Indirect-plant-defense
Guides
Mecaphesa
crab spiders
Mecaphesa is a genus of crab spiders in the family Thomisidae, first described by Eugène Simon in 1900. The genus contains approximately 49 species distributed across North America, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and Hawaii. Species exhibit cryptic coloration for ambush predation on flowers.
Mecaphesa schlingeri
Mecaphesa schlingeri is a species of crab spider in the family Thomisidae, described by Schick in 1965. It is known from the United States, where it has been documented as a predator on the sticky annual plant Madia elegans (tarweed). The species is one of several predators that can navigate the resinous, hooked trichomes of tarweed to feed on trapped insect carrion. Research indicates its presence on tarweed plants increases when dead insects are experimentally added, suggesting it responds to carrion availability.