The Flower Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) is a camouflage expert when it comes to hiding out on flower heads to capture prey. In this talk, Rose Christoper (Newcastle University) will introduce the ecology of these spiders, why it is important to study these types of interactions, the many different techniques she’s utilising to do that, and how you can get involved with helping to decipher the choices these spiders make.
Q&A with Rose Christopher
Rose Christopher is a second-year PhD student based at Newcastle University using a combination of molecular techniques and traditional observations to study spider interactions with host plants, what drives those interactions, and the ecosystem services they provide.
1. Many insects are able to see light in the ultraviolet spectrum. Are Flower Crab Spiders camouflaged in the ultraviolet range too?
This is something my lab group really wanted to study but sadly weren’t able to get the funding for. There was a paper published a few years ago that looked at Flower Crab Spiders’ UV reflectance, but whether or not their UV reflectance affects how well pollinators can see them has not yet been studied. It’s such an interesting question though! Especially when one considers that some flowers these spiders chose to sit on seem to offer little camouflage to the spider to our human eyes – e.g. white or yellow spiders sat on the bright pink flowers of Red Campion. Maybe there’s something going on with UV there? I’d love to study this.
2. In your talk you spoke about Flower Crab Spiders ‘choosing’ prey. Does this mean there are some potential prey organisms that they ‘reject’?
Probably, yes. Flower Crab Spiders are specialised ambush predators, so they are very good at eating things that are much larger than themselves. There are some amazing photos online of Flower Crab Spiders taking down bees, big flies and butterflies, for example. These big insects will make for a balanced and nutritious meal. On the other hand, smaller prey items are often rejected. Aphids are often very abundant in the habitats frequented by Flower Crab Spiders, but from visual observations they are taken less frequently as prey. We suspect that’s because aphids are absolutely full of sugar but are relatively lacking in other nutrients like proteins and fats. Why settle for a small unhealthy aphid snack when you can wait for a much healthier large hoverfly banquet!
3. How long does it take a Flower Crab Spider to change colour?
The colour change usually takes a few days. I think that’s quite quick considering the build-up of colour-forming chemical compounds required.
4. With regards to the community science aspect of your research, what gaps would be particularly helpful for people to fill? Be that geographic coverage, habitat coverage, etc.
Habitat wise, the vast majority of specimens we’ve had submitted so far have been from gardens. We’d love better representation from other habitats, so if anyone does come across Flower Crab Spiders whilst out and about in other spaces, particularly urban parks or wilder areas, we’d particularly appreciate being sent those. As for geographic coverage, a lot of our data so far is from the south-west of England, so anything from elsewhere in the country in the spider’s range would be particularly great (remembering its range doesn’t extend much north of Liverpool!).
5. How many spider specimens are you hoping to receive from citizen scientists around the UK?
My target is to get 25 specimens submitted from across the UK from a range of habitats this year. That would be perfect.
6. What flowers are best to search for Flower Crab Spiders on?
Oxeye Daisies are particularly good. Buttercups and Red Campion as well. And Hogweed is where I’m currently finding a lot of my samples. Apparently, you can also find Flower Crab Spiders inside Foxglove flowers during overcast conditions!
Literature References
- Battiston et al. (2020) ‘Networks beyond pairwise interactions: Structure and dynamics’: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physrep.2020.05.004
- Chamberlain and Holland (2008) ‘Density-mediated, context-dependent consumer-resource interactions between ants and extrafloral nectar plants’: https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1890/07-1139.1?casa_token=Vidd8cAMO3cAAAAA%3Av_qN_oAQ0obX8W_Z_PuEH-8aHsFM-gYFY7VlsWuzaYZuh9_zRIw0NJVSc-F2iTwhvcvioR3KO-PKmh-2
- Cuff et al. (2024) ‘Networking nutrients: How nutrition determines the structure of ecological networks’: https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2656.14124
- Cuff et al. (2025) ‘Molecular analysis of trophic interactions for ecological network construction: EcoNet 2025 workshop’: https://www.protocols.io/view/molecular-analysis-of-trophic-interactions-for-eco-kqdg319rpl25/v1
- Hu et al. (2025) ‘A global citizen science effort via iNaturalist reveals food webs of large predatory rove beetles’:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S235224962500014X?via%3Dihub
- Parmentier and Das (2004) ‘Commensal vs. parasitic relationship between Carapini fish and their hosts: some further insight through δ13C and δ15N measurements’: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022098104002400
Further Info
- Spider-spies community science scheme: https://foragingecology.com/spider-spies/
- Flower Crab Spider (Misumena vatia) British Arachnological Society Factsheet: https://britishspiders.org.uk/sites/default/files/2022-04/Flowercrab%20WEBSITE.pdf
- Networking Nutrients: Nutrients as a Driver of Invertebrate Interactions (Jordan Cuff entoLIVE): https://biologicalrecording.co.uk/2025/08/19/networking-nutrients/
- 🕷️ Learn more about spiders on our Orbweb Spiders of the UK online course: https://courses.biologicalrecording.co.uk/courses/orbweb-spiders
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