Crab Spider

As the common name suggests, the Crab Spider is reminiscent of a crab with its wide, flattened body and its habit of sitting with the first pair of legs held apart.
The Crab Spider has the remarkable ability to alter its colour to match its background, usually a white or yellow flower, allowing it to become camouflaged. It does not spin a web to catch its prey but instead it lies in wait on flowers and vegetation for a suitable prey species, such as a bee or butterfly, to visit and then swiftly ambushes the insect and injects venom into the prey with its slender fangs.
The Crab Spider is common in southern England and can found on flowers and shrubs in gardens, woodlands, grassland and scrubby habitats.
Date: 12th August 2007
Location: Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea, Essex
The Crab Spider has the remarkable ability to alter its colour to match its background, usually a white or yellow flower, allowing it to become camouflaged. It does not spin a web to catch its prey but instead it lies in wait on flowers and vegetation for a suitable prey species, such as a bee or butterfly, to visit and then swiftly ambushes the insect and injects venom into the prey with its slender fangs.
The Crab Spider is common in southern England and can found on flowers and shrubs in gardens, woodlands, grassland and scrubby habitats.
Date: 12th August 2007
Location: Wat Tyler Country Park, Pitsea, Essex
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