A spider recently set up a fine network of lines on one of the dahlias, pulling the leaves together to make a little tent for her brood. From the behavior I assume this is a nursery web spider.

During the day the spiderlings clump together in a ball and the spider hangs out nearby, sometimes taking a stretched-out posture that I assume is a sort of camouflage.

spider and babies on dahlia
spider hiding on dahlia

At night the spiderlings spread out and mom does a patrol walk over/around the nest, but the next day they’re back in a clump again.

spider with babies at night

While picking beetles tonight I also spotted a mantis in the process of molting. This one is quite a bit larger than the few others that I’ve seen recently, though it still has a long way to go to get to full size.

molting mantis
molted mantis