Spring flowers bring out the pollinators and their predators. I found one of those predators, a green lynx spider, lurking in the flower of a prickly pear cactus. Can you see the spider in the middle of the flower in the photo below?

Rather than build a web to catch prey as some other spiders do, the green lynx spider lurks on foliage to catch prey. It pounces cat-like, hence its name “lynx.” Its color helps camouflage the spider. This is a fairly large spider; the body of a female can be nearly an inch long. The legs sport spiky hairs. This spider is big enough to tackle bees and butterflies.

As with most spiders, the green lynx spider paralyzes its prey with venom which also starts the digestion process. Spiders don’t have teeth, so the venom serves to liquify the prey so that the spider can suck up the juices.

In September and October, the female spider will build a silk sac and lay up to 600 eggs. She guards that sac and new hatchlings ferociously until after their first molt.

The green lynx spider is generally harmless to humans. So, if you have flowering prickly pear cactus in your yard, go out a take a close look in the flowers and on the pads. Maybe you will see a lurking “lynx.”

See more photos of the green lynx spider at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum digital library here.

See also:

Cochineal the Little Red Bug

Desert Bees and Africanized Bees

Scorpions, Vinegaroons, and Sun Spiders

Tarantula Hawks Deliver The Big Sting

Venomous Centipedes and Cyanide-Oozing Millipedes

Who’s Afraid of Tarantulas?

The Western Screech Owl (Otus kennicotti) breeds throughout the western U.S., from southern Canada to Baja California, and other parts of Mexico. This little owl is the fourth and smallest of the raptors I handle and interpret at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. I’ve written previously about the Harris’ Hawk, the Barn Owl, and the American Kestrel. (I also handle snakes.)

The Western Screech Owl has a body length of 8- to 10 inches, and a wingspan of 20- to 24 inches. (The infamous Cactus Ferruginous Pygmy Owl is slightly smaller.) The yellow eyes are very penetrating. When alert or excited, it raises some feathers on its head – “ear” tufts. The owl is usually gray and streaked with black and white (there is a red race). The only other owl in this region it may be confused with is the Elf Owl, which is much smaller (5 inches in length) and lacks the ear tufts. The screech owl’s toes are zygodactylous (two pointed forward, two pointing backwards). There’s a word for Scrabble fans.

Screech owls generally do not migrate. They are cavity nesters, so you might see one peeking out of a hole in a saguaro cactus. (They will also nest in boxes.) The female lays 4- to 6 eggs, each about 2- to 3 days apart. The chicks hatch after about 26 days and open their eyes after about a week. The female broods the chicks for two weeks while the male brings food. The chicks stay in the nest for about five weeks, all the time being fed by their parents. Life expectancy in the wild is 4- to 6 years, but captive birds are known to have reached an age of 18 years.

The Screech owl is a fierce predator and will attack prey much larger, relative to its size, in comparison with other owls. The screech owl will attack large Norway rats, mice, lizards, insects, smaller birds, scorpions, spiders, ground squirrels, and fish. Its normal habitat in the desert is the wooded areas near mountains, or along tree-lined rivers. In wooded areas, the owl’s dull color makes good camouflage.

Despite its name, the owl doesn’t screech. Instead, it has a series of trilling calls. Screech owls have keen hearing which help in capturing prey, but their hearing is not as specialized as that of the Barn Owl.