Crab spiders are interesting to observe. They are a bit unusual when compared to the orb weaving spiders that people are most familiar with. Crab spiders are ambush hunters, relying on stealth rather than trapping prey in webs. Typically they hide in a flower head, concealed by their camouflaged colors. They wait for unsuspecting insects like bees, beetles and other pollinators who come in for a quick meal that turns out to be their last. Apparently there is no such thing as a free meal. This sucessful method of hunting is also utilized by assasin bugs and other insects.
I come across crab spiders fairly often. Many times they appear on our kitchen table when my wife brings in cut flowers from the garden. Their color is quite variable, ranging from yellows, oranges and creamy light greens to pinks! These variations help them disappear in a number of different host plants. I have many photos of them in the rudbeckia in our garden. Once while photographing a crab spider, it hopped off the flower. While looking for my rogue spider, I discovered that there were about 10 others scattered right nearby, well hidden in the heads of other flowers! It was like a minefield for the next insect coming in for lunch. It’s a dangerous world out there.
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