SPIDER CRAB (Thomisus onustus) The spider crab (Thomisus onustus) is a relatively easy to see in the Natural Park of Sierra Espuña. We say relatively because of the abundance or scarcity of specimens, but because it is a camouflage expert.
These spiders may have different colors that change at will, from white to other more striking as the red, pink, orange or yellow color as the case of the attached photograph. It takes a couple of days to produce change.
The method of hunting these spiders is closely related to their color as they wait patiently for their prey in the same color flowers your body, so that they go unnoticed until they move to pounce on its prey. At that time they inject a poison that kills them. Their prey are usually bees, wasps and flies, among other insects that flock to the flowers. They do not build webs to capture prey.
These spiders get their common name not only in appearance that highlights the length of its two pairs of front legs and the shape of your abdomen, but also for their ability to move laterally as well as crabs do . Gender Thomisus
includes more than hundred different species, of which only two are present in the peninsula: T. citrinellus and T. onustus, which is pictured in this post.
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