White spider - Misumena vatia

Webs

I have found these spiders spin webs further down the plants. The curl a leaf or two and use their webs to pin them into place. They don't use their webs for catching their prey.

… Geoff Ball, 29 July, 2008 - 1:34am

leaf + web

This is the way the spider protects it's egg sac. M. vatia often stays with the eggs until they hatch to protect them from ant attack etc They don't eat during this time and at Canadian latitudes would only produce one egg sac before dying. A researcher from Maine by the name of Douglass Morse has spent much of his career studying these spiders - his book was published a year or 2 ago called Predator upon a Flower. His main interest is evolution and life time fitness but the book also contains more natural history than you would want to know.

… robh-r, 9 February, 2009 - 1:01pm

Spider

Thanks for the info, I will look out for that.

… Kildale, 29 July, 2008 - 11:18am

Fantastic!

What a great specimen! There is something very regal about a white spider...very cool!

… Scott Pierson, 12 August, 2004 - 10:54pm

Spider

Hi Scott. It really caught my eye, it was strange just to see it in the flower waiting for something to come to it.

… Kildale, 13 August, 2004 - 12:20am

Nice Pic!

Looks similar to a Goldenrod Spider, but I've never seen a white one. Very cool.

… Thom Bell, 12 August, 2004 - 3:38pm

Spider

Thanks for the info. I looked it up in Bugs of BC and it says "the spider is yellow, and sometimes white" So I thank you for your help.

… Kildale, 12 August, 2004 - 7:59pm