# Winning at Camouflage **URL:** \ **Category:** Nature Talk\ **Created:** [December 12, 2024, 2:50pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324 "2024-12-12T14:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 17
**Author:** ![nilshelstrom](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/nilshelstrom/32/43620_2.png) [@nilshelstrom](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/nilshelstrom)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2026, 4:50pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/323 "2026-08-30T16:50:28Z")
Yeah, crab spiders can be difficult, especially the babies! Someone has already suggested genus _Mecaphesa_ for an ID, which is probably correct (I certainly find a lot of little yellow immatures of that genus), but I haven’t agreed to the ID yet as there are other yellow genera (such as _Misumessus_) in the area. This field had a lot of bright yellow goldenrod that would have worked perfectly for this spider. Someone did suggest to me that it was trying to look like the yellow center to a purple flower… ---
**Author:** ![martyndrabik](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/martyndrabik/32/53629_2.png) [@martyndrabik](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/martyndrabik)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2026, 12:20pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/324 "2026-08-31T12:20:15Z")
I have also found some failing crab spiders the past week or so. Either yellow on white or white on yellow. Whoops! ---
**Author:** ![adrien\_ferrand](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/adrien_ferrand/32/61811_2.png) [@adrien\_ferrand](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/adrien_ferrand)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 12:58pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/325 "2026-09-01T12:58:18Z")
There’s a rabbit in the picture. Now if you find it hard to find in this photo, it’s harder in person. ![IMG_0469_still](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/d/6/d68c5963f6ef08297173ee26b7e527c4053b500d.jpeg) Let me know if you want me to add a red circle where it is. ---
**Author:** ![smschnerre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@smschnerre](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/smschnerre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 1:16pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/326 "2026-09-01T13:16:40Z")
Rabbit is truely winning at camouflage. I give up, going to need a red circle ---
**Author:** ![ItsMeLucy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/49beb7/32.png) [@ItsMeLucy](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/ItsMeLucy)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/327 "2026-09-01T13:19:16Z")
My old eyes found it but I had to click on the photo to biggify it, then look toward where one sort of naturally puts what one is photographing. ---
**Author:** ![JeremyHussell](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jeremyhussell/32/118_2.png) [@JeremyHussell](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/JeremyHussell)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 2:02pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/328 "2026-09-01T14:02:18Z")
The white and yellow ones can actually change their colour to match the flower they’re on - the catch is that it takes at least a week for them to switch from yellow to white or the reverse, so they have to stay put. ---
**Author:** ![adrien\_ferrand](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/adrien_ferrand/32/61811_2.png) [@adrien\_ferrand](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/adrien_ferrand)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 2:18pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/329 "2026-09-01T14:18:31Z")
The video, below. Once moving, it’s obvious. [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gjL\_Y7-NmepGd3WI2L3ucJmX2xRjH8Jz/view?usp=drivesdk](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gjL_Y7-NmepGd3WI2L3ucJmX2xRjH8Jz/view?usp=drivesdk) ![IMG_0469_still](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/1/a/1acaba85920d75fe69c2a1757bcb87a0c5a28006.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![martyndrabik](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/martyndrabik/32/53629_2.png) [@martyndrabik](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/martyndrabik)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 2:58pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/330 "2026-09-01T14:58:26Z")
I knew they could change color, but didn’t know about how long it can take. Very interesting! ---
**Author:** ![smschnerre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@smschnerre](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/smschnerre)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/331 "2026-09-01T17:03:14Z")
It worked, I can see it ! ---
**Author:** ![adrien\_ferrand](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/adrien_ferrand/32/61811_2.png) [@adrien\_ferrand](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/adrien_ferrand)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 6:01pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/332 "2026-09-01T18:01:38Z")
That would be a funny idea for a new thread 😆 Those who just try hard but fail (relative to human senses). ---
**Author:** ![tjeales](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tjeales/32/28691_2.png) [@tjeales](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tjeales)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2026, 9:57pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/333 "2026-09-01T21:57:25Z")
Find the giraffe ![IMG_3883](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/c/6/c6717380ee6ef87199aeb668381af7911feb913a.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Clip](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/clip/32/55785_2.png) [@Clip](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/Clip)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2026, 9:23am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/334 "2026-09-02T09:23:45Z")
