Big Meal For Little Spider

This afternoon I discovered a little White-banded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) enjoying a late lunch consisting of very large meal, a Tachinid Fly (Tachinidae). The White-banded Crab Spider uses its two front pairs of legs to capture its prey and then bite it, injecting venom to disable its meal. Its strong legs and use of venom allows it to capture insects that, like this Tachinid Fly, are much larger than the spider.

A spider that doesn’t build a web, but a spider that will find a spot among flowers to sit and wait for its meal to arrive. Sit and ambush.

This action took place in a garden filled with Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolens) which I enjoy because of the variety of interesting pollinators that it draws.

Published by

Brenda Clements Jones

Brenda is a certified Virginia Master Naturalist, a Habitat Defender for Shenandoah National Park, and a devoted fan of Mother Nature. She lives in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Shenandoah National Park, and hikes up to the higher elevations of her mountain often to see what nature is up to. Her constant hiking companion is a camera that captures nature as it unfolds through the seasons. It’s her goal to share the natural world around her through her photographs.

2 thoughts on “Big Meal For Little Spider”

    1. Hi Bonnie, the apple mint is a plant that I use to attract an interesting bunch of pollinators, and for teaching my little granddaughter that she can eat a few of the plants that are in the gardens.

      Thanks bunches for reading my posts!

      Sending hugs!
      Bren

Comments are closed.