Misumena vatia: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the Misumena vatia lives – recorded in 21 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Misumena vatia
Group	Spiders, scorpions & other arachnids
Found in	21 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Arachnid
Order	Araneida
Family	Thomisidae

Where does the Misumena vatia live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the Misumena vatia in 21 countries and territories across Europe and North America. Wikidata gives its range as: Texas.

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

What kind of animal is the Misumena vatia?

The Misumena vatia (Misumena vatia) is an arachnid in the order Araneida and the family Thomisidae, genus Misumena. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the Misumena vatia

Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider found in Europe and North America. In North America, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower (crab) spider, as it is commonly found hunting in goldenrod sprays and milkweed plants. They are called crab spiders because of their unusual ability to walk sideways as well as forwards and backwards. Both males and females of this species progress through several molts before reaching their adult sizes, though females must molt more to reach their larger size. Females can grow up to 10 mm (0.39 in) while males are quite small, reaching 5 mm (0.20 in) at most. Misumena vatia are usually yellow or white or a pattern of these two colors. They may also present with pale green or pink instead of yellow, again, in a pattern with white. They have the ability to change between these colors based on their surroundings through the molting process. They have a complex visual system, with eight eyes, that they rely on for prey capture and for their color-changing abilities. Sometimes, if Misumena vatia consumes colored prey, the spider itself will take on that color.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Misumena vatia (revision 1380196306), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q742349 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).