Spider Rhapsody

I don't know, is it weird to have a bump up in mood because of finding a spider? Does it matter what kind of spider? I enjoy going to the movies, and the theater, and I love to read, but I don't enjoy every movie, play, and book. I am very, very critical, and sometimes seeing the many flaws of a work keeps me from enjoying it. I have friends who approach such entertainment with a much more accepting attitude, and they're not really critical at all, and enjoy pretty much everything, and I think that they think I am a bit of a drag. And maybe I am; I would certainly get a lot more enjoyment out of those things if I wasn't so critical. My friends get a lot more pleasure out of things by having what I see as a lower standard for them. I'm kind of jealous, I would like to think every movie is great, but I am what I am. And there is this: I get a lot more enjoyment from spiders and insects than my friends do! I felt joy when I found that spider this afternoon, more joy than I got from the last movie I saw, and perhaps even more joy than my friends got from the last movie they saw. Spiders! Yeah!

Never mind, spiders come at the end of the blog, but let me just say that I really appreciate one of today's arachnids.

Backyard Bug of the Day:

 You know how there's that expression you use when you can't think of a word, and you say it's on the tip of your tongue? I get a similar feeling sometimes trying to identify insects that I know I have seen before, and have looked up before, but for some reason can't find now, and I know I know it, but I can't think of it... This is one of those times. I know I have seen this before, and it looks like a green lacewing larva, but it's not a green lacewing larva, and I thought it might be a brown lacewing larva, but I looked that up, and I don't think it is, and I know I know this... All of which is to say, I don't know what this is. But it's a larva.

Other bugs:

 The damselflies are still hanging out on their forest path

 Cricket

 A couple of plant hoppers trying to look like leaves. It was actually fairly convincing.

 Tumbing flower beetle. It actually tumbled off this leaf right after I took this picture.

 Crickets on the garden fence post

 The clearwing hummingbird moth egg has changed color again, looking more yellow and less translucent.

 It has a dimple on top now, and it's easy to imagine I see something in there...

 Here's a magnified look.

 Moth

 Female katydid nymph

 Pearl crescent butterfly

 Looking at these pictures today I think I figured out why it's called a pearl crescent.

 Do you see why?

 Grasshopper nymph

I saw more varieties of spiders today than I have been seeing lately, including one that inspired the raptures above. Arachnid Appreciation:
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 Spined micrathena spider. One of my favorites. I think this is the first one I have seen this year.

 Such a cool spider. Just as I spotted it, a fly landed in its web, so you can see that it has prey in its grasp.

 

 Jumping spider

 

 This looks blurry because it's underneath its web. I still don't understand how that is a great way to catch bugs, but there are quite a few spiders that do that.

Flower crab spider