Misumena Crab Spider (with Prey)

Description:

Misumena flower crab spiders may be yellow or white, depending on the flower in which they are hunting. They can change their color between white and yellow to match the flower they are sitting on. The color change may take a few days. The color change from white to yellow takes between 10 and 25 days, the reverse about six days. The yellow flower crab spider is seen here devouring a black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens). Misumena maputiyana (Barrion & Litsinger, 1995) is a species occurring in the Philippines. It was described that its abdomen is immaculate white in color. In fact, its name was derived from the Tagalog "maputi" (white) and "tiyan" (abdomen).

Habitat:

Spotted the action on a yellow alder plant (Turnera ulmifolia) where the spider spends its time waiting in ambush for its prey. Backyard garden in Biñan Laguna, Philippines.

Notes:

First IDd as Misumena vatia (Clerck, 1757). But M. vatia species is found in the Holarctic ecozone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holarctic) which excludes the Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. I got this confused also with Thomisus onustus (Walckenaer, 1805), also a yellow-coloured crab spider belonging to the family Thomisidae. However, T. onustus has a Palearctic distribution from Great Britain and Portugal in the West to Japan in the East (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomisus_on...).