Sometimes unexpected things happen when you’re observing spiders. The following series of photos is by Catherine Aitken, who has a wonderful wildlife photography blog: Lardeau Valley Time. She recently witnessed and captured this incredible interaction in her garden, and kindly gave me permission to share her photos here.
Here we see a lovely pink and white flower crab spider (Misumena vatia) peacefully slurping her lunch (an unfortunate hoverfly).
![dsc_8177crabspiderandwasp](http://spiderbytes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/dsc_8177crabspiderandwasp.jpg)
Photo: Catherine Aitken (used with permission).
But soon an uninvited guest (a foraging western yellowjacket) arrives.
![dsc_8180crabspiderandwasp](http://spiderbytes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/dsc_8180crabspiderandwasp.jpg)
Photo: Catherine Aitken (used with permission).
A great struggle ensues.
![dsc_8189crabspiderandwasp](http://spiderbytes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/dsc_8189crabspiderandwasp.jpg)
Photo: Catherine Aitken (used with permission).
The wasp emerges victorious, while the spider retreats.
![dsc_8200crabspiderandwasp](http://spiderbytes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/dsc_8200crabspiderandwasp.jpg)
Photo: Catherine Aitken (used with permission).
Crab spiders are pretty formidable predators, and I’ve seen them feeding on yellowjackets themselves, as in the photo below. So I found this instance of a wasp stealing a crab spider’s prey rather surprising and fascinating. You never know what wonders you might witness when you spend time watching spiders!
![Crab with yellowjacket](http://spiderbytes.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Crab-with-yellowjacket.jpg)
Xysticus with eastern yellowjacket. Photo: Sean McCann (used with permission).