#flower spider

[memoriesofthepark]

Crab spider 》 possibly Mecaphesa asperata

Southeast Texas, 27 March 2026

[drea-s-artblog]

Layla, the flower spider

I missed this danger waifu

[sitting-on-me-bum]

These small flower spiders, or crab spiders, are found throughout the world. Matching the flower’s colour the spider sits motionless until an insect arrives, whereupon it creeps in stealthily to deliver a lethal, paralysing bite.

© Joe and Mary Ann McDonald.

[thelordofologies]

Flower-Mimicking Crab Spiders - Thomisidae

This family of spiders contains about 171 genera of spiders, AND over 2.100 species ! That is some insane variation !

@hispaatra, @zick-the-fairy more on the flower spiders, they are so pretty ! ! !

Top left - Seven-spined Crab Spider ( Epicadus heterogaster ) ; Top right - Epicadus dimidiaster ; Bottom left - Heriaeus hirtus ; Bottom right - Seven-spined Crab Spider ( Epicadus heterogaster )

Description

Members of this family of spiders do not spin webs, and are ambush predators. The two front legs are usually longer and more robust than the rest of the legs. The back two legs are smaller, and are usually covered in a series of strong spines. They have dull colorations such as brown, grey, or very bright green, pink, white or yellow. They gain their name from the shape of their body, and they usually move sideways or backwards.

Behaviour

Thomisidae do not build webs to trap prey, though all of them produce silk for drop lines and sundry reproductive purposes; some are wandering hunters and the most widely known are ambush predators. Some species sit on or beside flowers or fruit, where they grab visiting insects. Individuals of some species, such as Misumena vatia and Thomisus spectabilis, are able to change color over a period of some days, to match the flower on which they are sitting.

Other species of crab spiders with flattened bodies either hunt in the crevices of tree trunks or under loose bark, or shelter under such crevices by day, and come out at night to hunt. In each case, crab spiders use their powerful front legs to grab and hold on to prey while paralysing it with a venomous bite.

Sexual dimorphism

Several different types of sexual dimorphism have been recorded in crab spiders. Some species exhibit color dimorphisms, however, the most apparent dimorphism is the difference in size between males and females. In some species, this is relatively small. In other cases, the difference is extreme.

Species in the pictures above

Epicadus heteroogaster - This species can be found in Brazil, Uruguy and Argentine. These are polychromatic and cryptic bark-dwelling spiders with accentuated sexual size dimorphism. Their body coloration can vary dark-brown to yellow to purple and pink. It is known to have conical ocular projections from its back, females have seven and males five (I am not 100% sure, due to limited information, about the number of spines, so please correct me, if I am wrong).

Epicadus dimidiaster - This species can be found in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Females measure up to about 7.89 millimetres and males up to 2.58 millimeteres. Both males and females have opisthosomal projections from their back (about three?, it is not a very well researched species, sorry for the lack of information).

Heriaeus hirtus - This species can be found in southern Europe, in sunny environments, in bushes and in stony woodlands, especially on hirsute plants, on evergreen trees and shrubs. Heriaeus hirtus can reach a body length of 3.5 to 5.5 millimetres in males, of 8 to 11 millimetres in females. These spiders are usually pale green, with a lighter green or pale yellow abdomen, vaguely triangular and longer than wide. The ventral side of the abdomen is green and has rows of black dots. Also legs are green. The body and legs are covered with long white bristles. Males have a slimmer abdomen, usually with a reddish marking. Females are pale green, with long hairs and spines. Adults can be found from March to October. They hunt insects, especially bees, wasps, flies and butterflies.

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Image sources:

1.

https://sciencephotogallery.com/featured/flower-mimicking-crab-spider-dr-morley-read.html

2.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/69580079

3.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/223189422

4.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/196720962

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Text references:

1.

Machado, M., Teixeira, R.A. & Lise, A.A. (2018) There and back again: More on the taxonomy of the crab spiders genus Epicadus (Thomisidae: Stephanopinae). Zootaxa, 4382 (3), 501–530. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4382.3.4

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Miguel-Machado-15/publication/323340477_There_and_back_again_More_on_the_taxonomy_of_the_crab_spiders_genus_Epicadus_Thomisidae_Stephanopinae/links/5a90452e0f7e9ba4296b9399/There-and-back-again-More-on-the-taxonomy-of-the-crab-spiders-genus-Epicadus-Thomisidae-Stephanopinae.pdf

2.

https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicadus_heterogaster

3.

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicadus_dimidiaster

4.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heriaeus_hirtus

5.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomisidae

[hajovyk]

Yellow Misumena vatia (pol. Kwietnik) with her prey Tachina fera (pol. Rącznica rdzawa)

[moonstruckdraws]

My best friend just got me this wooden spider with a flower (there was a bunch of them at the store and all have different things on their abdomens like crystals or butterfly wings)

And its one of those things that can move cuz of the pockets of space so it can wiggle its legs!

(There was also a baby opossum one Helli)

I have yet to name them, but I love them.

[the-poisongarden]

Found a little northern crab spider hiding in my peach foxgloves waiting to pounce on some bees with its venomous bite.

[michaelnordeman]

Misumena vatia/Goldenrod crab spider/Blomkrabbspindel. Värmland, Sweden (May 21, 2022).