Link to a list and key of the spiders of Canada http://esc-sec.ca/aafcmonographs/insects_and_arachnids_part_17.pdf On first glance I thought it was some type of Lynx spider but only 2 species IDd in Canada and the pics I saw weren't this one. It appears to be some type of orb weaver or Lynx spider. I will do some further research to try and ID it further - but since you have been waiting 6 dsys - just wanted you to know someone was working on it

Well thank you for your interest....I noticed Lynx spiders all have a circular arrangements to the eyes. Can eye arrangement indicate a defining characteristic of a species? Does the horizontally, parallel arrangement displayed on this specimen stand out as being unique? This picture was taken with a 20x magnification so when I say little I mean “real little”.

Ah yes an Orb weaver....possibly Tetragnatha viridis; the Longjawed orb weaver? Is that a rare species?

I agree that this is Tetragnatha viridis, a member of the long-jawed orb-weaver family, Tetragnathidae. I always like to look at the website BugGuide to see what photos and information they have there: http://bugguide.net/node/view/38826. There are even images of this species specifically from Ontario on the website!

I don't think that I would consider it a rare species. I have found them in corn fields in central Kentucky while doing spider community studies there. They must be somewhat tolerant of habitat disturbance to be found in agricultural fields, and this specimen was also found on a farm? Their range is the eastern part of the US and southern Canada.

They are quite attractive, with that green color-- nice photos! I hope that this spider eats mosquitoes and small flies for you, so that you and the animals at your farm are more comfortable!

And to comment on whether this is a lynx spider-- the primarily way that I know it is not a lynx spider is because the green species of lynx spiders (Peucetia) have very obvious, dark spines on the legs. Also, the anterior (more towards the front of the head) row of eyes for lynx spiders have the median (middle) two eyes much larger than the lateral (outer) two eyes. Your spider's eyes are all fairly similar to each other in size.

This one was found on a long-abandoned farm near the Moira river watershed north of Belleville, On. Here are two other species found in the same area I got a little while ago....

The spider on the left appears to be a female northern black widow spider. Be cautious, they will only bite if molested, but that bite is very painful and requires immediate medical attention.

The spider on the right is an orb-weaver (family Araneidae). These can be tough to identify to species from photos,