Large female Crab Spider coloured very pale green to white, with two green stripes on the thorax, and two red stripes on the abdomen that also has five dimples.

Crab Spider

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I am making an inventory of everything that lives in our local village Nature Area. The tops of cow parsley flowers are an excellent place for spotting pollinating insects because these are attracted to the plentiful nectar, pollen and sap. They are also great places for insects to meet mates. And such abundant food sources and popular breeding grounds provide good hunting territory for the creatures that eat insects.

One such hunter is the Crab Spider (Misumena vatia). It is rather special because it can walk forwards, backwards, and sideways. The female, like the individual shown here, remains in the one flowerhead, camouflaged against the petals. She can change her colour slightly to blend in with the background, or even assume the colour of the prey she has eaten. This specimen is mostly white with two green stripes on the thorax, and two red ones on the swollen abdomen which also has five dimples. She likes to pounce on visiting insects and the larger the better. Here she seems to be eating a hoverfly.

The male Crab Spiders are much smaller, plain brown, and travel between flowerheads looking for females to mate with.

21 Replies to “Crab Spider”

  1. Hi Jessica, good luck and recording with you new venture. My wife has been recording all the nature in our garden for about 10 years. We are lucky to live in Leicestershire and can record everything on Naturespot.org.uk It is surprising how much more you notice on your own patch due to access and familiarity. Have fun, kindest regards Tony

    Liked by 1 person

  4. What a great idea re the nature and wildlife in your community. Consider using
    irecord too so that the records are available nationwide and to those who submit records for the benefit of our eco situation as a whole. I look forward to seeing more. Look out for the Cucumber spider too 😉

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  8. Thank you for the information and encouragement, Tony. I am definitely having fun but wish I could recruit the help of a few more people interested in nature and conservation.

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  16. Such a fascinating creature. Glad to see you’re back, Jessica. You were missed. Good luck with your inventory. That’s a very ambitious undertaking. 📚

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  17. Thank you, Markus. It is an ambitious task to compile the list but I hope that I will eventually be able to get some help. Someone has already suggested helping out by running an insect light trap in a couple of months time. That should stimulate some local interest.

    Liked by 1 person

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