Another common species, the banded garden spider, is similar to the previous species in its habitat, web construction, and size, but the abdomen is marked with alternating thin, broken, horizontal silver and yellow lines on a black background. Garden spiders often attract a great deal of attention due to their size, bright coloration, large orb web, and their habit of building webs in open areas near human habitations. Some people are uncomfortable working around such large spiders, but many gardeners welcome these attractive insect-eaters. Crab spiders are well named. The first two pair of legs are larger than the last two and are held in crab-like fashion away from and in front of the body.
Crab spiders are able to walk backwards and sideways as well as forwards.
They depend on good eyesight, speed, and camouflage to detect and catch their prey. Species that inhabit trees or hunt on the ground are usually colored in shades of gray, brown, or black. These spiders mimic the colors of the flowers upon which they rest to ambush their prey. Some species have the ability to alter their color to match the background. A few species commonly found on plants even mimic bird droppings.