crab spider ~ 07/02/14 ~ Donner Pass

crab spider captured Montana crescent on common yarrow

Thomisidae captured Phyciodes pulchella montana on Achillea millefolium

posted 09/28/14 - If I were to hazard a guess as to the type of crab spider, I'd say it's a flower crab spider (Misumena), more specifically the goldenrod crab spider (Misumena vatia).  Another possibility could be the whitebanded crab spider (Misumenoides formosipes).  However, I'm guessing it's near impossible to tell from my photo, even if I knew what diagnostics to look for.  Eh, I'm not too fussed about the spider ID.  I'm guessing there are more spiders on flowers than I ever notice, because good nectar sources are essentially ready-made butterfly buffets, bee buffets, you name it, for hungry spiders.  Seriously, crab spiders are extraordinarily good at camouflage.  Art thought the Montana here is most likely a female.  Ya.  Hey, I'll take whatever photos I can get.  This is one of my better ones.

ps  - I found Ed Nieuwenhuys' Australian crab spider page to be fantastic.

common yarrow ~ 12/10/11 ~ Los Padres Dam

common yarrow
Achillea millefolium
Asteraceae

posted 12/29/11 - When I started this blog 2 1/2 years ago, I focused on colorful, sunny flowers and animals that were already familiar to me. It's been a real joy learning more about my local natural world. My learning curve was a sharp incline at first and then it flattened out, partially due to blogging fatigue and partially due to my hesitancy to show off how much I don't know.

Without flowers, I'm often at a loss as to what a plant is. It's time for me to start looking at leaves. Once again, thanks to Flickr and Nature of a Man blogger randomtruth, I received help for the ID of this very common plant.

The white blooms in the last picture might be a type of naked buckwheat (Eriogonum nudum), but really I have no idea. I had several pictures of this buckwheat, but none of them turned out very well since my point-and-shoot couldn't find a focal point. Once again, I should have looked for the leaves to be able to make a better determination.