Six participants conducted this week's survey on the Autumnal Equinox. The cloud cover made it so dark during the early part of the morning that photography, as well as vision (!), was limited, but the sun did eventually make an appearance. We noted that a number of the large Black-and-yellow Garden Spiders have laid eggs. Immediately after doing so, their abdomens look very wrinkled and shrunken. The Camouflaged Looper really does put bits of its food plant on its back, in this case the pretty purple bits of the Blue Mistflower. Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings: Argiope aurantia (black-and-yellow garden spider after laying eggs) photo by Val Bugh Synchlora frondaria (camouflaged looper) photo by Val Bugh Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria (blackberry looper) photo by Val Bugh Copestylum avidum (flower fly) photo by Val Bugh Lactista aztecus (Aztec bandwing) photo by Val Bugh Coccinella septempunctata (seven-spotted ladybird) photo by Val Bugh Melanoplus sp. (spurthroated grasshopper) photo by Val Bugh Danaus plexippus (monarch larva) photo by Val Bugh Enigmogramma basigera (pink-washed looper moth) photo by Val Bugh Neoscona oaxacensis (orbweaver) photo by Val Bugh Lycus fernandezi (net-winged beetle) photo by Val Bugh Schistocerca sp. (bird grasshopper nymph) photo by Val Bugh Unknown sp. (land snail) photo by Val Bugh Opheodrys aestivus (rough green snake) photo by Harriett Wolf Birds: Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) Black-crested Titmouse (Baeolophus atricristatus) Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) Western Scrub-jay (Aphelocoma californica) White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica) Reptiles: Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys aestivus) Mediterranean Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus) Mollusks: Black-velvet Leatherleaf Slug (Angustipes ameghini) Land Snail (Unknown sp.) Misc.: Earthworm (Unknown sp.) Insects & Spiders: order family genus/species common name lepidoptera   nymphalidae   Danaus gilippus   Queen       Danaus plexippus   Monarch (adult & larva)       Junonia coenia   Common Buckeye    pieridae   Phoebis sennae   Cloudless Sulphur    papilionidae   Papilio cresphontes   Giant Swallowtail    hesperiidae   Systasea pulverulenta   Texas Powdered-skipper (larva)       Erynnis horatius   Horace's Duskywing       Pyrgus communis/albescens   Common/White Checkered-skipper    noctuidae   Enigmogramma basigera   Pink-washed Looper Moth       Schinia chrysellus   Broomweed Flower Moth    arctiidae   Estigmene acrea   Saltmarsh Moth    notodontidae   Schizura unicornis   Unicorn Caterpillar Moth    geometridae   Synchlora frondaria   Camouflaged Looper       Chlorochlamys chloroleucaria   Blackberry Looper odonata   libellulidae   Pachydiplax longipennis   Blue Dasher       Libellula croceipennis   Neon Skimmer    aeshnidae   Anax junius   Common Green Darner    coenagrionidae   Argia fumipennis   Variable Dancer coleoptera   coccinellidae   Coccinella septempunctata   Seven-spotted Ladybird       Cycloneda sanguinea   Red Ladybird       Harmonia axyridis   Multi-colored Asian Ladybird       Unknown sp.   Ladybird Beetle (egg & pupa)    carabidae   Pasimachus depressus   Ground Beetle    tenebrionidae   Eleodes goryi   Darkling Beetle    lycidae   Lycus fernandezi   Net-winged Beetle hemiptera   coreidae   Acanthocephala terminalis   Coreid Bug (adult & nymph)       Hypselonotus punctiventris   Coreid Bug (adult & nymph)    scutelleridae   Unknown sp.   Shield Bug (nymph)       Sphyrocoris obliquus   Shield Bug    lygaeidae   Oncopeltus fasciatus   Large Milkweed Bug (adult & nymph)       Lygaeus kalmii   Small Milkweed Bug    pentatomidae   Euschistus servus   Brown Stink Bug       Acrosternum hilare   Green Stink Bug (nymph) homoptera   cicadellidae   Cuerna costalis   Leafhopper       Homalodisca vitripennis   Glassy-winged Sharpshooter    aphididae   Aphis nerii   Oleander Aphid hymenoptera   vespidae   Polistes exclamans   Paper Wasp    formicidae   Solenopsis invicta   Imported Fire Ant    apidae   Bombus pensylvanicus   Bumble Bee       Apis mellifera   Honey Bee       Xylocopa micans   Large Carpenter Bee       Anthophora abrupta   Digger Bee diptera   syrphidae   Copestylum mexicana   Black Flower Fly       Copestylum avidum   Flower Fly orthoptera   acrididae   Schistocerca sp.   Bird Grasshopper (nymph)       Schistocerca nitens   Gray Bird Grasshopper       Melanoplus sp.   Spur-throated Grasshopper       Melanoplus differentialis   Differential Grasshopper       Lactista aztecus   Aztec Bandwing (nymph & adult)    tettigoniidae   Scudderia furcata   Fork-tailed Bush Katydid (nymph & adult)       Conocephalus strictus   Straight-lanced Meadow Katydid mantodea   mantidae   Stagmomantis carolina   Carolina Mantis araneae   araneidae   Argiope aurantia   Black and Yellow Garden Spider       Neoscona oaxacensis   Orbweaver    oxyopidae   Peucetia viridans   Green Lynx    salticidae   Phidippus audax   Bold Jumper       Thiodina sylvana   Jumping Spider