Nature’s calling – Flower crab-spider
As with all other spiders they hate to bite people and will only do so as a very last resort.
Warren Dick spotted quite a few flower-crab spiders on a recent visit to Kenneth Stainbank Nature Reserve.
These little spiders usually perch themselves in the middle of the flower, where they wait with outstretched arms (the first two pairs of legs) for an unsuspecting insect to pay the flower a visit.
What makes these spiders even more fascinating is that they can change colour according to the flower they are on. However, this colour change takes a while, around eight hours. This colour changing ability can leave the flower-crab spider almost invisible.
When someone touches the flower that one of the flower-crab spiders is calling home, they usually tuck up into a little self-defensive ball and drop to the floor.
As with all other spiders they hate to bite people and will only do so as a very last resort.
However, a bite from one of these spiders is harmless to humans. Their venom is only effective on the insects they eat.
If you would like to contact Warren to have some of your interesting spiders, snakes or other wildlife identified send him a WhatsApp message or call him on 072-211-0353. Visit his Facebook page called, Warren’s Small World.