Ditto-on crab spiders failing at camouflage. This one might look familiar. ![DSCN7740](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/0/8/089a893bdf85dfeedcb78722e6b6729166a72bb7.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![jarvo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/jarvo/32/28864_2.png) [@jarvo](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/jarvo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 9:21am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/335 "2026-09-03T09:21:53Z")
By chance I was watching an old Attenborough programme yesterday: **Life in the Undergrowth** (highly recommended). There was a section where he discussed these crab spiders. There were two points that he made about their camouflage that aren’t necessarily intuitive. Firstly, the animals they prey on don’t have the same vision we have, so what we see will be different to their prey. The example given was honey bees who, in addition to the range of colours we see, have ultraviolet sight. They mocked-up how the spiders would appear to the bees, and the plain white on white the we sometimes get didn’t occur. The spiders always stood out. Secondly, and more bizarrely, it was the spiders who could be seen more clearly by the bees that seem to have the highest success rate. It’s not camouflage that enables the kill, but being seen. I’m not sure that the reasons for this were fully explained, but there was a suggestion that it’s spiders who look the most attractive in the same way that the flowers look attractive that get the hits. Looking at your picture, maybe we can get a feel for this. The spider looking like the flower’s pistil, its stretched out legs looking like stamen. I think your spider is acting as a lure, rather than trying to be unseen. ---
**Author:** ![Clip](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/clip/32/55785_2.png) [@Clip](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/Clip)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2026, 9:26am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/336 "2026-09-04T09:26:11Z")
Very good points! Thank you for sharing them. I wonder though about the spiders predators like birds. Does it’s prey alluring color make it more visible to it’s potential predators? ---
**Author:** ![tjeales](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/tjeales/32/28691_2.png) [@tjeales](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/tjeales)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2026, 10:19pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/337 "2026-09-06T22:19:57Z")
Also I wonder how well they are seen by predatory and parasitic wasps. I feel like wasp interaction is the of the biggest selective pressures on spiders. ---
**Author:** ![yongestation](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/yongestation/32/56696_2.png) [@yongestation](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/yongestation)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/338 "2026-09-14T19:20:34Z")
![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/3/c/3c591ca145e3901f036801a29b2601fdc2786e02.jpeg) [This crab spider](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/400057046) was hidden well enough that I only noticed it was there when going through the days photos! A pity as it seems like a really beautiful one and I’d love to have gotten some better photos ---
**Author:** ![umbral\_alcoves](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/umbral_alcoves/32/77160_2.png) [@umbral\_alcoves](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/umbral_alcoves)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2026, 5:37pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/339 "2026-09-16T17:37:31Z")
**Challenge: find the grasshopper** (Seen in Hayward, CA) ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/2/d/2d11f23d5fcb7cf2dde88113cca3cc6b055a2de7.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![phma](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/phma/32/54376_2.png) [@phma](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/phma)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 2:16am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/340 "2026-09-17T02:16:47Z")
Welcome to the forum! The observation is [here](https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/400650233), and I had little trouble finding the grasshopper, though at first it looked like a detached orthopteran hind leg (the rest of the grasshopper looked like the surrounding plants). ---
**Author:** ![lazza](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/lazza/32/2277_2.png) [@lazza](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/lazza)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 9:42am UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/341 "2026-09-17T09:42:36Z")
Clearly, evolution is the reason behind good camouflage, but is there any research that determines whether animals, especially invertebrates, “know” what they look like and what constitutes good camouflage? Take this Single-dotted Wave on a modern paving slab - does it settle there, rather than on plant foliage, because it knows/senses that it can’t be seen? ![SDW](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/uploads/inaturalist/original/3X/7/9/7942540f4a0b971c9c3f7446187b63bde5333a73.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![danly](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/forum.inaturalist.org/danly/32/42066_2.png) [@danly](https://forum.inaturalist.org/u/danly)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2026, 5:09pm UTC](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324/342 "2026-09-17T17:09:01Z")
That’s an excellent question! [Previous page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324.md?page=16) [Next page](https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/winning-at-camouflage/59324.md?page=18)