Is this a misumena vatia?

[GusinCA]

Found him or her hanging out on a trail near the coast north of San Francisco. Beautiful little monster...

[Mandy]

Really cool image!! Yep, she's a Misumena vatia (the "Goldenrod crab spider"). Coincidentally, we just recently added an info page on that species. It can be found here, if you'd like to check it out: http://www.spiders.us/species/misumena-vatia/

Thanks for sharing! I love the color and composition of your photo!

[GusinCA]

Excellent, thanks! My daughter actually spotted the spider on our hike. I enjoy getting close up shots of them and I'll post up a few more.
Does this spider bite or is it venemous?

[Mandy]

No problem! Awesome, looking forward to seeing other shots you get!

These spiders aren't considered dangerous to people. Like pretty much every spider on the planet, they do have venom, but it's only for subduing small insects and doesn't really have any effect in humans (might leave a small red itchy mark). It would take quite a bit of rough handling and squeezing to get her to bite, though. They would rather just run away and aren't aggressive, especially when they know they have no chance against a creature as big as a human.