[Image description: a white spider hides in a raspberry flower, clutching its honeybee prey]
It’s very hard to spot these guys, I’m glad I managed to catch it and share it with you all.
That’s really cool. Do you happen to know what kind of spider it is?
I’m not certain, but I think it is Misumena vatia, the Golden-rod crab spider
I’ve also seen similar spiders on borage, common milkweed, and sea kale, if you’re in the native range and interested to go looking
Wow, so cool!!
I just read in this fantastic book that many of the spiders “hiding” in flowers are actually brightly UV colored and even attract pollinators by giving the flower some extra shine. It may often seem to us like they blend in (because we cannot see UV light) but they might do something entirely different!
That’s neat! I’ll be taking the uv flashlight out tonight to see if I can find spiders fluorescing like hornworms do and will report back
Ooh nice, would be nice if you could report back if you find anything :)
I had a similar white spider between the leaves in my raspberries eating a fly, but it was somehow holding the leaves together, preventing me from getting a better look without disturbing it’s meal. Seems like I can’t add an image to the comment tho
If you’ve uploaded it to another site like imgbb or
catbox.moeimgur you can link it directly in the comment withOtherwise, check to see if it’s over 4mb or 4000x4000 (iirc)
ETA: it’s possible they’re the same if not somewhat closely related. I’ve only seen them in tight flowers or clusters before this evening but it’s hard to tell if the petals were closed in some fashion
Thanks for the tip, here’s another attempt uploading as you suggested:
This was the first spider like this I’ve noticed in my garden, but it was while I was picking berries in July. I’ll watch the blooms next year. From your other comment I did see a crab spider in my parents garden earlier in the spring, the legs do look similar *Edited with more into
If you start looking for longer periods of time on any plant, you will see much more animals like spiders (and harvestmen) everywhere! :)
