The crab spider (Misumena vatia) can change colour from white to yellow. This allows it to become almost invisible as it sits on similarly coloured flowers while it waits to ambush an unsuspecting pollinator. The favourite local perch of the crab spider is a daisy, a flower that offers the spider a choice: remain white and hunt from the petals; turn yellow and hunt from the central yellow disk. Every crab spider on a daisy I have photographed in past years, has chosen to be white on the petals: see 1, 2, 3 or 4 (read the comment about the colour shift in 4).
This year, for the first time, I saw a yellow crab spider on the central disk of a daisy. Who knows why? The only difference I can see is that these pictures were taken just after a rain. It may be that the drops on the petals were a nuisance for it.
A yellow crab spider hunts from the central yellow disk of a daisy.
A crab spider is skittish and upon spotting me, this one hid under a petal.
Oh wow, stunning photos. The dew drops and the different shades of yellow are just gorgeous. These pictures are in my top favorites from your photography.
Lisa, on that first shot, I was tempted to closely crop to the spider, but then realized that showing the whole droplet-festooned daisy made it more interesting. Did you also notice the water drops on the spider?
Oh no, I didn’t even notice those drops on the spider. I thought they were part of the spider.
Excellent series on Crab Spiders.
Last summer I was able to photograph this fellow.
Travis, nice shot. I have yet to see a crab spider capture a wasp, only flies.