Kingdom: Animalia
Tribe: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Oxyopidae (Lynx spiders)
Genus: Oxyopes
Species: O.gracilipes
Binomial name: Oxyopes gracilipes
Synonyms: Oxyopes gregarius, Oxyopes mundulus
Common name: Graceful-legs Lynx
Oxyopes gracilipes is the only spider in the genus Oxypes in New Zealand.
Its a small jumping spider, with males having a body length of 4-5 mm and the females are larger with a body length up to 7mm. The cephalothorax (head and the thorax fused together) yellow-orange with three wide longitudinal brown to black stripes. The dorsal surface of the abdomen is orange with brown to black markings.
A male Oxyopes gracilipes in a pounce position. Note the large swollen pedipalps. All male spiders have two front appendages known as pedipalps. When the males are sexually mature, they ejaculate onto a sperm-web and suck up the sperm into their pedipalps. These inflate due to fluid pressure (as a state known as "being charged"). During mating, the males transfer sperm to the female from one of their pedipalps, which then will generally deflate.
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