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).

Photo: Catherine Aitken (used with permission).

But soon an uninvited guest (a foraging western yellowjacket) arrives.

Photo: Catherine Aitken (used with permission).

A great struggle ensues.

Photo: Catherine Aitken (used with permission).

The wasp emerges victorious, while the spider retreats.

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!

Xysticus with eastern yellowjacket. Photo: Sean McCann (used with permission).