A five-person team conducted this week's survey under hot and sunny conditions. When an insect gets caught in its web, the Black and Yellow Garden Spider immobilizes it with a "wrap attack," using large amounts of aciniform silk. Hundreds of strands of extra-strong silk hold the prey (a honey bee in the example shown below) securely while the spider then gives the killing bite. Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings: Papilio glaucus (eastern tiger swallowtail) photo by Harriett Wolf Callophrys gryneus (juniper hairstreak) photo by Val Bugh Zerene cesonia (southern dogface) photo by Val Bugh Chioides albofasciatus (white-striped longtail) photo by Val Bugh Astrotischeria sp. (leafminer moth, only 3 mm long!) photo by Val Bugh Blastobasis sp. (moth) photo by Val Bugh Ephestiodes sp. (moth) photo by Val Bugh Manduca sexta (Carolina sphinx) photo by Val Bugh Brachynemurus sp. (antlion) photo by Val Bugh Scymnus sp. (lady beetle, 2 mm long, top & bottom views) photo by Val Bugh Sphyrocoris obliquus (shield bug) photo by Val Bugh Diapheromera sp. (walkingstick) photo by Val Bugh Condylostylus sp. (long-legged fly) photo by Val Bugh Sphex dorsalis (digger wasp) photo by Val Bugh Polistes fuscatus (northern paper wasp) photo by Val Bugh Auplopus mellipes (spider wasp with paralyzed prey) photo by Val Bugh Mecaphesa sp. (crab spider eating flower fly) photo by Val Bugh Argyrodes elevatus (silver dewdrop spider) photo by Val Bugh Argiope aurantia (black and yellow garden spider wrapping honey bee) photo by Val Bugh Sigmodon hispidus (hispid cotton rat) photo by Val Bugh Birds: Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) Black-chinned Hummingbird (Archilochus alexandri) Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus) Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica) Mammals: Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger) Hispid Cotton Rat (Sigmodon hispidus) Eastern Cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus) Reptiles: Texas Spiny Lizard (Sceloporus olivaceus) Mediterranean Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) Misc.: Harvestman (Leiobunum sp.) Greenhouse Millipede (Oxidus gracilis) Insects & Spiders: order family genus/species common name lepidoptera   nymphalidae   Agraulis vanillae   Gulf Fritillary (adult & larva)       Danaus gilippus   Queen       Danaus plexippus   Monarch       Phyciodes texana   Texan Crescent       Junonia coenia   Common Buckeye    pieridae   Zerene cesonia   Southern Dogface       Eurema nicippe   Sleepy Orange    lycaenidae   Callophrys gryneus   Juniper Hairstreak       Strymon melinus   Gray Hairstreak    papilionidae   Battus philenors   Pipevine Swallowtail       Papilio glaucus   Eastern Tiger Swallowtail    hesperiidae   Hylephila phyleus   Fiery Skipper       Atalopedes campestris   Sachem       Lerodea eufala   Eufala Skipper       Euphyes vestris   Dun Skipper       Systasea pulverulenta   Texas Powdered-skipper       Pyrgus communis/albescens   Common/White Checkered-skipper       Chioides albofasciatus   White-striped Longtail    noctuidae   Tripudia quadrifera   Moth    arctiidae   Hypoprepia miniata   Scarlet-winged Lichen Moth    sphingidae   Manduca sexta   Carolina Sphinx    geometridae   Synchlora frondaria   Southern Emerald       Nemoria zygotaria   Emerald       Lobocleta peralbata   White Wave       Lobocleta ossularia   Drab Brown Wave    crambidae   Euchromius ocelleus   Grass-veneer Moth       Pyrausta laticlavia   Southern Purple Mint Moth    pyralidae   Ephestiodes sp.   Moth    tortricidae   Cochylis caulocatax   Moth       Suleima helianthana   Sunflower Bud Moth    oecophoridae   Inga cretacea   Chalky Inga    megalopygidae   Megalopyge opercularis   Southern Flannel Moth    zygaenidae   Acoloithus novaricus   False Skeletonizer Moth    coleophoridae   Blastobasis sp.   