Stats

Lifespan: About 1 yr
Size: Tiny
Diet: Insectivore
Activity: Diurnal
Social: Solitary
Biome: Temperate grassland
Range: North America
Movement: Walking
Breeding: Egg-laying
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Uncommon

About

This slender, pale green spider ambushes pollinators while sitting motionless on flowers, holding its two long front leg pairs out to the sides like a crab. Unlike many crab spiders, it cannot change colour to match its background, relying instead on its uniform green tone to blend into foliage and petals.

Life cycle

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

Learn more

View on iNaturalist →

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Arachnida
Order: Araneae
Family: Thomisidae
Genus: Misumessus
Species: Misumessus oblongus