Linda was wondering about a spider she once encountered. Well, things do look bigger when we’re children, and maybe we don’t remember them with photographic accuracy. But Mr. Nature gave it a try, and he thinks he’s able to identify this big green hairy spider that surprised Linda when she was 12 years old.
Behold the Green Lynx Spider, the biggest green spider found in North America, inhabiting the southern U.S. It’s hairy, it roves around hunting its prey, and has a body a little over half an inch long–which is big for any spider that’s not a tarantula.
And you know how the mind works: if the average Green Lynx Spider’s body is .6 inches long, then there are probably bigger ones than that.
This reminds me of an even bigger bug–the Cecropia Moth. Now, sadly, growing rare.
A moth in the hand is worth two in the bush
One pleasant summer day, my father left me in the car while he nipped into the store. As I sat there, suddenly something big came fluttering along to alight for a moment on the hood: a Cecropia Moth that looked to me, a 10-year-old, as big as a crow! It was the only one I’ve ever seen, but I’ll never forget it. It wasn’t really as big as a crow–it goes to show the limitations of eyewitness testimony.
It’s an interesting looking arachnid.
Thank you, Lee! You’re right about our mind’s eye, especially when we’re young. Until that day, I would never have dreamed there was such a thing as a green spider of any size – and hairy to boot! 🙂 It made quite an impression though, as the memory of it hanging in the midst of the grape vine has never faded.
We get some pretty moths in our neck of the woods. Never understood why they get such a bad rap. What’s wrong with being an attractive moth? Are butterflies arrogant?
And what an incredibly beautiful moth!
Now that I think of it, green bugs seem to find me somehow. Besides my encounter with the chubby, hairy green spider and several others, like the praying mantis and some grasshoppers, lacewings, etc., I once had a luna moth in my bathroom. (I told the story here once about how I was able to rescue and release it, watching as it swept upward and over the roof of my house).
I’ve never seen one of those, and I wish I could.
Breathtaking! God’s stuff is truly awe inspiring 🙂
Lee, check the cats and dogs post – WordPress struck again :/
Fap! Fixed–I have disabled the comments disabled.
I can identify with the spider AND the moth. At age eight, I was helping my dad stack logs outside and I saw a wolf spider as big as my hand. Now that I’m older, I imagine it couldn’t have been that big, but still today, in my mind, it is as large as an 8-year-old’s hand. EEEEEEEEEEEeeeeee!! And those moths were around when I was a kid (central Alabama). I was afraid of them, but thought they were beautiful. 🙂