Ambush in Full Colour - _TNY_0977
This bright spot of colour on the underside of the flower on a giant knapweed, aka "yellow hardhead" (Centaurea macrocephala) is a female goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia).
These guys can shift colour from white to yellow (though it takes a little while) to better camouflage themselves when sitting in ambush on top of (or underneath as this one) flowers.
I find them in white more often than in yellow - but perhaps that is just because the yellow works better as a camouflage againt my eyes?
Ambush in Full Colour - _TNY_0977
This bright spot of colour on the underside of the flower on a giant knapweed, aka "yellow hardhead" (Centaurea macrocephala) is a female goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia).
These guys can shift colour from white to yellow (though it takes a little while) to better camouflage themselves when sitting in ambush on top of (or underneath as this one) flowers.
I find them in white more often than in yellow - but perhaps that is just because the yellow works better as a camouflage againt my eyes?