Pixel Wild
Goldenrod Crab Spider
Goldenrod Crab Spider
Misumena vatia
Arachnida
COMMON

Stats

Lifespan
1-2 yrs
Size
Small
Diet
Insectivore
Activity
Diurnal
Social
Solitary
Biome
Temperate grassland
Range
Northern Hemisphere
Movement
Walking
Breeding
Egg-laying
Defense
Camouflage
Status
Common

About

The goldenrod crab spider can slowly shift its body colour between white and yellow over several days to match whichever flower it is hunting from. Females sit motionless on blooms and ambush bees and butterflies far larger than themselves — all without ever spinning a web.

Life cycle

  1. 1.
    egg sac
    A silk-wrapped egg sac shelters a clutch of eggs until the young are ready to emerge.
  2. 2.
    juvenile
    A spiderling emerges from the egg sac already in miniature adult form and starts catching prey almost immediately.
  3. 3.
    subadult
    A near-adult arachnid molts through several instars, growing larger and developing mature markings.
  4. 4.
    adult
    Fully grown after its final molt.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Class
Arachnida
Order
Araneae
Family
Thomisidae
Genus
Misumena
Species
Misumena vatia