2016 February 22

   Annie Pang sends a picture of a spider.  Thanks to Robb Bennett who writes:  I THINK that this spider is Philodromus dispar – a philodromid crab spider, sub adult male.  Adult males have dark tops bounded by light sides – you can see the start of the adult colouration in the images.  The adult version is quite striking (and quite common around here).  An introduced species, from Eurasian origins.

  Jeremy Tatum comments.  My understanding, such as it is, is that there are two Families of spiders commonly known as “crab spiders”.  One is Thomisidae – crab spiders with no further adjectives.  This includes the well-known Misumena vatia.  The other Family is Philodromidae – often known as “running” crab spiders.