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Project Noah Nature School
I teach children and educators about spiders, manage the spider collection for UT Austin, and study color pattern variation in crab spiders.
Austin, TX
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I think there's more evidence for sparassidae than thomisidae, likely Pandercetes, but not Pandercetes plumipes.
However, that 2-inch size is more consistent with sparassidae than thomisidae.
I'm not convinced this is a sparassid. Notice how the anterior lateral eyes are on distinct tubercles, and notice how the body and legs are distinctly tuberculate. I don't see this in photos of Pandercetes. Thomisidae was my first thought, but mind you, Sri Lanka is way out of my area of expertise, and I'm no guru on sparassidae.
This is a philodromid. Leg 2 is longer than leg 1.
We aren't aware of a way to reliably determine Mecaphesa celer to species yet, particularly when there is no color pattern.
This isn't a crab spider. Notice that right leg 2 is longer than right leg 1. Left legs 1 and 2 are the same length, but only because leg 2 was lost and regrown.
Misumessus oblongus is currently the only described Misumessus in the U.S., but I'm in the process of describing another species. Can't take to species.
Alternatively, send me your email, and I will get you in touch with Rick Vetter, the arachnologist who investigates such things. arachnojoe@gmail.com
If you could send me your contact information, including your address, we'll have a local authority get in touch with you. Thanks! arachnojoe@gmail.com
