Xysticus elegans

Keyserling, 1880

elegant crab spider

Xysticus elegans, commonly known as the elegant crab spider, is a medium-sized crab spider in the Thomisidae. The exhibits pronounced in body size, with females approximately twice as large as males. It is distributed across northern North America including the United States, Canada, and Alaska. The spider is characterized by distinctive coloration including a brown with lighter areas and white-outlined brown spots on the .

Common Spiders U.S. 089-90 by James Henry Emerton (1847 – 1931). Used under a Public domain license.

Xysticus elegans 3960315 by Nick Block. Used under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Xysticus elegans: //ˈzɪstɪkəs ˈɛləɡænz//

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Identification

Distinguished from similar Xysticus by the combination of: white-outlined brown spots on ; light tan band through region; and pronounced sexual size dimorphism with males under 5 mm and females 8–12 mm. The pale and patellae of females versus nearly black femora and patellae of males provides a reliable sexing character. Distinguished from other crab spider by typical Xysticus body form and eye arrangement.

Images

Appearance

Medium-sized crab spider with strong . Females measure 8–12 mm in body length; males measure 4–5 mm, less than half the size of females. brown with a lighter area sometimes outlined in white. Light tan band passes through the region. bears brown spots outlined in white. Legs brown overall. Females have paler and patellae; males have femora and patellae that are nearly black.

Distribution

United States, Canada, and Alaska. Specific provincial records include Alberta, British Columbia, and Manitoba in Canada.

Similar Taxa

Other Xysticus speciesMany Xysticus share similar crab spider and brown coloration with abdominal markings; X. elegans is distinguished by the specific pattern of white-outlined brown spots on , the light tan band, and the pronounced sexual size dimorphism with males under half female size
Misumena, Misumenoides, Mecaphesa (flower crab spiders)These related thomisid are often larger, frequently yellow or white in coloration, and associated with flowers rather than ground-level ; they lack the specific abdominal spot pattern of X. elegans

More Details

Sexual dimorphism

The shows one of the more pronounced size differences between sexes in the Xysticus, with males averaging less than 50% of female body length. This dimorphism extends to leg segment coloration, providing multiple characters for sex identification.