I have become the go-to girl for nature in the neighborhood, so it was no surprise when my neighbor knocked on my door this morning and asked me to come photograph something outside. I hurried out, barefoot and all, and she led me to her pick-up truck where I saw this:
Want a better view?
This is Gasteracantha cancriformis, also known as the crab spider, spiny-backed orbweaver, spiny orbweaver spider, crab-like orbweaver spider, crab-like spiny orbweaver spider, jewel spider, spiny-bellied orbweaver, jewel box spider, or smiley face spider. It's a good thing Linnaeus developed binomial taxonomy, huh? Otherwise, we might never know what we were looking at.
You know, I hate spiders, but this species is fairly pretty.
It's not poisonous, so I took some photos and then we let it be.