#4198 · 🕷️ spiders & kin

Goldenrod Crab Spider

🇳🇱 Kameleonspin ·Misumena vatia

9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences

1. © Robby Deans · CC BY-NC 4.0
2. © Zach Hawn · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
3. © Jason M Crockwell · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
4. © John Crossley · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
5. © Wolfgang Jauch · CC BY 4.0
6. © chiaravitillo · CC BY-NC 4.0
7. © Brian Starzomski · CC BY-NC 4.0
8. © Erika Mitchell · CC BY-NC 4.0
9. © Lisa Proulx · CC BY-NC 4.0

what is it?

Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider with holarctic distribution. In North America, where it is the largest and best-known flower spider, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower (crab) spider , because it is commonly found hunting in goldenrod sprays in the autumn. Young males in the early summer may be quite small and easily overlooked, but females can grow up to 10 mm (excluding legs); males reach 5 mm at most.

base stats

NL sightings 365iNaturalist, research grade
worldwide 84,253iNaturalist observations

Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).

fun facts

Spotted 365 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #13 most seen of the spiders & kin in NL.
84,253 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
Scientifically named by Carl Alexander Clerck in 1757 (269 years ago).