THE FLOWER AND THE BEE 



family is Misumena vatia, a white spider with a crimson stripe 

 on each side of the abdomen, which easily escapes notice until 

 a dead insect is seen lying upon the surface of the inflorescence. 

 Another species {M. asperata) has red markings, and sometimes 

 exactly resembles the sorrel {Rumex Acetosella). 



Misumena does not spin a web, but conceals itself among the 

 flowers and pounces upon its unsuspecting prey while it is 

 collecting pollen or nectar. One morning in July I had the 

 opportunity to observe the capture of a bumblebee gathering 

 pollen on a wild rose. My attention was for a moment di- 

 verted, but was again recalled by the loud buzzing of the bee. 

 The spider had leaped upon its back and grasped it with its 

 mandibles just behind the head. At first the bumblebee strug- 

 gled violently, but so virulent was the poison that its move- 

 ments speedily ceased entirely. The spider then dragged it 

 over the edge of the flower to the leaves beneath, where it dined 

 at leisure. 



The temerity and success with which the Thomisidoe attack 

 large butterflies or dragon-flies, or stinging insects, as wasps, 

 bumblebees, and honey-bees, is astonishing. Honey-bees are 

 often captured, and large flies belonging to the genera Archytas 

 and Theriopledes and rarely the wasp Vespa germanica. It is 

 difficult to understand why the spiders are not carried away 

 by such strong-winged insects as the dragon-fly and the large 

 butterfly Papilio asterias, which so greatly surpass them in 

 size and strength. (Fig. 52.) 



The habit of resorting to flowers to capture anthophilous 

 insects and the protective resemblance of coloration must have 

 been acquired by the crab-spiders in comparatively recent 

 times — that is, since the evolution of flowers and the develop- 

 ment of anthophily among insects. The new habit would 

 seem to be the result of observation and experience. 



104 



