Crab Spider

What are Crab Spiders?

Except for a few, no one can really get used to the horrors that a spider brings with it. Today we are going to talk about the Crab Spiders which is a proud member of the huge and scary spider family. As many as 3000 species are present in the Thomisidae family.

These spiders are renowned for their ability to blend in with their surroundings. It has an extravagant color to its body and can astound (not in a good way) anyone. These crabs can suck out the lives of their prey and then goes ahead to eat them. You will mostly spot a crab spider amidst the leaves of trees and flowers. Did you know they have the ability to stay in one location for a very long time without even moving? Today, get ready to learn about crab spiders and how you can deal with them.

Identification

These crab spiders are a part of a large family that has as many as 3000 different kinds. The crab spiders are named so for the kind of uneven legs they have.

Their front legs are longer than the ones in the back. This gives them the look and feel of a crab. The most noticeable physical feature of a crab spider is its legs. It has four front legs that are longer than the back ones. The front legs have way more hair on them than the rest.

The crab spiders have extremely powerful front two legs that makes it very easy for them to hold things. A crab spider just like a real crab moves in a sideward direction when it feels threatened or provoked. They have legs which can rotate from the base.

Crab spiders vary from one another in color. They are not like the other spiders. Instead, they look ready to blend in with their surroundings at any moment. That means they can be bright like a flower or multicolored like that of a leaf or a tree branch.

The size of these spiders is somewhere between 4 mm to 10 mm. This is, however, the body size that doesn’t include its long legs. The female crab spider is much bigger than the male crab spider.

One more distinguishing feature about the crab spider is the eight eyes it has. Yeah, you heard us right. Eight extremely scary and unnerving eyes. They have an impeccable eyesight.

Types of Crab Spiders

A crab spider has the ability to blend in with its surroundings. It can change its color from white to yellow, green, and anything else. This takes the crab spiders about three days to change its colors. Here, are the kinds of crab spiders there is.

• Misumena vatia
• Flower crab spiders
• Xysticus
• Thomisus onustus
• Diaea
• Misumenops
• Synema
• Ozyptila
• Diaea dorsata
• Tmarus.
• Misumenoides formosipes
• Runcinia grammica.

What does a crab spider eat?

A crab spider has eight eyes, and it can still get hold of a prey from a few centimeters away. They continue to sit in their spots and wait for the preys to walk by.

Crab spiders hunt without making any movement of any kind. The front two legs act like jaws, and the crab spiders grab its prey with it. The venom of a crab spider is deadly for its prey. This paralyzes their prey which then turns it into their meal. They can even consume large sized insects with this ability of theirs.

Different species of crab spiders hunt on different grounds. This includes soil, mulch, shrubs, leaf litter, flowers, stems, garden plants, and so on. Crab spiders never build their nests.

They are recognized as meat eating anthropod. Crab Spiders hunt for their food during the day and are dormant during the night.

Where can you find a crab spider?

They are found everywhere. Yes, we mean everywhere. From meadows to gardens, tropical rainforests, woodlands, meadows, scrublands, grasslands, and even marshes. Crab Spiders are yet to be found in the desert region and the snowcapped mountains.

Life cycle

As soon as a crab spider reaches adulthood, it seeks out for a mate to reproduce. However, the concept of a male spider attracting a female spider remains to be unknown till date. But, it is assumed that they either leave pheromones or attract each other visually or can even follow the drop lines left behind by the females.

The male crab spider sometimes covers its mate in the thread it produces from its body. The male crab spider deposits some of its sperm on a web. This web is designed especially for this reason. The male crab spider uses its pedipalp (second pair of appendages in anthropod) to fertilize the female crab spiders.

The female crab spiders lay their eggs in a safe and secure location. They can even create one by rolling a leaf in its silk and then lays the eggs. The female crab spiders are known to protect their eggs unless they hatch. The baby crab spiders develop in several steps or via the metamorphosis process. They undergo innumerous molts before they can turn into an adult that is ready to reproduce. However, the crab spiders don’t undergo the pupa phase.

Pictures of Crab Spiders

Take a look at some of these fascinating pictures of crab spiders:

How dangerous are Crab Spiders?

In one word these nasty little creatures are terrifying. When an arachnid bites you, it leaves behind two puncture wound marks in your body. This is produced by the fangs that are present in the crab spider to attack its preys. However, no matter how monstrous these spiders look like, they are basically harmless. They in fact run away in case they sense any kind or form of danger. The crab spiders are non-aggressive and extremely timid in nature. They never build their own nests except for the time when they wrap the leaves with flat threads.

Crab spiders are deadly for their preys because the venom that they have can paralyze larger than its own size. However, this doesn’t work that way for humans. Crab Spiders can cause humans with excruciating pain that can last for several hours. If you are allergic to crab spiders, then it can result in some severe problems. It is best to consult a doctor in cases like this.

How to get rid of Crab Spiders?

You surely can’t share your home with a spider that has weird legs and creepy eyes, can you? They are found everywhere in the world and that too in a wide range of varieties. These monsters hide in the dark, and it is a possibility that you will run into them even when you think it is a possibility. Here, are a few ways you can take care of this.

There should be no sign of clutter. You have to eliminate those areas in your house that are hidden behind the dark. When you snatch away their breeding grounds, they are bound to leave you and your home alone. Remember to maintain a well-organized closet. You should start vacuuming the place every other day. This includes underneath and behind the furniture.

Don’t leave behind any food. This includes crumbs. Insects are attracted by unwashed dishes, food crumbs on the sofa or floor, and unattended garbage. You have to take care of these things to keep your house safe from insects and indirectly away from the clutches of spider crabs.

You can capture these monsters in a jar and then cover them with a cardboard. Carefully throw them out.

If the infestation of crab spiders increases, then you should call experts to get rid of them. Don’t deal with these monsters if you are scared of them or are somehow allergic to their venom. To be on the extra safe side call experts that will deal with any kind of pests in your house.

Interesting Facts about Crab Spiders

1. The crab spiders are not alone in the Thomisidae family. It is accompanied by 2000 other species. Except for the snow-covered mountains and the dry deserts, the crab spiders can be found everywhere.
2. Their size varies. It can either be 0.3 inches in size or 0.16 inches. This depends on the species of the crab spiders.
3. The female crab spiders are way bigger than the males.
4. Female crab spiders have a pale green, yellow, or white color body. The abdomen shows two red dots. On the other hand, the males are darker in color. They have an abdomen that features a white and greenish abdomen.
5. The name of the crab spider is inspired by the way it looks. It not only resembles a crab but it also acts like one.
6. No matter how scary the crab spiders look like they are not very harmful. They run away in the face of danger. Only on high provocation, they bite.

This is all that you need to know about the crab spiders. So, make sure they are away from your home with the ways we discussed.