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Comments & ID Thoughts
This was hiding under a lavender rose petal in the garden at the stem. Made me jump and I put it down in another plant but I started to be curious about what type it was and if it would be poisonous to my dogs. Any ideas what this is?
- Submitted by:
- Submitted: May 10, 2019
- Photographed: May 10, 2019
- Spider: Mecaphesa
- Location: Santa Barbara, California, United States
- Spotted Outdoors: On Flower
- Found in web?: No
- Attributes: Dorsal
Help identify this spider
Apr 25, 2019
Apr 25, 2019
Poolville , 
I can’t find it again after putting it in a potted plant. So here’s hoping it’s not poisonous!!
It isn’t dangerous. It has some venom for killing prey. It has the ability to change colors to match its surroundings. They also align their body and legs linearly to match the visual lines of the background. They go where they expect insects to be, such as on flowers. They aren’t web spiders. Holding still in an ambush position (front legs stretched out like it wants to hug) is how they hunt. These camouflaging spiders are some of my favorites. I like to see photos of them to see how well they match the backgrounds.
This is fascinating and makes perfect sense because it was on a pale lavender colored rose. I only saw it move a tiny bit after I plucked a petal away or I wouldn’t have seen it at all! Wow. Thank you so much for the info.
Hi, this is a Crab Spider in the genus Mecaphesa.
Thank you!!