The not-wife called me out into the garden at lunchtime to show me another crab spider. The other ones we have seen in the garden were white but this one was yellow with red stripes on its abdomen.
According to the European Society of Arachnology , what we had seen was a female flower crab spider, Misumena vatia, exactly the same specie as the white ones we had seen and photographed earlier. Amazingly it has the ability to change its colour from white to yellow.
Like all crab spiders, Misumena has crab-like legs rotated onto their sides, which give the family its name. The flower crab spider is, a sit-and-wait predator. It mostly lurks among flower petals waiting for insects to fly by. The front legs, which are held outwards, will grab an unsuspecting visitor with amazing speed, while at the same time a poisonous bite is administered. Prey is mostly eaten on the flower and is sucked dry through tiny holes, such that an almost complete exoskeleton is left over.
Typical habitats are open spaces like meadows, moors and fields, but also sunny paths and forest margins, wasteland and gardens. In the UK the species seems to be occurring exclusively in the southern parts. In Europe Misumena occurs from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean.
The European Society of Arachnology has designated the flower crab spider as its spider of the year for 2006.
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5 comments:
I competed against Miss Crab Spider for the coveted "Spider Of The Year" award too. She won because of those blasted long legs, shapely hourglass figure, and sucking strength.
At least I got second place though, for the tangled webs that I weave. But small consolation.
i think that your pictures should win something- they are beautiful. i enjoy visiting your garden because i only have a green thumb for houseplants- and with the heat many have given up the good fight this summer.
LOL elasticwaistbandlady. Damn I have no snappy comeback! You have the better of me!!!
Thanks Betmow. It pleases me to document our small but diverse garden. I am glad you like my photos. It is the not wife who puts the majority of the effort into the garden so it is a testament to her hard work as much as anything.
Well, I didn't win Spider Of The Year, but I temporarily flabbergasted you! Tis a prize in and of itself.
Treasure the prize!
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