Most spiders spin a web to catch prey, but Iain tells us about one species, the crab spider, who uses goldenrod and patience to catch its dinner.
Welcome to Something Wild! I'm Iain MacLeod from the Audubon Society of New Hampshire.
As you stroll around your flower garden or even in a meadow, look for a predator lying in wait for its unsuspecting-and hapless-prey. This expert at camouflage waits, motionless, until its object gets closer, closer.. then it strikes .
To see all this, all you have to do is take a look at a flower. This time of year, goldenrod is a good choice. The predator is the crab spider, master of disguise and definitely king of the "hurry up and wait" school of hunting.
Crab spiders are well named, because they are built exactly like crabs. Their front legs are larger than their other legs, giving the impression of crab-like pincers. They have a triangular-shaped abdomen. They even scuttle around sideways when they move. Not that they move much, especially when they are hunting.
Crab spriders don't have to spin webs because they have the ability to change coloration to match the flower they are sitting on. This makes them almost impossible to spot if they stay still, allowing them to pounce on bees, flies, or even butterflies that land near them. Observers have even seen them literally get carried away by their much-larger prey.
But not all crab spiders try to look like flowers. Some species disguise themselves as seeds or even bird droppings.
Crab spiders lay their eggs on leaves or bark . And because males are much smaller than females, they have to be pretty careful when it comes to "making there move" so to speak. In fact, males have to sneak onto the females right before their final molt, since that is the only time she can't attack him.
Again, you can find crab spiders on many different flowers, but at this time of year goldenrod may be your best bet. You'll see living proof that you don't have to be big to be an effective predator.
If you have a natural history question that you would like answered on Something Wild, email us at somethingwild@ nhpr.org.
Something Wild is a joint production of the Audubon Society of New
Hampshire, New Hampshire Public Radio, and the Society for the
Protection of New Hampshire Forests. For Something Wild, I'm Iain
MacLeod.
