Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
 

Register · Log In
HomeGuideID RequestRecentFrassForumsDonateHelp
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
Upcoming Events

Photos of insects and people from the 2024 BugGuide gathering in Idaho July 24-27

Moth submissions from National Moth Week 2024

Photos of insects and people from the 2022 BugGuide gathering in New Mexico, July 20-24

Photos of insects and people from the Spring 2021 gathering in Louisiana, April 28-May 2

Photos of insects and people from the 2019 gathering in Louisiana, July 25-27

Photos of insects and people from the 2018 gathering in Virginia, July 27-29


Previous events
TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData
Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Chelicerates (Chelicerata) » Arachnids (Arachnida) » Spiders (Araneae) » True Spiders (Araneomorphae) » Entelegynae » Crab Spiders (Thomisidae) » Mecaphesa » Northern Crab Spider (Mecaphesa asperata)

Species Mecaphesa asperata - Northern Crab Spider

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Size · Identification · Range
Crab Spider - Mecaphesa asperata - male Flower Spider - Mecaphesa asperata M. asperata - penultimate face - Mecaphesa asperata - male M. asperata - penultimate dorsal close-up - Mecaphesa asperata - male Mecaphesa asperata? - Mecaphesa asperata - male Crab Spider - Mecaphesa asperata - male northern crab spider - Mecaphesa asperata - female Mecaphesa asperata
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Chelicerata (Chelicerates)
Class Arachnida (Arachnids)
Order Araneae (Spiders)
Infraorder Araneomorphae (True Spiders)
No Taxon (Entelegynae)
Family Thomisidae (Crab Spiders)
Genus Mecaphesa
Species asperata (Northern Crab Spider)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Mecaphesa asperata (Hentz, 1847)

Misumenops asperatus (Hentz, 1847) -- see Lehtinen, P. T. & Y. M. Marusik, 2008.
Size
Male: total length approx. 3.3 mm; female generally smaller than M. vatia: approx. 5.5 mm. (Dondale & Redner, 1978b)
Identification
Dorsum of abdomen off-white with two pairs of longitudinal red bands or rows of spots, sometimes with lateral red band anteriad (Dondale & Rednder, 1978b) --- a "capped" V, with the point of the V at the end of the somewhat angular abdomen (Wikipedia, accessed 09-Jan-2011); legs yellowish or off-white, banded distally red or brown; femora spotted.


Palp

Epigynum
Range
New Mexico to Florida, northward to British Columbia, Quebec, and Massachusetts. (Dondale & Redner, 1978b)
Contributed by Kevin Pfeiffer on 9 January, 2011 - 3:08am
Additional contributions by cheins
Last updated 25 March, 2023 - 8:54pm

Disclaimer: Dedicated naturalists volunteer their time and resources here to provide this service. We strive to provide accurate information, but we are mostly just amateurs attempting to make sense of a diverse natural world. If you need expert professional advice, contact your local extension office.

Contributors own the copyright to and are solely responsible for contributed content.
Click the contributor's name for licensing and usage information.
Everything else copyright © 2003-2025 Iowa State University, unless otherwise noted.

Bugguide is hosted by:

Plant Pathology, Entomology and Microbiology at Iowa State University logo

Printer Friendly Version 		Terms of Use
Privacy Statement
Site Map
Contact