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iNat·1623923complexArachnida3,942 field observations
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  10. ›Thomisinae
  11. ›Misumenini
  12. ›Mecaphesa
Mecaphesa celer
Plate 1 of 1. (c) K Schneider, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by K Schneider · via iNaturalist

Mecaphesa celer

Mecaphesa celer, known generally as the swift crab spider, is a species of crab spider in the family Thomisidae. Its range is quite large, and it is found throughout much of North and Central America.

M. celer are sit-and-wait predators who hide out on the flowers and upper stalks of plants, waiting for prey to pass by. As a variety of crab spider, they have characteristically long first two pairs of legs which they use to grab prey. M. celer spin webs only for creating egg sacs and as part of mating, not for hunting.

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Where it lives

Recorded sightings

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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.

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Every page naming Mecaphesa celer in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →

This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 1623923.