Everyone Has To Eat, Right?

Everyone has to eat but please not my butterflies! 

Look who was lurking in the butterfly bush looking for a quick snack. 

Thanks to my friend [and fellow Master Gardener] Penny for identifying it as the Green Lynx Spider. It is considered a beneficial for its effectiveness in controlling insect pests but they are indiscriminate predators.

They can run very fast and jump on their prey like a cat. Its bright green body camouflaged very well on my butterfly bush and allowed it to ambush this skipper. Sadly it looks like he caught the Zabulon that I just identified and showed in my previous post.

I am hoping that next time this guy gets hungry he can go after some of the leaf-footed plant bugs or squash bugs that are invading the kitchen garden. Any of the pest insects, but please not my butterflies!