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Goldenrod Crab Spider
Misumena vatia
45.003, -93.124
Field Notes
Description:
These spiders may be either yellow or white, depending upon the color of the flower they are on. Most have a stripe or spot of pink along each side of the abdomen. Sizes vary, but most are small. This particular subject had a legspan of less than 1 cm. These spiders are ambush hunters and do not build a web. They lay in hiding for insects to come to them.
Habitat:
Most often found in grasslands where it finds flowers on which to hide. In summer I find them hiding on the white flowers of alyssum (such as this one was doing) or on yellow goldenrod flowers.
Notes:
I was trying to photograph a hover fly that was nectaring on this alyssum, but was aware that there was a crab spider hiding among the flowers about three inches away. As I followed the hover fly across the blossoms by watching through my camera lens, I said under my breath "Careful, you're getting close to the spider" but I thought the fly was still a safe distance away. A split second later the spider dashed into the field of view. Startled, I jumped just as she snatched the fly. I recovered and photographed the predator and prey. It was quite the collision....
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