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!

Comments

  1. A to ci zielona "paskuda", niech na motyle nie poluje. Gratuluję zdjęć. Pozdrawiam.
    And are those green "bungling", let the butterflies do not hunt. Congratulations on your photos. Yours.

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  2. Hard to see that isn't it? Sometimes it's hard to let nature take its course. Great captures.

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    1. Indeed! And, I have to remind myself that they are all just trying to survive out there.

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  3. That is an interesting spider...like I feel about the hawk that is present in my yard of late..eat..but not my birds...Michelle

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    1. Its hard isn't it! Its a tough life out there in the wild!

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  4. I would have had to shoo it away. Let it find it's dinner on other things. :)
    Cher Sunray Gardens

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    1. He was pretty content sitting there with his meal. I wonder how long it will take him to eat it?

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  5. Cool, well the spider is cool but needs to go pick on the bad guys ..lol Actually he's cool cause his at your house.
    I wouldn't want to run into him..
    hugs and happy Friday, Cherry

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    1. You make me laugh Cherry! He is a cool looking spider but dang I wish he hadn't found the butterfly! But that is life in the garden!

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  6. Sorry the butterfly wandered into the wrong place at the wrong time. That is a pretty spider, though. I am so biased by beauty.

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  7. EWWWW that is a scary spider but so cool....yes I wish they could be trained...poor butterfly...sorry for the problem with commenting on my blog Wed...we had to do an emergency migration to the new web host on Tues and it took quite a while so comments had to be turned off or lost in cyberspace...drop back over if you want...

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    1. Thanks Donna, you know I will be back over to read your blog! Love it!

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  8. I frequently see crab spiders lurking among our flowers, waiting to ambush our honey bees, or butterflies. I agree, I'd rather not see them with butterflies, but I'm always in awe of spiders when they can snag a meal so much larger than they are! The rule to never eat anything bigger your head doesn't really seem to apply to them! ;)

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    1. Your right, it is pretty amazing! I do love to watch nature at work but somethings are harder than others.

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  9. Super photo Karin!! I had a Green Lynx spider in my garden this week. He was on my rose bush all day long. Didn't see him eating anyone though.

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  10. Wow, great captures as always! I'm a little skittish about spiders, but my husband is even more scared of them than I am. I have to admit I freaked when I saw the spider picture. I've never seen a spider like that! But I know he serves a purpose (just not eating your butterflies and moths). And your photos tell the story so well!

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  11. Oh my, that would have been sad to see the spider make a lunch out of the butterfly you had just been photographing! It's too bad you can't point the spider towards some pests you would like him to eat!
    By the way, thank you for identifying this spider. I had actually seen one in my garden recently and was wondering what it was.

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  12. Spiders are such cool insects, their habits and their homes. You have a pretty one there and a good size. Too bad he is snacking on your photo subject, but instead became the subject himself. Nice capture.

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  13. I haven't seen that kind of action in my garden, just the occasional butterfly and bee establishing which one will enjoy a particular coneflower.
    -Karen

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  14. That's hard to watch but true nature isn't always pretty. Excellent photos.

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  15. Great photos! That green spider is amazing. I really don't like spiders but he's really pretty.

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  16. Nature is amazing, fantastic photos.

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  17. That is one scary looking spider. Poor skipper! Great shots though, Karin. You can see the barbs on the spider's legs with amazing detail.

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  18. It so sad about the butterfly. The spider looks like an alien from a sci-fi movie. :)

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One of my favorite things about blogging is the conversation with readers. Leave a comment and let's get talking. ~Karin

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