Spider Misumena vatia

Arthur Cundall

Prompted by the article in Worcestershire Record Number 35, page 34, illustrating occurrences of Misumena vatia in 2013 (Farmer 2013),I show yet another occurrence of this spider's predatory activity.

On 25thJune 2013, a warm sunny day, I was at the Worcestershire Wildlife Trust Tunnel Hill Reserve (SP021475) of which I am the Manager. My attention was caught by the erratic movement of the inflorescence of an orchid Dactylorhyza fuchsii. Investigation showed a fly, Empis livida, which had settled on a floret, being killed and secured by this spider. The spider was clearly showing no cryptic coloration, but had presumably been concealed within the flower spike. I was able to photograph over a period of half an hour, at the end of which the spider was still feeding.

Acknowledgement.

Mick Blythe kindly identified the fly.

Reference

Farmer, G. 2013. Flowers that bite. Worcestershire Record 35:34-35

Images

01. Misumena vatia on orchid with victim. Arthur Cundall