Goldenrod Spider
Misumena
vatiaFlower Spider
Description
Male 1/8" (3-4 mm), female 1/4-3/8"
(5-10 mm). Female yellowish to white with crimson streaks on each
side of abdomen and a reddish-brown stain between eyes. Female's
legs pale. Male's cephalothorax dark reddish brown with white spot
in center and in front of eyes; abdomen white with 2 red bands. Male
has 2 pairs of reddish-brown fore legs, 2 pairs of yellow hind
legs.
Food
Flower-visiting insects.
Life Cycle
Eggs are protected in a silken sac.
Female usually dies before spiderlings hatch and
disperse.
Habitat
Meadows, fields, and gardens on daisies,
goldenrod, and other white or yellow flowers.
Range
Throughout North America and southern
Canada.
Discussion
This spider's coloring often changes
to yellow, camouflaging it on yellow daisies and goldenrod. The
smaller Flower Spider (
Misumenops asperatus), male 1/8" (3
mm), female 1/4" (5 mm), is brownish to pale gray marked with 2 pink
stripes on the cephalothorax, a pattern of pink streaks and spots on
the abdomen, and pink bands around tibiae and tarsi of first 2 pairs
of legs. It is covered with stiff short hair. This spider lives
among grasses and leaves in the eastern United States and southern
Canada, west to Arizona, and north to
Alberta.
