[Petographer]

The wifey found this on one of our rhododendrons this-morning. We had no idea what kind of spider it was. We had never saw one like this before. I did a little searching on the web and found out it is a Crab Spider. They are considered a predator that will catch bees while pollinating flowers and eat them.

[Toad]

Great capture, composition and exposure!

[Petographer]

Thanks Toad. I hate spiders but the colour of this female I thought was awesome. She's about the size of a large green pea.

[EnglishBob]

Yeuch..... great shot, bad subject!.... another arachnaphobe here.

[guerito]

Excellent shot, Colin! The lighting, DOF, everything is perfect. I actually don't like spiders either, but I think they are amazing creatures. Eight legs. Is this a cruel joke of mother nature to make sure they don't drink?

[Don Schaeffer]

Prettiest among the creepy crawlers

[Russt]

Great shot Peto gotta love the creepy crawlers, great datail.
I can see where they get their name from the front part of their body looks like a gost crab!

[Polly]

The wifey found this on one of our rhododendrons this-morning. We had no idea what kind of spider it was. We had never saw one like this before. I did a little searching on the web and found out it is a Crab Spider. They are considered a predator that will catch bees while pollinating flowers and eat them.

]

Nice clear shot. They can be difficult to find and see as they camouflage themselves by taking on the colour of the flower where they're hiding and waiting for their prey. They don't spin a web - just move along like a crab, hence the name, and grab and hold the prey until they kill it and extract the body fluids from it.

Their favoutite food is a Bee and I managed to get a shot of one clinging to and feeding on a Bee last year. it was hidden in a lilac flower and you can see the bee, now dead, with part of the spider's legs showing from inside the flower and clinging to the bee.

Apologies if I've posted this picci here before, or maybe it was on ADI?




Polly

[Toad]

Hello Polly! Long time - no see.

[Polly]

Hello Polly! Long time - no see.

Hiya Mr Toad. I trust your knees have recovered after that long hike to Garibalidi with that strange reversed -peak-cap- wearing bird whisperer.

I'm still hobbling but musn't complain 'cos at least I'm still alive.

Polly

[Kombisaurus]

ooo.. great pic Colin (and Polly too!).

That spider is quite amazing-looking.. it looks like it is carrying a big cushion or pillow on its back... and with those red-marks, well.. it might be called a Gorbachev spider!

[s.hamer]

Very cool shot Peto. Composition is interesting, with the vertical blades of the plant. Also the edges of the blades really look sharp! It's like the spider's walking on green knives.

[Petographer]

Thank all for your replies. I must confess that the spider is on a red plastic rake. I changed the colour to a more suitable one. It wasn't meant to deceive.

[Snownow]

both great shots, and you both have now freaked me out (mutters spiders)

[Petographer]

both great shots, and you both have now freaked me out (mutters spiders)

Thanks Snow. I'm not much of an arachnid fan either. I did find this kinda cool though.