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Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider found in Europe and North America. In North America, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower (crab) spider, [1] as it is commonly found hunting in goldenrod sprays and milkweed plants. They are called crab spiders because of their unique ability to walk sideways as well as forwards and backwards.
Crab spider feeding on a Junonia atlites butterfly in a Zinnia elegans flower. The Thomisidae are a family of spiders, including about 170 genera and over 2,100 species. The common name crab spider is often linked to species in this family, but is also applied loosely to many other families of spiders.
Misumena is a genus of crab spiders sometimes referred to as flower crab spiders. [1] They are similar in appearance to several other genera in the family Thomisidae, such as Misumenoides and Mecaphesa. [1] Misumena vatia, the goldenrod crab spider, is a North American species commonly seen hunting in goldenrod (Solidago) sprays in autumn. It ...
The tribe Misumenini belongs to the crab spider family, Thomisidae. As circumscribed by Lehtinen, typical members of the tribe Misumenini have a greenish body and legs (in fresh specimens), and a relatively uncomplicated colour pattern. They have a more-or-less unmodified carapace with only rarely any modifications to the abdomen. Adult males ...
Misumenops is a common genus of crab spider with more than 50 described species. [ 1 ] The majority of the species of Misumenops , more than 80, have been transferred to 13 genera: Ansiea , Demogenes , Diaea , Ebelingia , Ebrechtella , Henriksenia , Heriaeus , Mecaphesa , Micromisumenops , Misumena , Misumenoides , Misumessus , and Runcinioides .
In most respects this spider behaves like the goldenrod spider, also commonly hunting in goldenrod sprays in the fall. It tends to take smaller prey, however, avoiding the bumblebees and large butterflies in favor of honeybees , large flies and small butterflies such as skippers .
For example, in Thomisus spectabilis, the method of camouflage is similar to the Misumena vatia, though T. spectabilis are visible to their prey, but not their predators. This species of crab spiders is UV reflective while the flower is UV absorbing creating a contrast between the spider and flower through the eyes of the pollinator. [4]
Like other crab spiders, they are masters of ambush and disguise. [2] They stalk their prey at night, from an ambush position on a grass stem or from the underside of a leaf and are difficult to spot due to their camouflage. They can sense the vibrations caused by invertebrates moving on the leaf's upper side, and quickly pounce on the victim. [7]