com/php/tax_drawings.php?id=2448 (diagnostic drawings & photos)
http://archive.org/details/FeedingLyssomanesviridis (video of feeding)
http://eol.org/pages/1212608/overview
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22093800 (weaponry, color, & contest success)
http://psyche.entclub.org/88/88-127.html (ontogeny)

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