Natural Born Killers

During a spell of hot dry weather in late May I photographed a series of flower crab spiders with their victims in the orchard. Here is a selection. I photographed at least twice as many individuals as I'm showing you here.

 Ashy Mining Bee Andrena cinerea captured by a Xysticus sp on Fodder Burnet Sanguisorba minor subsp muricata (Fr. Pimprenelle polygame). 

 Glanville Fritillary Melitaea cinxa (Fr. La Mélitée du Plantain) captured by Thomisus onustus (Fr. la Thomise enflée) on Field Scabious Knautia arvensis (Fr. Scabieuse).

 Glanville Fritillary captured by T. onustus on a Pyramidal Orchid Anacamptis pyramidalis (Fr. Orchis pyramidal).

Knapweed Fritillary Melitaea phoebe (Fr. Le Grand Damier) captured by T. onustus on Field Scabious.

Four-spotted moth Tyta luctuosa (Fr. Noctuelle en deuil) caught by T. onustus on Field Scabious.

As you can see from the photos, the flower crab spider Thomisus onustus comes in pink and white or yellow. It also comes in green, and can change colour as necessary for camouflage. Sometimes they are nearly invisible, but having said that, they can be remarkably brazen, and are far less concerned about concealing themselves from a photographer than the Xysticus was.

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