June 5th, 2012

Can you see the spider in this photograph?  Look closely – very closely – and you’ll see a tiny yellow crab spider – a.k.a. flower spider – ready to grab any unsuspecting insects.  This plant is called bladder campion, and there is at least one crab spider amongst it’s blooms every year.  So I took an exploratory look today in anticipation of the first Grade 6 Biodiversity Invertebrate Study tomorrow, and sure enough, there it was.

Flower spiders can change colour as the plant community in the field evolves from spring to summer through fall.  They are masters of camouflage and have a powerful venom to quickly subdue prey much larger than themselves.

Here a couple of photos from previous years – one in the same patch of bladder campion in 2006; another with a bumblebee in 2008; and my favourite – one perfectly disguised on the central disk of a fleabane dining on a parasitic fly.

If you’re brave enough, click on any one of these photos to see a scary big spider image in a new window.  So test your skills and see if you can find some of these amazing arachnids in your garden, or out in the field…