Dont sniff the flowers too closely

Didnt have much to report last week with the poop weather and my actually doing some work for a change!  On brief exploration around my bro's garden yesterday I added a new spider id to my list - Misumena vatia. I think this is the female and as you can see it's pretty sinister looking especially with freshly caught prey!

 

It is a species of crab spider that sits in flowers waiting to ambush its ill-fated victims.  The female can be white, yellow or greenish and sometimes with red marks.  It can change between these colours to camouflage itself on the flower.  The males are smaller and less distinctive.  It didnt have any trouble carrying its prey around in its palps.