Wild Florida Photo
Nature Photography by Paul Rebmann
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Mecaphesa sp.
FLOWER SPIDER
CRAB SPIDER
Florida native
These are called flower spiders because instead of spinning a web, they sit and wait for insects to come to the flower where the spider catches them. Also often called crab spiders for their shape.
Members of the Mecaphesa genus (previously Misumenops) can be differentiated from several similar genera by having hairs on the body and legs. Also, of the two rows of four eyes, only the center two eyes of the second row are easily seen, giving the appearance of having six eyes. See the bugguide.net (link at left) for more identification tips on this family.
I was unable to identify the species of this spider. Some of the photos here show a spider on horsemint or spotted beebalm and a few other photos show a spider on rayless sunflower.
Mecaphesa sp. is a member of the Thomisidae - Crab spiders family.
For more information on this species, visit the following link:
Bugguide.net info page for this genus
Date record last modified:
Jun 30, 2015