Textbook case of color-changing spider reopened

Crab spiders can scuttle, but apparently they can’t hide.

Long touted as an example of cryptic coloring, the female Misumena vatiaspider switches her body color over the course of days depending on the flower where she lurks. Contrary to the textbook scenario, though, a white spider on a white flower doesn’t catch more prey than a white spider moved to a yellow flower, researchers report online November 3 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.  

Nor does a yellow spider on a yellow flower get a color-coordination bonus, says study coauthor Rolf Brechbühl of the University of Fribourg in Swit