Who said Crabs only live in the sea?

Walking around the garden this evening, I noticed at least 5 of these tiny spiders lurking about minding their own business (or so I thought). I then found a sixth one in the process of immobilising this poor hoverfly.

The species name is Misumena vatia and is more commonly known as the Crab Spider. They are normally found between May and August, however as the weather is unseasonably warm for September (26'C today) they seem to be still thriving.

These crafty little devils sit motionless on a flower, which they often resemble, simply waiting for insects to visit. They are able to change colour slowly to match the background, within the range of white, yellow and green.
When another insect comes in range it is grasped and quickly paralysed. It is widespread and common throughout, except for the far north, in warm flowery places.

Please have a careful look at your flower heads in bloom and see if you can spot any of these crafty little creatures. The female is easier to spot, as its body length is 10mm, however the male (all 6 of mine) are only 4-5mm.

The poor hoverfly that has met an undignified end is the Syritta pipiens (male above). It is an engaging little fly, not easily disturbed by a human presence, and hence it is an ideal subject to study. On close inspection, always look at the hind femur, which is very strongly swollen.

They like nothing best than to chase other flying insects, and leap on resting ones, even bumblebees! This behaviour has been interpreted as territorial defence, but it may be that males approach every insect as a female Syritta until they find to the contrary. Females appear to play no role in the courtship, and the behaviour of males has been termed 'rape'.

They are widely distributed throughout Britain and Ireland though scarcer in the more remote parts of Scotland. They can be found between April and November, and so there is plenty of time to spot them.