Crab spiders make up the family Thomisidae in the order Araneae. They are also commonly called "flower spiders" because they are most often found on flowers, lying in ambush for prey. Crab spiders do not build webs to trap prey, but are active hunters much like the jumping spiders (Salticidae). They are called crab spiders because of their first two pairs of legs, which are held out to the side giving them (with their flattened, angular bodies) a crab-like appearance. The spiders of Thomisidae are completely harmless to humans.

Like all spiders, crab spiders go through a simple metamorphosis.  Young crab spiders hatch from eggs and look like tiny adults.  They shed their skin as they grow.  Most live for less than 1 year.  Females produce hundreds of eggs in the fall, and the offspring hatch in the spring.

Photos by Lynette Schimming

"Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking." -- H. L. Mencken 

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