Moth    gelechiidae   Aristotelia sp.   Moth    acrolophidae   Acrolophus sp.   Tubeworm Moth    tischeriidae   Astrotischeria sp.   Leaf-miner Moth coleoptera   chrysomelidae   Asphaera lustrans   Flea Beetle       Zabrotes sp.   Seed Beetle    coccinellidae   Hippodamia convergens   Convergent Lady Beetle       Scymnus sp.   Lady Beetle (adult & larva)    tenebrionidae   Eleodes goryi   Darkling Beetle    elateridae   Unknown sp.   Click Beetle hemiptera   coreidae   Leptoglossus clypealis   Leaf-footed Bug       Hypselonotus punctiventris   Coreid Bug       Chelinidea vittiger   Opuntia Bug (nymph)    lygaeidae   Oncopeltus fasciatus   Large Milkweed Bug    rhyparochromidae   Cnemodus mavortius   Seed Bug    reduviidae   Emesaya brevipennis   Thread-legged Bug (nymph)    scutelleridae   Sphyrocoris obliquus   Shield Bug    pentatomidae   Chinavia hilare   Green Stink Bug homoptera   cicadellidae   Homalodisca vitripennis   Glassy-winged Sharpshooter    cercopidae   Lepyronia quadrangularis   Spittlebug    flatidae   Ormenis sp.   Planthopper    aphididae   Unknown sp.   Aphid    cicadidae   Tibicen texanus   Cicada hymenoptera   apidae   Apis mellifera   Honey Bee       Bombus pensylvanicus   American Bumble Bee    halictidae   Lasioglossum sp.   Sweat Bee       Agapostemon sp.   Green Sweat Bee       Augochloropsis metallica   Green Sweat Bee    megachilidae   Dianthidium sp.   Resin Bee       Megachile sp.   Leaf-cutter Bee       Coelioxys sp.   Parasitic Leaf-cutter Bee    vespidae   Polistes exclamans   Paper Wasp       Polistes carolina   Red Wasp       Polistes bellicosus   Paper Wasp       Polistes fuscatus   Northern Paper Wasp       Vespula squamosa   Southern Yellowjacket    sphecidae   Sphex dorsalis   Digger Wasp       Sphex ichneumoneus   Great Golden Digger Wasp       Ammophila sp.   Thread-waisted Wasp    crabronidae   Bicyrtes sp.   Sand Wasp    formicidae   Solenopsis invicta   Imported Fire Ant    pompilidae   Pepsis sp.   Spider Wasp       Auplopus mellipes   Spider Wasp diptera   syrphidae   Ocyptamus fascipennis   Flower Fly       Palpada vinetorum   Flower Fly       Copestylum mexicanum   Black Flower Fly       Copestylum marginatum   Flower Fly    bombyliidae   Geron sp.   Bee Fly    sarcophagidae   Unknown sp.   Flesh Fly    dolichopodidae   Condylostylus sp.   Long-legged Fly odonata   coenagrionidae   Ischnura ramburii   Rambur's Forktail       Enallagma civile   Familiar Bluet    libellulidae   Libellula croceipennis   Neon Skimmer       Pachydiplax longipennis   Blue Dasher       Erythemis simplicicollis   Eastern Pondhawk orthoptera   acrididae   Melanoplus plebejus   Plebeian Grasshopper (nymph)       Lactista aztecus   Aztec Bandwing (nymph)       Schistocerca nitens   Gray Bird Grasshopper    tettigoniidae   Orchelimum silvaticum   Long-spurred Meadow Katydid       Pediodectes bruneri   Bruner Shieldback    gryllidae   Oecanthus sp.   Tree Cricket (nymph) mantodea   mantidae   Stagmomantis carolina   Carolina Mantis phasmatodea   diapheromeridae   Diapheromera sp.   Walking Stick neuroptera   berothidae   Lomamyia sp.   Beaded Lacewing    ascalaphidae   Ululodes macleayanus   Owlfly    myrmeleontidae   Brachynemurus sp.   Antlion araneae   araneidae   Argiope aurantia   Black and Yellow Garden Spider       Argiope trifasciata   Banded Garden Spider       Cyclosa turbinata   Trashline Orbweaver    theridiidae   Argyrodes elevatus   Silver Dewdrop Spider    thomisidae   Mecaphesa sp.   Crab Spider    oxyopidae   Oxyopes salticus   Striped Lynx       Peucetia viridans   Green Lynx    salticidae   Anasaitis canosa   Jumping Spider       Naphrys acerba   Jumping Spider       Pelegrina galathea   Peppered Jumper       Plexippus paykulli   Pantropical Jumper       Phidippus audax   Bold Jumper       Phidippus arizonensis   Arizona Jumper