---
title: "Gewone kameleonspin"
description: "Misumena vatia — Insecten en spinnen. Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider found in Europe and North America."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/nl/animal/goldenrod-crab-spider
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Gewone kameleonspin

> Misumena vatia — Insecten en spinnen. Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider found in Europe and North America.

- Scientific name: *Misumena vatia*
- Category: `insects` (Insecten en spinnen)
- Habitats: `grassland` (Weiden en velden)
- iNaturalist observations: 83350
- Wikidata: [Q742349](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q742349)
- iNaturalist taxon: [55746](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/55746)

## Names

- en: Goldenrod Crab Spider
- de: Veränderliche Krabbenspinne
- es: Araña camuflada de las flores
- fr: Misumène variable
- nl: Gewone kameleonspin
- pl: Kwietnik

## Countries with the most observations

US (16506), CA (16402), FR (6891), DE (6271), GB (4974), RU (4851), AT (2423), IT (2104), PL (1785), UA (1342), ES (1217), FI (1139)

## Summary

Misumena vatia is a species of crab spider found in Europe and North America. In North America, it is called the goldenrod crab spider or flower (crab) spider, as it is commonly found hunting in goldenrod sprays and milkweed plants. They are called crab spiders because of their unusual ability to walk sideways as well as forwards and backwards. Both males and females of this species progress through several molts before reaching their adult sizes, though females must molt more to reach their larger size. Females can grow up to 10 mm (0.39 in) while males are quite small, reaching 5 mm (0.20 in) at most. Misumena vatia…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misumena_vatia

## Photo

![Gewone kameleonspin](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/goldenrod-crab-spider/medium.jpg)

Photo: Jesse Rorabaugh · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/135571228

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/goldenrod-crab-spider?lang=nl` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).