terminally insane about animals. it's contagious.

A brightly-colored lynx spider sitting light on her feet atop a marigold petal! Rarely do I ever get to see lynx spiders in a position as photographable as this, since they have a habit of darting or jumping away from anything even remotely scary. This beautiful individual was likely scouring this marigold plant for unwary visitors, and I happened to catch her at just the right time for a nice photo. Shortly after I took this, she darted beneath the flower, likely to wait me out before returning to her hunt!

Two fireflies resting their wings in the undergrowth, preparing for liftoff in a couple hours! Firefly season is well underway, and I'm seeing all the regular species everywhere when I go out. Rover fireflies (Genus Photinus) are by far the most common, however, since they both fly and roost low to the ground, making them much easier to find than the equally numerous but unreachable tree-dwelling flashers. It's always exciting to watch as these beetles begin their light show just after sunset. It never lasts long after dark, but it's a sight to behold regardless!

A gorgeous clearwing moth hunkering down for the night on a small leaf, shaded from the sun! Like many clearwing moths, this species appears very wasp-like, especially when flitting between flowers, helping deter their more wasp-averse predators. The number of wasp mimics running around is crazy, but it clearly works to some extent. If you saw this flying and thought it was a yellowjacket, you'd probably leave it alone, too!

A disheveled sparrow watching the proceedings at the feeders, chirping quietly. This little friend stuck around for quite a while, jumping from branch to branch out of the way of incoming birds. This is likely the tired parent of the baby song sparrow I've been seeing hopping around on the ground. The busiest tree in the yard is a tough place to sit for a rest, but this guy made it work!

A beautiful pair of dragonflies sharing a honeysuckle vine perch (for the time being)! Regardless of sex, whitetails tend to be very territorial, constantly pushing each other off of the best sunlit perches and circling around in an endless cycle. These two, however, seemed to be willing to tolerate each other for a short while, sitting quietly in the sun. It gave an excellent view of their obvious sexual dimorphism and also made for great individual photos!

A group of japanese beetles hanging out together on a plant, snacking on its flowers and leaves! These beetles are known to be crop pests, feeding on leaves, flowers, and fruits of many commercially grown plants, especially berries. They love nice, ripe blueberries but will settle for just about anything leafy, low-growing, and green. They're known to feed on over 350 species of plants as adults!

A big, fluffy bee sleeping within the leaf folds of a corn stalk! This species' scientific name, bombiformis, meaning bumblebee-shaped, is very fitting—I thought this was a bumblebee up until I started looking for an ID! As many bees do, this species nests solitarily by creating burrows in the ground, dividing them up into chambers with one egg and hibiscus pollen preserve each. These guys are specialist pollinators, only visiting hibiscus flowers, meaning there must be some around here that I haven't found yet!

A handsome mallard drake looking out for his partner as she sifts through mud puddles in a flooded field! Many birds will separate to forage, but most waterfowl stick together in a buddy system. One bird will be on watch while the other eats, and they'll eventually switch, ensuring both birds get to eat safely. I was quite close to this pair, but most mallards are pretty used to humans, so neither bird was alarmed and they continued on their way.

Bright pink ladybugs scurrying across all different kinds of leaves! These native ladybugs are everywhere in the area I've been frequenting recently, and that's great news for the ecosystem. A healthy presence of native predators is a sign of a balanced ecosystem, showing that there is enough food to support their greater numbers and enough of the right plants to shelter them. I only found a single individual last year in this same spot, so they must have had a great start to the breeding season this spring!

A small and bright paper wasp in super stealth mode, hoping to avoid my notice! This lady was such a beautiful red color. Though she isn't a new species, she instantly stood out to me as unique. This species tends to be quite variable, with individuals appearing any color from red to black, occasionally with very thick banding that almost makes them look yellow at a glance. I got lucky that this individual chose to sit still, because they usually flee when I get close. She seemed like she couldn't decide whether I was scary or not!

A pipsqueak of a chipmunk with an appearance reminiscent of a Q-tip scurrying around beneath the bird feeders, searching for dropped goodies! This chipmunk is one of this spring's babies, and it is ridiculously cute. Nothing should be allowed to be this small and pathetic looking—it's unethical. This animal gives me cuteness aggression, and it grows every time I look at these pictures again!!!

A petit damselfly fluttering amongst the shaded ground cover alongside a creek! Despite the comparatively simplistic coloration, I love the patterning of this species. The clear divide between the lighter dorsal and darker ventral sides of the thorax makes my eyes happy—as does the gentle green coloration. When I get lucky enough to find a male, I get treated to a shock of bright blue eyes. They are the perfect damselfly, though that much could be said about any of them. All damselflies are pretty perfect!

A brightly-colored leafhopper perched on a sunlit leaf, one of the many hoppers enjoying this elderberry grove! This species is super plentiful in this area, many adults flocking to these elderberry trees to feed. Alongside them, I've found probably over a hundred other arthropod species thriving in this little grove, all taking advantage of the food and shelter provided by the plants. Berry and other fruit or nut producing plants often create little havens for many animals, supporting a diverse food web in their branches. It's incredible all the cool animals you can find just by stumbling across the right spot!

A little weevil resting on the stem of some maple leaves! This little one was soundly asleep, and not even my meddling caused it to stir. It had been getting late when I took this, so the diurnal bugs were all started to bed down, this individual included. This species usually likes to find curled leaves to hide in, but, despite being more exposed, this must have been a comfy spot!