Goldenrod Nightmares

As if life is not arduous enough for the Honeybee, mortal hazards wait in the Goldenrod blossoms.

A Honeybee captured by a Goldenrod Crab Spider

The canny spiders climb up to the top of the plant, where they blend into the flower.

Crab spiders are capable of changing between white and yellow, over a span of days, to match the color of their primary hunting perch.

Goldenrod Crab Spider, Misumena vatia

As camouflaged ambush predators they sit still with forelegs waiting to snap closed on unsuspecting prey. They can be very hard to see on Goldenrod.

Female Crab Spider with a captured fly,

descending with its prey

to quiet quarters.

A tiny male Crab Spider in white phase, with mosquito

Even when not color-matched to their background Goldenrod Crab Spiders are formidable hunters.

Crab Spider digesting an American Hover Fly, Eupeodes americanus

on Queen Anne's Lace flower

Jagged Ambush Bug, Phymata pennsylvanica

only half-inch long, on goldenrod stem

A complex population of creatures has evolved in the rewards and dangers of the Goldenrod Sphere.