White-banded Crab Spider Eating a Bee

I got an ID on an older picture today, and to celebrate I'm sharing it. This has been identified as a White-banded Crab Spider. I had assumed it was a Goldenrod Crab Spider, mostly because it looked like a yellow crab spider that was lurking amongst the goldenrods. I don't feel too badly about my misidentification:
  • My spider field guide says they look similar. A white/pale band across the face of the White-banded Crab Spider is considered to be the biggest difference between the 2 species, and I didn't exactly get an unobstructed view of the head of the spider.
  • Although both are considered good-sized by the standards of our crab spiders, they're still pretty small. A big female is still under a half inch, and a big male is a third of that. It's kind of hard to see details on any animal this small.
I'm pretty sure the unlucky prey is a Western Honeybee. The bee no doubt failed to see a yellow spider hiding in the yellow flowers, a mistake that proved fatal to her. Though I assume a bee sting would be fatal to the spider, the spider's got to take some chances to eat; this time that chance entailed ambushing a bee. (Butterflies are presumably safer prey.)

Both the White-banded Crab Spider and the Goldenrod Crab Spider are considered ambush predators. They hide someplace appealing to insects and wait for the unwary to stop by. 

September 13, 2020 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 96536198, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

September 13, 2020 at Negri Nepote Native Grassland Preserve
Photo 96536184, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)



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