The female Misumenoides formosipes, while similar to Misumena vatia, is not as large, and can be distinguished by the inverted 'V' marking on its back (with the point of the V closer to the
cephalothorax) and the 'mask' over its eyes. In most respects this spider behaves like the goldenrod spider, also commonly hunting in
goldenrod sprays in the fall. It tends to take smaller prey, however, avoiding the
bumblebees and large
butterflies in favor of
honeybees, large flies and small butterflies such as
skippers. Male M. formosipes are quite distinctive, being much smaller than females and having a greenish cephalothorax, yellow-orange abdomen, and long, red to reddish-black front legs. They are found on a wide variety of plants as they wander in search of females in late summer and early fall.