Her name is Patience

She is an ambush predator.  She understands the meaning of diligence.  She epitomizes calm.  She knows how to wait.

A female green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) perched on the petals of a plains sunflower (a.k.a. petioled sunflower or prairie sunflower; Helianthus petiolaris) (20080704_09121)

She is young, this spider, yet already she demonstrates keen intellect.  Find the food others need to survive, then become a statue at its edge.  Soon they will come.  And soon she will dine.

A female green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) hiding on the leaf of woolly croton (a.k.a. hogwort or doveweed; Croton capitatus) (20080809_10702)

She, too, is young, though older than the first.  In the dim light of an overcast day, she is all but invisible as she watches the stem leading to the plant’s flowers.

A female green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) clinging to the leaf of purple morning glory (a.k.a. common morning glory; Ipomoea purpurea) (20081011_13666)

She is mature, pregnant even, and soon to create an egg sac.  Not her first, I think, for the year is late.

Close-up of a female green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) sitting on the leaf of purple morning glory (a.k.a. common morning glory; Ipomoea purpurea) (20081011_13693)

She hangs effortlessly and becomes a part of the leaf, unmoving yet seeing in all directions.  She is an ambush predator, and soon she will eat.

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All photos are of female green lynx spiders (Peucetia viridans):

[1] Perched on the petals of a plains sunflower (a.k.a. petioled sunflower or prairie sunflower; Helianthus petiolaris); taken at White Rock Lake in Dallas.

[2] Hiding on the leaf of woolly croton (a.k.a. hogwort or doveweed; Croton capitatus); taken at the family farm in East Texas.

[3-4] Clinging to the leaf of purple morning glory (a.k.a. common morning glory; Ipomoea purpurea); taken at the family farm in East Texas.

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