What the heck is a crab spider?
So, I was dead-heading my roses the other day, totally noticing that they were looking crappy. Some buds had shriveled and browned before even opening, and there was hardly any color. As I went to dump my basket of spent rose petals, I spotted this white spider.
Ok, I have to admit, I have a bit of arachnophobia, and when I saw the color of this guy, I thought for sure it was something deadly. My Google search turned up equally terrifying results–apparently there is a poisonous white spider in Australia. So, I went to my Texas A&M site and filled out their form. As usual, the response was quick. Patrick informed me that this was a crab spider and is considered beneficial.
He said it was not the cause of the damage on my roses, that it looked like the plants were infected with spider mites. Gosh, Patrick is just so helpful!
Anyway, I promptly ordered a bunch of ladybugs and lacewings to eat the spider mites, so stay tuned!