white crab spider on flowerS

Crab spider Thomisus spectabilis IMG 8417 - Crab spiders are commonly referred to as 'flower spiders' as it is on flowers that they usually wait for prey to arrive. Their victims are often small stingless native bees and butterflies that visit a wide variety of flowers to sip at nectar and to collect pollen and, being too busy with the task at hand, the bees either fail to see the spider or are blissfully ignorant of the danger that faces them. White spiders often camouflage themselves among the petals of white flowers, but they frequently hunt, with great success, among the vivid pink blooms of buddleias.