Epicadus heterogaster
“What, that’s a real spider? Are you sure it’s not made of plastic?”
Yes, I’m sure. I’ve seen it move. In fact, I poked at it myself (hehe).
This is a pretty amazing spider. They are also known as flower crab spiders ( from the Thomisidae family). They are specialized as making themselves look really attractive to insects by disguising themselves as flowers.
When bees, flies and butterflies see that magical show of yellow and purple and ultraviolet, they just can’t help themselves. And then, they fall right into the trap!
If you google Epicadus heterogaster, you will see spiders that look just like mine, purple ones, and bright yellow ones that look like the Arthropode’s version of Pikachu. It was believed that they were three different species, but now we know that there is no difference between them. They have the ability to change colors to better match the flower on which they are sitting. Pretty cool, eh?
Epicadus heterogaster by The Bug Lady, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Tags: arachnid, beautiful, Brazilian, crab spider, flower spider, spider
