Lynx Spider???

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Dee777 Melbourne, Australia Mar 05, 2011

I was shocked when I almost touched this spider while searching through some clothes in a shop!

Is this a Lynx Spider? Size including legs was about 3 cm. Found In Melbourne, Australia

Thanks Dee

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Post #8408544
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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Mar 05, 2011

This male (note the enlarged pedipalps) spider does not appear to be a lynx spider (family Oxyopidae). A front on view would be helpful here; if the frontal median eyes are much larger than its other eyes, it could be a jumping spider (family Salticidae). In any case, it does not appear to be a species of medical concern.

Post #8408763
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Dee777 Melbourne, Australia Mar 07, 2011

Hello,
I am certain that this one is not a jumping spider.
I don't have a picture of the front, but the eyes were different than the ones of a jumping spider and it was crawling using all legs when it discovered me.

What is curious for me is that it has 6 long legs and 2 very small legs on the front, so that it almost looks like it has only 6 legs in total. I could not find any picture of a spider like this on the internet, so any help to ID it would still be great.

Post #8412319
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suunto Sinks Grove, WV Mar 07, 2011

The angle from which the photo was taken makes the shape of its cephalothorax appear consistent with that often seen in jumping spiders, but it certainly was not acting like one (from your description). It also bears a slight resemblance to a male brown house spider (Badumna longinqua) - see http://tinyurl.com/4uy6bvy for an image. Again, a front view showing the eye pattern would be very helpful in arriving at a diagnosis.
Your spider also is missing one pair of legs, likely the hindmost pair. What appears to be very short front legs actually are its pedipalps, mouthpart structures used by male spiders to transfer sperm during mating.

Post #8412609
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