Crab spiders

See also Family Eusparassidae

And Family Thomisidae

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Family Philodromidae

The spiders of this genus can be recognized by the fact that the second leg pair is longer that the other legs. Their size is between 3 and 7 mm. They are 'quiet' spiders that are well camouflaged. When they flee, they run sideways. The difference between male and female can be great, as the pictures of the Philodromus dispar shows, but in other species, the sexes may be similar.

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Philodromus aureolus male and female.

F Philodromus cespitum M

Philodromus dispar male and female. Note that the male is completely different (dispar) compared with the female.

Philodromus emarginatus male and female.

Philodromus fuscomerginatus female.

Philodromus rufus female and male.

Philodromus ZZ007, ZZ008 and ZZ015.

Female Tibellus oblongus	Female Tibellus oblongus
Female Tibellus oblongus	Tibellus oblongus male

A beautiful crab spider that can be easily recognized by the two spots and its elongated abdomen. Only two species live in this NW Europe.
Its size is about 8 - 10 mm and it can be found on long grasses.

Seven species occur in NW-Europe. They have an elongated abdomen with a clear cardiac mark. They can be found on ground level between low vegetation. They can be easily mistaken with Philodromus and the wolf spider Alopecosa.

Thanatus arenarius	Thanatus arenarius
Thanatus alpinus	Thanatus alpinus
Thanatus sp.	Thanatus formicinus by Lionel Dabat
Thanatus ZZ226	Thanatus ZZ226

 Ed Nieuwenhuys, 9 May, 2009

28 June 2007
3 May 2005