McGill Nature News

Picture Commentary - Ant-Like Crab Spider

Finally, able to shoot today at Labrador park! Been really busy for the past weeks! And also finally managed to find and shoot one of my most "wanted" list of insects! the Ant-Like Crab Spider!


My pleasure to meet you...
Here is some info of this fella from Joseph Koh's "A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders"-
Classification: Family Thomisidae, Crab Spiders
Habitat: Foliage in gardens and secondary jungles where the familiar Kerengga ants can be found.
Female: 6-7 mm.
Distribution: Singapore, Indonesia.

The abdomen imitates the head of the familiar "Kerengga" ant (Oecophylla smaragdina) with the two dark dots simulating the ant's eyes.


I'm one of your kind, really?
The cephalothorax is exaggeratedly arched, giving the impression that it is the abdomen of the ant.


He, he, you foolish Kerengga, my head is not your butt!
The first two pairs of legs are often jerkily held up and down while the spider moves about in an advance-and-halt fashion.


Hi Tan, next time better shoot me from the front to see my up-and-down legs clearly.
It feeds on Kerengga ants at night. On seeing an ant, it pounces on the ant. While holding the ant in its jaws and anchoring itself with a safety line of silk, it falls with the ant. The silken safety line allows the spider to remain suspended in mid-air where the ant has no chance to mount a counter-attack. The ant soon ceases its futile struggle when the venom takes effect.

Let me get my venom into you firt...

I have to hold you well...

...and throw you off!
Crab spiders move sideways, like crabs. The body is not as hairy as in most spiders.


I was born to be funny but practical and not completely bald by the way...
They are slow-moving spiders which do not actively hunt like Wolf Spiders. Instead, they remain stationary and await in ambush for some unsuspecting insects to land in front of them. The first two pairs of legs in most Crab Spiders are longer and heavier than the third and fourth pairs, and are armed with spines for holding and grasping prey.

*All pictures copyrighted by Tan Chuan Yean, Singapore. Shot with Panasonic FZ10 + Raynox DCR-250, @ISO50, F8, 1/60-1/100s, 2 diffused external flash units, handheld.