Whitebanded Crab Spider - Misumenoides formosipes - male wiki

Misumenoides is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

s in the family

Thomisidae The Thomisidae are a family of spiders, including about 170 genera and over 2,100 species. The common name crab spider is often linked to species in this family, but is also applied loosely to many other families of spiders. Many members of thi ...

. Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders.

Species

, the

World Spider Catalog The World Spider Catalog (WSC) is an online searchable database concerned with spider taxonomy. It aims to list all accepted families, genera and species, as well as provide access to the related taxonomic literature. The WSC began as a series of ...

listed the following 35 species: * '' Misumenoides annulipes'' – Mexico, Guatemala * '' Misumenoides athleticus'' – Mexico, Brazil * '' Misumenoides bifissus'' – Guatemala * ''

Misumenoides blandus Misumenoides is a genus of spiders in the family Thomisidae. Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders. Species , the World Spider Catalog listed the following 35 species: * ''Misumenoides annulipes'' – Mexico, Gua ...

'' – Guatemala, Panama * '' Misumenoides carminatus'' – Argentina * '' Misumenoides chlorophilus'' – Argentina * '' Misumenoides corticatus'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides crassipes'' – Colombia * ''

Misumenoides dasysternon Misumenoides is a genus of spiders in the family Thomisidae. Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders. Species , the World Spider Catalog listed the following 35 species: * '' Misumenoides annulipes'' – Mexico, Gu ...

'' – Chile * ''

Misumenoides decipiens Misumenoides is a genus of spiders in the family Thomisidae. Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders. Species , the World Spider Catalog listed the following 35 species: * '' Misumenoides annulipes'' – Mexico, Gu ...

'' – Venezuela * '' Misumenoides depressus'' – Guatemala * '' Misumenoides eximius'' – Argentina * '' Misumenoides formosipes'' – Canada, United States * '' Misumenoides fusciventris'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides gerschmanae'' – Argentina * '' Misumenoides illotus'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides magnus'' – Mexico to Colombia * '' Misumenoides nicoleti'' – Chile * '' Misumenoides nigripes'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides nigromaculatus'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides obesulus'' – Mexico * ''

Misumenoides parvus Misumenoides is a genus of spiders in the family Thomisidae. Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders. Species , the World Spider Catalog listed the following 35 species: * ''Misumenoides annulipes'' – Mexico, Gua ...

'' – Mexico to Colombia * ''

Misumenoides paucispinosus Misumenoides is a genus of spiders in the family Thomisidae. Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders. Species , the World Spider Catalog listed the following 35 species: * '' Misumenoides annulipes'' – Mexico, Gu ...

'' – Brazil, Guyana * ''

Misumenoides proseni Misumenoides is a genus of spiders in the family Thomisidae. Spiders in this family are commonly called "crab" or "flower" spiders. Species , the World Spider Catalog listed the following 35 species: * '' Misumenoides annulipes'' – Mexico, Gu ...

'' – Argentina * '' Misumenoides quetzaltocatl'' – Mexico * '' Misumenoides roseiceps'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides rubrithorax'' – Guyana * '' Misumenoides rubroniger'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides rugosus'' – Guatemala, Panama * '' Misumenoides similis'' – Brazil * '' Misumenoides tibialis'' – Panama, Brazil * '' Misumenoides variegatus'' – Argentina * '' Misumenoides vigilans'' – Guatemala * '' Misumenoides vulneratus'' – Brazil The female '' Misumenoides formosipes'', while similar to ''

Misumena vatia ''Misumena vatia'' is a species of crab spider found in Europe and North America. In North America, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower (crab) spider,Acorn, John and Sheldon, Ian. (2003). ''Bugs of Ontario'' Edmonton: Lone Pine Publ ...

'', is not as large, and can be distinguished by the inverted 'V' marking on its back (with the point of the V closer to the

cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...

) and the 'mask' over its eyes. In most respects this spider behaves like the goldenrod spider, also commonly hunting in

goldenrod Goldenrod is a common name for many species of flowering plants in the sunflower family, Asteraceae, commonly in reference to the genus ''Solidago''. Several genera, such as ''Euthamia'', were formerly included in a broader concept of the genu ...

sprays in the fall. It tends to take smaller prey, however, avoiding the

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

s and large

butterflies Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

in favor of

honeybee A honey bee (also spelled honeybee) is a eusocial flying insect within the genus ''Apis'' of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the c ...

s, large flies and small butterflies such as skippers. Male ''M. formosipes'' are quite distinctive, being much smaller than females and having a greenish cephalothorax, yellow-orange abdomen, and long, red to reddish-black front legs. They are found on a wide variety of plants as they wander in search of females in late summer and early fall.

References

External links

Crab spider ''Misumenoides formocipes'' diagnostic photos

Thomisidae Thomisidae genera Spiders of South America Spiders of North America Taxa named by Frederick Octavius Pickard-Cambridge {{Thomisidae-stub