Other Common Names
Red banded crab spider (see San Diego site, below).
Ridge-faced flower spider (see Missouri Dept of Conservation site, below).
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Originally described by Walkenaur in 1837 as Thomisus formosipes
The species name is also often spelled with a c, formocipes.
Many sources consider M. aleatorius (Hentz) to be a synonym. Others consider it a species in its own right.
Explanation of Names
Latin formosus- "beautiful" + pes- "foot or leg"
Identification
The identifying characteristic, according to Florida's Fabulous Spiders, is a white ridge on the spider's face below the eyes. Can be either white or yellow. Most sources say this is a response to its surroundings, but I did find one claim that color depended on whether the egg was laid on a yellow or white-flowered plant. See
here for brief description of this theory.
Please see Identification notes on Misumena page
here
Males are smaller and quite dissimilar to females:
Habitat
Its preferred lurking spot is in and around flowers.
Food
An ambush predator. It will attack and eat just about any creature that comes close enough- even some that are larger than it is.
Males have been observed feeding on flower nectar.
See Also
Misumena, Misumenops and other species of Misumenoides mostly look very similar.
Print References
Florida's Fabulous Spiders
(1)
