The Crab Spiders Seem Happy!

 It was hard to decide whether to dedicate this post to crab spiders or daisies.  If I chose the latter, which I might do tomorrow, I can show at least a dozen species of visitors to the Ox-eye Daisy taken within the past week as well as some artsy shots of daisies alone in various stages of development and positions.  I posted a story yesterday about a Goldenrod Crab Spider I saw by the big green water tank in Boyle Ravine.  Today's story began in my front yard.  The beautiful spider with the red "racing stripes" has been occupying the tallest daisy in my front yard for several days.  She is always in the attack position, waiting for unsuspecting bugs to mistake her for a flower.  I check on her every hour or so when I'm at home.  At lunchtime today I was rewarded with a view of another capture, probably some sort of fly or wasp.  Then I took a drive out to Oakland Camp to look for wildflowers.  I found many blooms, which will appear here and/or on the Plumas County Bloom Blog soon. But also found another white crab spider devouring a bug I could not identify and a large brown crab spider of uncertain identity.  Then I found another white one without racing stripes, stretched across a daisy with its legs blended in with the ray flowers.  Finally, in a wet ditch by the edge of the road to Oakland Camp, I was photographing sedges when I noticed that some young White Alders were covered with the fuzzy protective coating of colonies of mealy bugs.  As I took a closer look, I found a leaf being visited by a Goldenrod Crab Spider, this one in the yellow phase but without the red stripes.  She was on top of the leaf, but scooted underneath as I approached.  I grabbed the branch out of sight of my lens and twisted it so I could see the hiding spider.  I recommend that you click on this photo for a close-up view.  You might think this spider is related to the octopus!