Crab Spider (Mecaphesa sp.)

CENTRAL FLORIDA CRITTER OF THE DAY: Crab Spider (Mecaphesa sp.)

These spiders ambush prey as opposed to using a web to capture. Sometimes referred to as flower spiders. Wide variety of colors which often will match the color of the flower they are hiding on.

May ambush some bees, but overall considered beneficial as they are biocontrol for some pest species and food for those up the food chain.

Learn: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CritterFiles/casefile/spiders/crab/crab.htm

several in the crab spider family are very similar. You can distinguish them by the eye configurations.
Learn: http://bugguide.net/node/view/38099

Shown on Florida Native Plant: PAINTEDLEAF; FIRE-ON-THE-MOUNTAIN (Poinsettia cyathophora)

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• Arachnid
• beneficial
• predatory