Flower Spiders

Flower Spiders, family Thomisidae are the masters of ambush hunting. These little spiders hide on flowers or in foliage where they are well camouflaged. Their front two pairs of legs are significantly larger than the back two pairs and are used to grab prey. As in the above picture the abdomen is coloured, often the colour of the flowers in which they hide, and the carapace and legs are often green.

I was fortunate enough to be taking a picture of a native sugarbag bee (Tetragonula Carbonaria) collecting nectar on a native pea when something more interesting happened. A flower spider was hiding under one of the petals and as I watched it came after the bee. The following sequence will show what happened.

At 2:33:33 the leg of the spider can be seen coming from under the petal and touching the petal where the bee is foraging. Three seconds later the bee has moved to another flower and the spider is now fully out of hiding. The sugarbag bees are small native bees which form in hives and produce honey much like the Western Honeybee. There are a number of people keeping hives nearby and these bees are

very common on warm sunny days. This sequence was taken in August last year and I have already seen the sugarbag bees active this year (August).

At 10 seconds the bee is still on the flower and the spider has edged closer. Basically, it was using stealth to slowly edge towards the bee without alarming it. The bee has no idea the spider is approaching and is intent on foraging from the pea.

At 16 seconds it has struck and very quickly immobilized the bee. Note the web coming from her spinnerets to stop her from falling during the attack.

The picture to the left was taken at 19 seconds as she is maneuvering the bee back up the flower. The bottom picture was at 21 seconds with a firm grasp of the thorax she continues to head towards her hiding place. The picture at the top of the blog was taken at 27 seconds and is the last picture taken before she disappeared beneath the petals. It took her around 16 seconds to come out from hiding, sneak up on the bee and strike. Eleven seconds later she was disappearing from sight to enjoy her lunch.

Two days ago I was looking at a Magnolia in our garden when a spider abseiled down the outside of the tree. Eventually the wind blew it onto a leaf and it quickly disappeared under the leaf. I went in and grabbed my camera and on my return found it still under the leaf enjoying a meal. It must have captured the insect further up the tree and come to a safer place to eat. Interestingly there are no flowers on the Magnolia at present so it must have been hiding in the foliage.

These spiders are common, and I have seen one catch a fly in Carlton Gardens in Melbourne and the one to the right was taken in Aylesford, Kent during a trip to England. The one thing they have in common is good camouflage, so they are difficult to spot on their chosen flower. A fascinating little spider.