Bugs 'n stuff

Have you ever noticed your lawn dotted with spider webs that look like this, particularly in the morning when everything's covered with dew?

These are made by funnel web spiders, also known as grass spiders. The spiders build their web, then sit in the hole waiting for an insect to land on it so they can jump out and quickly grab it and drag it into its hole for a meal! Yum, huh?

Here's a closer look at that web:

Below is the best shot I could get of one of the spiders. If you're interested in a better look, just do a Google image search. There are many species of funnel web spiders.

Another web:

Here's a sight I don't like to see on my tomatoes. It's a grasshopper, of course. They do like to munch on most anything. So far they don't seem too thick around here and aren't tasting much in my garden.

This is a shot of the monarch caterpillar taken Wednesday:

And yesterday.

I thought perhaps it was about ready to make its chrysalis, but I looked this morning and it wasn't hanging yet. In fact, it didn't look too healthy. Three of the other caterpillars that were on the same plant have died. They seem to do much better in a jar than they do out in the "wild"!