ID and new underwear needed

Roen

I was out shooting macros in the garden a month or so ago and only got around to converting the pics a while ago. I was trying to get a bee in flight.
So I was happily shooting away and doing what u should do in insect macros, shooting from a distance and slowly moving in. I had decided on a bee to follow and was happily clicking, when out of nowhere this thing appeared in the blink of an eye and gave me the fright of my life

I leapt back about 6ft......well it was extremely large in the viewfinder of the camera
I checked my books and couldn't come up with an exact ID, I was wondering if anyone here had an idea?






**Edit** Forgot to mention, the bee got away

Mr Magnolia

Wow. Great shots.

Alun

Was this in Ireland? Doesn't look like any spider I've ever seen here :eek:

qwertyphobia

Stay exactly where you are a special CDC biological containment unit is heading for your back garden as we speak.

Roen

Yep, the back garden is unfortunately in Ireland, Waterford to be precise. I'd say it's a crab spider. It didn't have a web and just lunged out of nowhere to have a go at mr. bee.

In one of the earlier shots I took you can sort of make out two legs cocked and waiting. They look exactly like the stamen of the flowers, just a little larger.

A bit more info, it was hidden in an Echium, which is now about 12-13ft tall and is looming over everything else like something from the Day of the Triffids.

Alun

Yeah, I did a bit of Googling and came up with it possibly being a Crab Spider. Possibly one of this family ?

http://www.xs4all.nl/~ednieuw/Spiders/Thomisidae/Thomisidae.htm

I've seen other references on the web to members of this spider family quickly adapting their colouring to their surroundings (within a few days) so you can't go much on the colours you see in pictures of them .. they'll all be slightly different, so it might be a bit difficult to get a 100% accurate ID on this one.

Roen

Aha!

The front two legs, that are often larger and stronger than the other six, are held sideways, ready to catch the prey immediately.

The only thing that bothers me is that the body of the spider is larger than any of the ones mentioned on that page.

Ah well if the cap fits and all that.
Glad to know I have a venomous spider in the back garden though! Even if it is harmless to humans.

Alun

Roen wrote:

The only thing that bothers me is that the body of the spider is larger than any of the ones mentioned on that page.

You're right .. yours does seem to have a particularly bulbous abdomen.

Maybe you could send the photo to one of the Arachnological societies, such as http://www.britishspiders.org.uk/html/bas.php (Couldn't find an Irish equivalent), or maybe take it to the Natural History Museum (once they've fixed the stairs!!).

philstar

Great pics!!.......exotic looking spider, never tought something like that would be in ireland.

Roen

It could have been preggers I suppose.
I think the best bet would be one of the ID Needed groups on Flickr, a lot of boffins inhabit those spaces.

philstar

would this guy be the same specie??.........he was hanging on the hall wall this afternoon

btw he was tiny, no bigger than a penny

Roen

Looks like some of the ones in the article Alun posted alright.
Mad colours. It must be trying to blend in with the wall paper

Ruu_Old

New pair of brown trousers on the way. Great shots. *shiver down back*

Mothman

This is Misumena vatia. It does seem to be given the english name Goldenrod Crab spider in north America with the general name for this genus (family) being Flower crab spider.

Here's a good page on it.

I've seen white, yellow and blue forms.

hiorta

Looks a bit like a Preying Mantis

Alun

Just spotted this guy out in the garden .. the bee is a goner, I'm afraid Looks similar to Roen's example but he's all white. I guess that's because he's living in an all white flower?



P.S. click on the thumbnail if you want to see his hairy legs in excruciating detail

Mellor

Alun wrote: »

Just spotted this guy out in the garden .. the bee is a goner, I'm afraid Looks similar to Roen's example but he's all white. I guess that's because he's living in an all white flower?



P.S. click on the thumbnail if you want to see his hairy legs in excruciating detail

Yeah, from the same bits i've read the crab spider female changes colour to match its surroundings, it takes about 2-3 days.
I've seen marco shots of them where you can only just make them out as not being part of the flower

artieanna

vicious little bucks when they'd take on a bee:eek::eek::eek:

OP I hope you got the underpants sorted......:D:D;)

Roen

Ah I wasn't wearing any