Running Crab Spiders
| More Hunting Spiders Crab Spiders Daddy Long Legs Fishing Spiders Jumping Spiders House Spiders Wolf Spiders Types of Spiders |
The more colorful Thomisidae crab spiders receive more attention, and they are discussed on another page.
Both families are hunting spiders, albeit with different hunting strategies. Running crab spiders chase prey and crab spiders (flower spiders) perch and wait for prey, typically on flowers and leaves.
Less color variation in running crab spiders correlates nicely with their need for less camouflage when hunting compared to the camouflage needs of flower spiders.
The top picture shows a running crab spider in the Tibellus genus, often called slender crab spiders. The thin thorax and abdomen explains the name.
A few spider species, such as the Rabid Wolf Spider and a Nursery Web Spider, Pisaurina mira, share a similar general brown and white body color pattern. Fortunately, the picture provides a good view of the eye pattern, which matches Tibellus.
The dark bodied spider picture on the left is a male Philodromus-dispar.
It's dark body and light legs make it fairly easy to identify.
They are common European spiders, found also in the Pacific Northwest.
© 2005-2007. Patricia A. Michaels