In Europe there are 17 species of crab spiders, which arachnologists classify in the genus Xysticus. Their cephalothorax, mainly the head region, is usually covered with fairly long spiny hairs, and the pattern on the abdomen consists of patches of triangular shapes and a transverse stripe. Most species of these crab spiders live on low vegetation, at ground level, or on it.
Species of the genus Xysticus have particular and complex courtship rituals. When the female and male meet, the female submits to the partner, which she shows by pressing her legs to her body. Then the male wraps the female in a cocoon of silk thread, lifts her hind end and fertilizes her. The fertilized female lays eggs in a flattened white capsule, which she attaches to low vegetation. She carefully guards the egg capsule against intruders, but often dies before the young spiders hatch and become the first meal of their offspring.
