These flowers are common in our parks and in the wild. It is usual to see big black bees flitting from flower to flower and it seems that these bees known as Carpenter bees are the only pollinators of this flower also known as Trumpet Vine.
I am so used to seeing Carpenter bees around these Thunbergia flowers that I almost missed this tiny crab-like spider with spots on its legs
As I was focusing my attention on this tiny critter, my husband called my attention to a bigger one on another flower nearby. This one is bigger, without the spots and it looked more formidable, so it is probably a female.
A quick check on my book on Spiders and their Kin (A Golden Guide), showed that these spiders were crab spiders for the most obvious reason.This particular spider watched us cautiously from inside the flower as that was its home. We managed to coax it out with a blade of grass and it was not too pleased.
Now you see it in the open, it really could be mistaken for a crab.
I read that his spider pounces on its prey and then suck them dry (eeks!).
If you look closely at the legs you will see a silky thread attached to one of its legs.
