The Bark Crab Spider (Bassanianasp.) is a small arachnid in the Thomisidae family of crab spiders.
The Bark Crab Spider is black. The male is darker than the female. The length of its eight legs are uneven. Its four strong front legs, used for grabbing, are longer than its four back legs. Its front legs have more hair. It moves sideways like a crab. The first two pairs of legs can rotate. It has eight eyes.
It grows to 4-10 millimetres (less than half an inch), excluding its legs. The female is larger than the male.
It is found in Europe, Asia, North America, and Africa. It is found in meadows, gardens, tropical forests, grasslands, and woodlands. It prefers to sit on the bark of trees, or on flowers and leaves.
It does not make a web. It sits and waits for its prey. It grabs its prey with its front legs, bites it with its venomous palps, then sucks out the juices. It is not aggressive towards humans.
It is diurnal, active during the day. At night, it lies still.
The female Bark Crab Spider lays eggs in a secure location, such as in a rolled leaf or in grass. It undergoes partial metamorphosis, because it does not have the pupa stage. The life cycle is egg, larva, adult.
Location of photographs: Nairobi, Kenya
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
I live in the south Alabama and it is August right now I’m living a trailer behind the trailer there’s I’ll leave a wooded area of course there’s a tree directly around my trailer and of course the lands are growing the very far over the side of the trailer but anyways right beside our emotion lock there he said so she sits and I was trying to take pictures of it to see what kind it was so I’m not sure if I’m correct with the not so good picture but are they poisonous
Dr Gerald S Wegner, an American entomologist and spider scientist from Chicago, says about the Bark Crab Spider that “Bites are rare but may be compared to a pin prick or minor bee sting and the venom usually is not dangerous to humans.” Personally, I think it’s best to be careful of all spiders, and to try not to disturb them. Thank you for the question Justine.