Global InformationThomisus spectabilis information
| White crab spider | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Chelicerata |
| Class: | Arachnida |
| Order: | Araneae |
| Infraorder: | Araneomorphae |
| Family: | Thomisidae |
| Genus: | Thomisus |
| Species: | T. spectabilis
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| Binomial name | |
| Thomisus spectabilis Doleschall, 1859
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Thomisus spectabilis, also known as the white crab spider or Australian crab spider, is a small spider found in Australia and far east Asia.[1]
The body length of the female is up to 10 mm, the male 6.2 mm. Including legs, the spider is around 3 cm across.[2] This spider is usually white, though sometimes may appear yellow. The legs and head appear almost translucent. Thomisus spectabilis is an ambush predator, often seen resting in flowers of its same color.[3] Its egg sacs are laid in a folded leaf, and the cream colored eggs, typically 1 mm in diameter, range between 200 and 370 in number.[2]
These spiders primarily eat insects and their preference for symmetry helps them in capturing pollinating insects such as butterflies and bees.[4] The spider also takes advantage of its color scheme's reflectance of UV light to create a color contrast in the visual field of the bees that attracts the bees.[5]
The Australian crab spider is mostly a suburban or urban animal found in Eastern Australia, and their habitat is among white and yellow daisies.[6]
Thomisus spectabilis are a venomous species. Their venom is not known to be medically significant. These spiders do not weave webs, but rather chase and ambush their prey.
- ^ "Thomisus spectabilis". Atlas of Living Australia. Retrieved February 3, 2020.
- ^ a b Australian Spiders in Colour - Ramon Mascord 1970 SBN 589 07065 7, page 48
- ^ Australia, Atlas of Living. "Species: Thomisus spectabilis". bie.ala.org.au. Retrieved 2020-10-19.
- ^ Astrid M. Heiling, Ken Cheng, Marie E. Herberstein, Exploitation of floral signals by crab spiders (Thomisus spectabilis, Thomisidae), Behavioral Ecology, Volume 15, Issue 2, March 2004, Pages 321–326, doi:10.1093/beheco/arh012
- ^ Wignall, Anne E.; Heiling, Astrid M.; Cheng, Ken; Herberstein, Marie E. (2006). "Flower Symmetry Preferences in Honeybees and their Crab Spider Predators". Ethology. 112 (5): 510–518. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2006.01199.x. ISSN 1439-0310.
- ^ J.C. O’Hanlon, M.E. Herberstein, G.I. Holwell, Habitat selection in a deceptive predator: maximizing resource availability and signal efficacy, Behavioral Ecology, Volume 26, Issue 1, January–February 2015, Pages 194–199, doi:10.1093/beheco/aru179