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Angaeus sp. nr. rhombifer
I am pretty certain that this is Angaeus rhombifer Thorell, 1890, but I have not yet come across any documentation confirming its presence in Philippines. It cleary belongs to the Thomisidae Sundevall, 1833 (the disproportionately long legs 1 & 2 make that undeniable) and I think it belongs to the Thomisinae Sundevall, 1833, simply because nearly alll crab spiders belong to this sub-family, but beyond that I am rather stuck at present.
This spider was spotted in very dense, waist deep foliage growing along the edge of a rice field. I was having great difficulty positioning myself, in this thicket, to get a picture as the spider kept backing off and going deeper into the entanglement. In the meantime, my long suffering wife was freaking out because, having grown up on this land, she knew that this particular patch of weeds was a haven for snakes. So, not being especially brave, I quickly scooped up the spider and brought it home. I released it onto a Button Orchid (Dischidia sp.) in our front yard. It seemed to settle down and allowed me to take several pictures.
Once again, I call upon the Project Noah community to help with identifying a specimen.
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