Not that a spider and some butterflies go together, exactly (or at least I hope they don’t because that would not bode well for the butterflies!), but their names do!

This orb weaver started out with a small web up near the gutter of the carport. His (or her…I don’t know) next web was larger, and encompassed one entire corner. The third web is the one that earned him the name “Empire” because he’s building one. The web sort of got messed up yesterday, either due to wind damage, or to cats’ tails, but somehow I doubt Empire will be daunted by a small loss. Terrible drawing (I’m not thrilled with the plastic screen cover on my phone case because my stylus skips), but good enough to illustrate the sheer size.

This is Empire himself (or herself…I need to learn to sex these spiders). Not a big spider, really, but a spider with big plans.

I may not have had many caterpillars this year, but there must have been some that I didn’t see because I certainly have several very fresh Monarchs! Two boys and a girl in one shot. The Mexican sunflowers look like shit, but the flutter-guys care not in the least.

The lovely lady was the only one that would let me close.