Is the green lynx spider dangerous?

The green lynx spider is harmless to people. Harmless. Bites are rare and produce local swelling that resolves quickly. Spat venom in the eye is irritating and should be rinsed thoroughly.

How do you identify a green lynx spider?

Vivid translucent green body with long, conspicuously spiny legs. No web; sits openly on vegetation.

Where do green lynx spiders live?

They are found in 14 US states, in habitats including garden and grassland.

Green Lynx Spider

Harmless

Peucetia viridans

The green lynx spider is a large, bright green ambush hunter of southern shrubs and flower heads. It is harmless, though a guarding female is notably bold and is one of the few US spiders known to spit venom defensively — which sounds worse than it is.

Bite risk: Harmless. Bites are rare and produce local swelling that resolves quickly. Spat venom in the eye is irritating and should be rinsed thoroughly.
Size: Body 12–22 mm. Body up to an inch, with long spiny legs.
Appearance: Bright translucent green with long legs carrying conspicuous black spines, and usually red or orange markings around the eyes and leg joints.
Web: No catching web. Females build a silk egg case in vegetation and guard it.
Found in: garden, grassland
Family: Oxyopidae
Range: 14 US states

How to identify a green lynx spider

Vivid translucent green body with long, conspicuously spiny legs.
No web; sits openly on vegetation.
Red or orange markings around the eyes.
Females guard a large pale egg case in a shrub.

How it behaves

Ambushes insects on flowers. Guarding females stand their ground and may spit venom up to a few inches.

Where it lives

Florida Georgia Alabama Mississippi Louisiana Texas South Carolina North Carolina Arkansas Oklahoma New Mexico Arizona California Hawaii

If you think you were bitten

Most suspected spider bites are not spider bites. Studies of patients presenting with a “spider bite” repeatedly find that the large majority are bacterial skin infections — frequently MRSA — which need antibiotics rather than reassurance. A spreading, painful, pus-filled sore is far more likely to be an infection than a spider.
Wash it, ice it, and watch it. Clean the area with soap and water, apply a cold pack, and keep an eye on it.
Get medical care if the wound spreads or darkens, if you develop cramping, sweating, fever or severe abdominal pain, or if you are confident it was a widow or a recluse.
Bring the spider only if it is already dead and to hand. Do not go looking for it. Doctors treat symptoms, not species.

In the US, the Poison Help line is 1-800-222-1222. This site is a reference, not medical advice.

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