What is a Florida crab spider?

The spinybacked orbweaver, commonly called the crab spider in Florida, is part of a pantropical genus that can be found in trees and shrubs from the southern United States to northern Argentina. The female can be identified by the six spines protruding from the dorsal side of the abdomen.

The female can be between 5 and 9 millimeters long and up to 13 millimeters wide, while the male is much smaller and without the tell-tale spines present on the female. The variety of orbweaver found in Florida typically has a white dorsal abdomen with black spots on the female and a gray dorsal abdomen with white spots on the male.