Please help to identify

Ames, IA

~3/4 inch with spread legs, in a yellow flower in coastal wetlands (Galveston, TX)

Thumbnail by ivk
Minot, ND

This is a crab spider (family Thomisidae); likely in the genus Mecaphesa - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecaphesa_asperata for an example. Crab spiders are ambush hunters that do not spin a capture web; they are harmless to humans.

Ames, IA

Quote from Flapdoodle :
This is a crab spider (family Thomisidae); likely in the genus Mecaphesa - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mecaphesa_asperata for an example. Crab spiders are ambush hunters that do not spin a capture web; they are harmless to humans.

Thanks, I'm sure it is Mecaphesa, I most want to know the species.

Minot, ND

Quote from ivk :
Thanks, I'm sure it is Mecaphesa, I most want to know the species.


I am reluctant to pin a specific i.d. on this specimen because as you likely already know, each species can show considerable individual variation in color pattern. That aside, I feel that M. dubia is a strong possibility.

Ames, IA

Thank you.

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