Fooled you!

A yellow crab spider with its catch on the flowers of a Sedum rubrotinctum in our garden on the farm in the Hofmeyr-district of the Eastern Cape, South Africa. 'n Geel krapspinnekop met haar vangs op 'n vetplantjie se geel blomme. Crab spiders (family Thomsidae) are usually brightly coloured with colourful patterns. As with crabs, the first two legs are longer than the rest of the legs. As with crabs, they are able to move forwards, backwards as well as sideways. The Thomisidae is a large family of spiders with 160 genera and about 2000 known species. In Africa they are represented by 69 genera and about 360 species. Most thomisids species have a very wide distribution throughout the region as they are easily distributed by wind. Crab spiders are no active hunters. They make more use of the camouflage techniques than other spiders and catch their prey with their front legs. With a poisonous bite (not dangerous to humans) they kill their prey and suck it dry. They can be found on flowers or leaves of plants. Because they sit on easily spotted places they are also easy to catch by the predators. Most thomisids live only for one year. A spider female that hatches in autumn will hibernate as an immature, mature in spring, lay her eggs during summer only to die in late summer. The best-known flower dwellers are members of the genus Thomisus (flower crab spider). They are brightly coloured (white, yellow, pink, pale green or white). Die blom-krapspinnekop is die verkleurmannetjie van spinnekopppe, want sy kan van kleur verander soos sy van blom verander – sou sy van more af op ’n geel blom sit, sal sy geel word, of wit op ’n wit blom. Camera: HP Photosmart C945

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