Monday 22 July 2013

Crab spider stalking fly

I spotted this crab spider in my local wildlife garden, it had this strange clock-work movement and grabbed my attention. Then I spotted the fly. The crab spider, a female Xysticus cristatus, legs outstretched, on the left of the photo. The large fly is on the right, having fed or drank from the base of a teasel leaf. If you want to know what happened next see this video.

6 comments:

biobabbler said...

Ah, the life of a predator. Try, try again. =)

I should probably post a photo (still images) series I got of a crab spider (SO one of my fav. animals) HOPING a fly would wander too near...

Suffolk Nature said...

The suspense was killing me. The siren in the background made it even more intense. Great footage of something rarely seen. If you don't mind, I would like to post a link to this from my blog. Excellent stuff. :)

Anonymous said...

Ha! Was it a robber fly fleeing the police? Great video, patience and a steady hand needed. Cool bit of observation as well! Thanks for sharing. Just found your web site and I know I will like it already. Right up my street. Can't wait to see what else I can find. Thank you again for sharing this and your website a refreshing change from most academics I know.

Anonymous said...

great video. I was actually disappointed we didn't see a successful spider, I had the volume off but could imagine the Jaws music to that. :)

Africa Gomez said...

Thank you Suffolk Nature, I count myself lucky having witnessed it!

conall said...

i enjoyed that video!