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Sticker of Variegated lynx spider
Bug card No. 4560 of 4,939

Variegated lynx spider

Oxyopes heterophthalmus
Eats: Other bugs and small animalsSpidersGardens and meadows8 legsNot an insect, but a bug cousin

The variegated lynx spider is a dark brown spider with a whitish pattern and black, spiny legs. It does not use a web. It runs fast and pounces on its prey like a cat, which is why it is named after the lynx.

Fun fact: spiders are not insects. Insects have six legs, spiders have eight. Everyone calls them bugs anyway!
Lives in
Central and southern Europe, in dry heathland
Length
5 to 7 mm (0.2 to 0.28 in)
Top speed
about 1 km/h (0.62 mph)
On foot, estimate
What does it eat?
It hunts small insects by running after them and jumping on them.
For real!Photo of Variegated lynx spider
Picture by AfroBrazilian. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Variegated lynx spider about 7 mm long (0.28 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)
small enough to sit on your fingernailcould run across a dinner table in 3.6 secondsmoves 40 times its own body length every second

How big is Variegated lynx spider compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It can spot an insect from about 10 centimetres away.

2

It hunts during the day, not at night.

3

The mother spins an egg sac, sticks it to a plant and guards it until the babies hatch.

4

In Britain it lives in only a few places in southern England.

5

It loves dry heathland with heather and other low bushes.

you asked

Most asked questions about Variegated lynx spider

?How does the lynx spider catch its food?

It does not use a web. It runs fast and jumps on insects, like a cat.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Oxyopes heterophthalmus
Named by
Latreille, 1804
Group
Spiders
Family
Oxyopidae
Classification
Arachnida > Araneae > Oxyopidae
Lives on
Europe, Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Oxyopes heterophthalmus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by AfroBrazilian. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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