Hello folks who think its always a challenge to hold conversations with crickets,


Dewdrop spiders look like their abdomens have been dipped in melted mercury. These innocent looking spiders are actually the pirates of the spider world, staking a claim on the dinner table in the web created by a spider of another species, which is usually much larger than itself. These sneaky little spiders will steal the host spider's silk or other insects wrapped in silk. The reason they will steal the silk is because these spiders do not produce silk in such large quantities. Below is a dewdrop spider arriving for interrogation, you can already tell it looks suspicious the way it refuses to look me in the eye.



Spiders have an open circulatory system which means their organs are soaking in blood. Think about it this way, let's say you are thirsty, in a closed circulatory system you will have to open the tap to get water, in an open circulatory system you will simply have to open your mouth because your house is flooded. In order to pump this blood around all the organs, they need a heart. The heart of a spider is located in its abdomen and can be seen below beating faster than usual when I ask it if it has an alibi for where it spent the last evening.



Black Soldier Flies are fascinating because unlike their lesser loved cousins aka House Flies and Fruit Flies, these flies are not attracted to humans or their foods. The larvae of these flies are voracious feeders of decaying organic matter such as animal waste or plant material. The larval colony is super efficient in reducing the volume and weight of the decaying waste matter. Below is an adult Black Soldier Fly contemplating on sending its kids to Public or Private school.



The larva of the Black Soldier Fly does not eat steadily, instead it feeds for 5 minutes and then stops for another 5 minutes, when it is resting, it usually gets pushed away by the ones that are coming out of their 5 minute break. That is touted as one of the reasons for their efficiency in breaking down waste so fast. Below is a shy larva who does not like it's pic being taken unless I use a puppy filter on Snapchat.



On a recent hike to Windy Hill Preserve, I saw a California Figwort(Bee Plant) covered with silk webs created by the caterpillars of Variable Checkerspot.
They will use these webs to hide from predators and also to protect it from the elements of nature. Since no adult is present to babysit them, they usually poop in their beds and watch cartoons all day.


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