Login
Register
Comments & ID Thoughts
Oh my goodness! I was just trimming some of the hedges in front of my house and this guy dropped out of the trimmings!! I’ve never in my life seen a spider like this!! It looks like a softball white widow crab spider....crazy looking!! Is this poisonous?!
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: Apr 13, 2019
- Photographed: Apr 13, 2019
- Spider: Misumena vatia (Golden-rod Crab Spider)
- Location: Mill Creek,WA, Washington, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: Low foliage (shrubs, herbs, garden, excluding flowers),Ground layer (leaf litter, dirt, grass, etc)
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes: Dorsal
Jul 27, 2019
Jul 27, 2019
Sturgeon Bay, 
Is this a Misumena vatia (Golden-rod Crab Spider) ?!?!
Yes she is. I like your description of her. I think these are really cool spiders. They have the ability to release a chemical into their cells or excrete it from their bodies to change colors. They can form many plant colors and markings that match too. They’ll position themselves in a spot where insects are likely to stop by. They hold still and align their legs to the visual linear pattern around them. When prey is near the spider puts her first pair of legs up to grab it quickly. Fangs are plunged into the prey to inject paralyzing… Read more »
OH MY GOSH!!! You’re a spider encyclopedia!! lol You gave a legit, perfect definition of what the heck this little softball crab spider is I wish we could add nicknames to these lil guys….it’s name would definitely be “Crabby softball spider” haha I noticed that you referred to this one as “she”….how can you tell she’s a she? Also, this little softball spider is in a container outside, with some of the brush that it fell off of because I didn’t want to let it go if it was poisonous. The last thing I wanted was for my daughter to… Read more »
Gosh, thanks! I wish we could update some common names too. My favorite is a common name for invasive swallow-wort vines, “Dog Strangling Vine.” Gotta wonder how that was such a routine occurrence that it became a common name! Almost all spiders have venom for killing prey. They have the ability to regulate how much they use for a particular bite. Most venom is evolved for toxicity for insects or other arachnids. Some do have the ability to kill mammals, like the recently famous spider seen dragging a rat up a refrigerator or the one found to have killed an… Read more »