Crab spider in the Tmarus genus at Travis Audubon’s Baker Sanctuary, March 18, 2017. Camouflaging as a leaf bud–only saw the spider because I was looking at galls nearby.
This sanctuary is visited infrequently, since you can only get in if you are a member of Travis Audubon. Consequently, there are spiders EVERYWHERE. Lots of orbweavers (spiders that make the stereotypical circular web), which is great because the sanctuary is there to protect the endangered golden-cheeked warbler [link], a bird that makes its nests from spiderwebs.
Most of all, though, I was excited about this crab spider. When I was moving the branch to get better photos, at one point it changed directions (from pointing down to up), and while it was turning around, it held the crab-like pose that gives these spiders their name. Crab spiders are great at camouflage, but this was the first time I’d seen one camouflaging on a tree branch! I had to wait for a spider person on iNat to ID this for me, and it seems I had such a hard time finding a match because this spider is the first in the Tmarus genus to be posted on iNat in Texas, and only the 29th observation in the world. iNaturalist observation page [link].
Nothing makes me feel better than finding something cool, and then learning later how rare they are!