Daily home & garden tip: Crab spiders are experts in camouflage
Crab spiders -- sometimes called flower spiders because many sit on or inside flowers waiting for bugs to drop in -- are named for their crablike legs and ability to use them to walk sideways, forward or backward.Crab spiders do have some silk, but they don't appear to use it much. Males might loosely wrap females in some webbing -- perhaps a defense against being eaten -- but crab spiders are ambushers, not catchers.
They have excellent eyesight (and should, with eight eyeballs keeping a lookout) and can both hide from birds and other predators and watch for bugs.
Crab spiders are small, usually less than 1 inch, but are capable of grabbing bugs much larger than themselves. In fact, they have a poison potent enough to immediately kill bees and butterflies. Some scientific research, in fact, suggests that insects learn to avoid flowers where crab spiders are hanging out.
But while their diet may cause some loss of pollination, the spiders themselves act as pollinators and do so much damage to bad bugs that they more than offset the occasional loss of a butterfly or honeybee.
Their bite, incidentally, isn't dangerous to humans.
Males are typically smaller and darker than females, which leads to perhaps the most interesting feature of crab spiders. Most females found in the Northwest -- North America has about 200 of the world's 2,000 or so species of crab spiders -- are tan, white or cream. Over a period of a few days, they can change colors to match the flower they choose for an ambush -- kind of a chameleon spider.
Crab spiders, in fact, spend so much time and energy changing their color that if one is taken from a flower and put into a flower of a different color, it will often leave and look for the right color rather than try to change again.
-- Bill Monroe
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Spiders Of The Northwest - News
Males are typically smaller and darker than females, which leads to perhaps the most interesting feature of crab spiders. Most females found in the Northwest -- North America has about 200 of the world's 2000 or so species of crab spiders -- are tan,
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Carpet Beetle Pest Control / The Northwest's Nastiest Spiders
As Pacific Northwest residents know, spiders are fairly common in our region. Though spiders can be very beneficial in that they prey on pesky insects we don’t want around the house, there are a few types of spiders you want to avoid. If you believe you have an infestation of any of the following spiders, you will want to contact a pest control company. Not all infestations will require chemical pest control , and a qualified pest control company will know exactly how to handle the risks associated with these potentially harmful spiders.
The most well-known venomous spiders in the Pacific Northwest are the black widow and the hobo spider.
Carpet Beetle Pest ControlWhen crafting a plan to deal with spiders, the first step is to identify the type of spider you have, as this will determine the kinds of pest control and pest prevention actions to take. For correct identification, consider the spider’s web design, habitat, and appearance.
Black widow: The female black widow is known for its shiny black body, around half an inch to one inch long, and the red hourglass shape on the underside of its body. The male black widow is smaller, much lighter in color and lacks the hourglass shape on its belly. Also, the male black widow does not produce dangerous venom as the female does.
These spiders typically create thin webs and are found in dark, moist, undisturbed areas like wood or debris piles, under large stones, and basement or shed corners. If you are bitten by a female black widow, you should go to an emergency room or call your physician immediately.
Hobo spider: The hobo spider is one of the most common in the Pacific Northwest region. With its tan to light brown color and light banding on the body, it can easily be mistaken for several similar-looking varieties of spider. The hobo spider has a body typically about half an inch long and features two palpi (like an extra pair of shortened legs) near their mouths. They create funnel-shaped webs designed for trapping insects and are frequently found in dark, damp spaces that can support their webs.
While similar-looking spiders are not venomous, the bite of the hobo spider can cause necrosis, or the premature death of living tissue. If you believe you have been bit by a hobo spider, you should seek medical treatment immediately.
Because of its ability to cause necrosis, the bite of the hobo spider is often mistakenly attributed to another well-known, venomous U.S. spider: the brown recluse. This spider varies in color from tan to dark brown, has a body length of a quarter-inch to three-quarters of an inch, and has a dark violin-shaped mark on the front portion of the body. Adults favor dark, secluded, areas that are dry, tightly spaced (cluttered) and remain undisturbed. The web of the brown recluse is not used to catch insects and does not typically feature a consistent design.
Spiders Of The Northwest - Bookshelf
Invasive species in the Pacific Northwest
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