Quite the magician when it comes to changing color. Three species of Crab Spider (Thomisidae) have the ability to perform this amazing change, and it is only the female of the species.
This school bus yellow Crab Spider is perched on Goldenrod (Solidago), awaiting her unsuspecting dinner to come by.
These Crab Spiders normally change from white to yellow, or yellow to white, but on occasion will also become a pale green. In the picture above the Spider in its white coloration is on Queen Anne’s Lace (Daucus carota).
It is a quicker transformation for the Crab Spider to go from yellow to white since it will excrete the yellow pigment stored in its glands. Going from white to yellow requires the spider to produce yellow pigment to change color. This also explains why it takes 10 to 25 days to change from white to yellow, while changing from yellow to white only takes approximately 6 days.
Wow! Nature is so intriguing!
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2 responses to “Camouflage Maven”
Fabulous! I look forward to enjoying your posts!
Hi Diana!
I’m so very glad that you’ve signed up to get my daily posts. I’m hoping you’ll find them filled with many interesting things. I try to post mainly things in the world of nature, but I must admit, there are times when something else gets my attention and I have to say a word or two about it – whether it is something that has come out of my kitchen (ice cream? a pie? who knows) but mostly it is the world of nature – and just where my heart is!
Thank you so much for reading my posts! And thank you for sending your encouraging note.
Bren