The spiders closely monitor multiple sites to see if others nearby are frequented by greater numbers of potential prey.

Females are stationary and choose a flower to settle on, while males cover great distances searching for mates.

The species Misumena vatia was first described by Swedish arachnologist and entomologist Carl Alexander Clerck in his book Aranei Svecici.

In North America, they are most commonly found in goldenrods, bright yellow flowers which attract large numbers of insects, particularly in autumn.

Depending on the color of flower they see around them, they can secrete a liquid yellow pigment into the body's outer cell layer.

[17] Notably, spiders of this species sometimes choose to hunt on flowers that, to the human eye, they do not appear to match in color.

Arthropods, on the other hand, serve as both predators and prey to Misumena vatia, and have photoreceptors that allow them to see ultraviolet, blue, and green light but oftentimes lack red receptors altogether.

[13] Misumena vatia is terrestrial and can be found on several plants and flowers such as milkweed and goldenrod in North America, as well as trillium, white fleabane (Erigeron strigosus),[13] ox-eye daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum), red clover (Trifolium pratense) and buttercups (Ranunculus acris).

[5] Their survival depends on their ability to choose a small area home to flowering plants which will attract prey.

Additionally, spiderlings may travel great distances by ballooning, if they find the area around their nest to be lacking in resources.

Most often, they move to flowers that produce more nectar and attract more prey, however occasionally some intentionally and consistently pick less profitable sites to hunt on.

[3] Crab spiders are carnivorous, feeding on invertebrate insects such as flies, bees, butterflies, grasshoppers, dragonflies, and hoverflies.

[3][21] Bumblebees (Bombus appositus)[22] provide the spider with the most biomass, but small syrphid flies (Toxomerus marginatus) are the prey captured most frequently.

[20] Misumena vatia is primarily dependent on its vision to hunt, so it typically finds and captures food during the day.

[23] Adult males search the upper stratum of field vegetation, where females are commonly found hunting, for potential mates.

These spiders have been observed to have pink, orange, yellow, brown, green, or white opisthosomas depending on the prey consumed.

[27] Female Misumena vatia prefer common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) over spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium), pasture rose (Rosa carolina), and chokecherry (Prunus virginiana) for nest construction.

Females who lay eggs on milkweed have higher nesting success, which correlates with early survival of clutches.

In the case of the pasture rose and the sensitive fern (Onoclea sinsibilis), nests consist of several small leaves bound together.

These nests are more vulnerable to predators though, because they are not as tightly bound as those created on milkweed, and have a greater area that is covered only by silk.

The low level of mate guarding is related to the female-leaning sex ratio expressed by Misumena vatia.

[19] Females live an average of two years and spend most of this time guarding their eggs sacs and the territory (flowers) on which they hunt.

[36] Because Misumena vatia employs camouflaging, it can focus more energy on growth and reproduction rather than on finding food and escaping from predators.

Because there is a very limited number of virgin females available at any given time, there is strong selective pressure that favors males that provide large sperm quantities.

Misumena vatia experience strong selection to minimize attack from wasps, which is why egg guarding by the female is important for reproductive success.

[41] When defending the nest from an approaching predator, females typically raise their front legs in a display otherwise observed when they are attacking prey.

These layers prevent light that may enter through a nearby transparent cuticle from reaching the retina, keeping each eye isolated.

Only the light entering along its optic axis stimulates this giant rhabdom, so the visual information comes in the shape of a dot.

[17] Autotomy, the loss of one leg, can happen in a variety of critical situations, including fleeing from predators, fighting, and getting rid of parasites.

The disadvantage is obvious, but most spiders can grow back lost limbs if the loss occurs during a juvenile stage and before the final molting.