Crab spiders

[pressld2]

I spent a pleasant hour yesterday photographing some crab spiders on the cosmos in my garden.

Initially they were very wary and kept diving behind and between the petals...



But by keeping very still and waiting patiently I manage to get some better shots of them...







That last one was tiny - no more than 3mm in body length - and I was interested to see him abseiling down the petal on a strand of silk. I know crab spiders are ambush hunters that don't build webs but wasn't sure if they could produce silk or not.

And speaking of ambush hunting, I watched this one stalking hoverflies about five times his size. He never pounced though. Don't know if that's because he couldn't get close enough or because he thought better of it!

Dave P.

[Venger]

All spiders use silk, though as you said, not all build webs.
Sweet pictures, think you had them covered - male (stripy legs), female and juvenile

[pressld2]

Thanks Venger!

I'm sure there aren't many people who would use the word 'sweet' to describe spiders but I'm definitely with you on that one.

Dave P.

[juliejam]

Never found one myself..Looks like it was fascinating to watch..Excellent set of images...Thanx for sharing ..

Julie

[Cheryl]

Nice pictures

I photographed a couple yesterday - one large one on a hollyhock and a much smaller on the buddleia.