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A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders
by Joseph K H Koh
  Stoliczka's Crab Spider
Thomisus stoliczka (Thorell) 1887
 
close-up of green crab spider
Female
Prior to mating, the male may climb on to the back of the female and rides on it over a long period, sometimes for days.

Crab spiders move sideways, like crabs. The body is not as hairy as in most spiders.
Classification: Family Thomisidae, Crab Spiders
Habitat: Grasses and low vegetation.
Female: 6-7 mm.
Distribution: Singapore (new record), Myanmar.
They are slow-moving spiders which do not actively hunt like Wolf Spiders. Instead, they remain stationary and await in ambush for some unsuspecting insects to land in front of them.

The first two pairs of legs in most Crab Spiders are longer and heavier than the third and fourth pairs, and are armed with spines for holding and grasping prey. Included in this family are Thomisus spiders which can be recognised by the horn-like projections on the lateral margins of the "face". Each of these pinnacles bears a pair of lateral eyes.
close-up of female guarding egg sac
A female Thomisus guarding an egg sac
  From "A Guide to Common Singapore Spiders" by Joseph K. H. Koh
BP Guide to Nature Series published by the Singapore Science Centre and sponsored by British Petroleum
© 2000 Joseph K H Koh