Thursday, June 07, 2012

Crab spider returns!

Okay, remember the crab spider I photographed with my iPhone the other day?



Well, I know what daisy she lives on, and when I passed her yesterday, I saw THIS:


She had just caught herself some kind of bee (it's not a honeybee)m but not only that, she had another little spider sitting backwards on her abdomen!



Crab spiders sit camouflaged in a flower, then ambush their prey. This poor little pollinator was still in its death throes. Or paralysis throes!



So what's with the little spider? I wondered if it was the male, as they are sometimes smaller than the females. Or is it a young'un? Or is it some other kind of spider? Does anyone know? It was just happily sitting there throughout the whole process!



The hungry spider turned her prey around (note the poor bee's pollen-covered legs)...



...then dragged it off behind the daisy!

12 comments:

  1. What a hideous fate for that poor bee! I'll wager that the smaller spider was a male of the same species, holding on for dear life as his virago lady love captured a snack.

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  2. Yikes!!!!! What a very gory tale. Poor bee :-(

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  3. Absolutely fascinating. Thanks for posting this!

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  4. Ye gods, I'll be havin' nightmares about giant daisies and their occupants for evermore. Nanny will have to fetch the night-straps and the chains for me from the attic.

    When I redesign the universe pollinators will be little vegetarian teddy-bears with jet backpacks, spiders will be not seen and not heard and daisies will harbour nothing more worrisome than an invitation to sneeze.

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  5. Wow, what a fascinating sequence! Great photos.

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  6. Wow, I've never managed to capture a crab spider in the act like that. Found one with a hoverfly last year but it was not possible to get that sort of photo.

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  7. Because of the little one's shape and similar patterning - my guess is it's a male - but it could be a baby. That's just my uneducated opinion.

    Personally, I find these pics fascinating, but I'm the child who had an large black and yellow garden spider for an "outdoor" pet. I use to catch large house flies on our enclosed front porch and throw them into his web just to watch him spin them up. I called him Boris!

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  8. Fantastic set of pictures. Many people just think spider and don't get to know all the great varieties.

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  9. Anonymous1:07 am

    Never seen a crab spider before ... pretty, for a spider. I think the piggybacking spider is a male. Just did a 'Net search and one was in the same position. The male is significantly smaller -- I wonder why? Beautiful photos as usual.

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  10. I forgot: And don't come near me, Crabbie!

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  11. Anonymous2:40 pm

    The cruel beauty and beautiful cruelty and mystery of Nature all captured in one shot. Evolution deosn't care, but it creates some awful wonders.

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Thank you for all your comments, which I love to read!