How fortunate am I, that not 100ft from my back door this wonder of evolution decided to post up. She—a bolas spider, Mastophora stowei—spent her nights luring in moths from the low branches of a sassafras tree in our yard. Luckily she picked ideal spot to capture her with a bolas at the ready

She has assured me all she wants is a hug…One of my favorite animals, a Misumenoides formosipes crab spider, on one of my favorite plants, Lobelia siphilitica. She’s in hunting mode here, waiting for some prey to visit the flower so she can cuddle them into submission.

I swear all you have to do is look at them funny, and Marbled Orbweavers (Araneus marmoreus) scurry off to their hides, usually near the top of their webs. Definitely not winning any commendations for bravery, these ones—but they’re stop-you-in-your-tracks gorgeous animals.

Syrphids are awesome for several reasons—chiefest among them is their ability to look like something not totally harmless, when in fact they are… totally harmless. The Yellowjacket Hover Fly (Milesia virginiensis) is especially imposing since it’s huge—almost an inch long

What an absolute stunner of a bee. I don’t get too many opportunities to photograph Megachile species but this little beauty was caught up in a bit of rain. Those eyes and that perfect golden fluffy do are downright irresistible.

This sharp-dressed man is a Sharptail Bee (Coelioxys sp.), shot a bit before sunrise and still with some dew on him. Named for their pointy abdomens, females of this genus are cleptoparasites of their family members—other Megachilid bees—laying their eggs in nests constructed and supplied by others

The looooong boi, a male Myzinum sp. thynnid wasp. Males have relatively large hooks on the tips of the abdomens called pseudostingers, which look pretty nefarious but really don’t do much save for deliver a bit of a poke. It’s sadly not really visible in this photo but they’re also just real pretty

Maternal behaviors in arthropods are always cool to see. This Tmarus sp. crab spider mama has tucked her eggs into a leaf which she’s folded and sealed shut, and she’s seen here guarding it. She might change positions when bothered, but she’ll put up with an awful lot before abandoning her babies.

He’s handsome and he knows it: a male Io Moth (Automeris io) with his big fancy feathery antennae, perfect for picking up the chemical trail of a female. This is his sole purpose as an adult, as he has no functional mouthparts; his is not to reason why, his is but to mate and die

The view from the driveway last night, where the fireflies were putting on quite the show! I’m told there are at least some Photuris species in there—the canopy looked as if camera flashes were going off in a crowded arena. Getting to watch them never gets old, they are truly mesmerizing.

Quick shot of a Golden Tortoise Beetle (Charidotella sexpunctata)-quick by necessity, because they change colors once disturbed, shifting from shiny gold to a red color meant to mimic ladybugs. I think they’re one of the prettiest creatures on the entire planet of earth

A great big ol’ Tigrosa sp. wolfie gal with a late night snack… a cricket I think, although it was a wee bit mangled. Those large eyes don’t just make wolf spiders super charismatic—they also enable them to find and run down their prey, even at night.

A most damsel-y shy little damselfly; this one—an Ischnura species—kept spinning around its perch to get away from me. They’re so cute that it’s easy to forget what wildly efficient predators they are.

It’s #WorldBeeDay today, so here’s this beautiful female Nomad Bee (Nomada) backlit by the rising sun . Diversity of bees is pretty wild, with many being pretty darn small. They’re very easy to overlook if you don’t take the time to appreciate them, so go appreciate some bees!

Hiding among the bellflowers, a Whitebanded Crab Spider (Misumenoides formosipes) waits for a meal to come her way. This was from last year, but we should be seeing some wee babies here soon!

My first Nomada sp. cuckoo bee of the year! I caught this lady sleeping in on a cold morning, but she will have taken off shortly after to patrol for other bees’ nests. Nomad Bees are cleptoparasites, laying their eggs in the nests of solitary bees

My favorites! I chase them obsessively

A bolas spider from last year—Mastophora hutchinsoni—with her weapon at the ready. She appeared well-fed and stayed in that spot for many days, indications that she’d had some successful hunts. Hopefully she left some eggs nearby!

Listen, if you’re a wasp and you come into my home looking like that, you’re going to get the supermodel treatment. She—a wildly pretty Polistes sp. paper wasp—found her way into my office, where I keep my camera; so craft services provided her with some simple syrup and we had a photoshoot