Goldenrod crab spider, Heeswijk-Dinther, Netherlands
Female, on a dried out thistle, which does not seem a great place of ambush. The dutch name for this species translates as "Common Chameleon Spider", after its ability to change colors. For this species, it mostly means white or yellow.
The transition from yellow to white takes 6 days, whilst going back from white to yellow takes 10-25 days. This is due to the fact that the yellow pigment layer, when moved into deeper tissue layer (when the spider is white), is ultimately dissolved, so it has to be regenerated from scratch. So the truly variable part of the species is the yellow component, which either is exposed or suppressed.
"Misumena vatia" is a species of crab spider with holarctic distribution. In North America, where it is the largest and best-known flower spider, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower spider, because it is commonly found hunting in goldenrod sprays in the autumn.
