Irene Brady

Excellent photo series! Thanks.

Thank you very much, amigos! Interestingly, this was extremely difficult to identify. I searched the internet with all kinds of descriptions for more than two hours, and only found it by accident in Images while searching for another butterfly caterpillar. I am very pleased that you all found it interesting.

Due to the range and distribution, plus the size of the ears, these are likely black-tailed deer. Roe deer aren't native to the US.

This looks to me like a decades- to centuries-old accumulation of packrat dung. Did it have a strong scent?

Olivier, many thanks! I googled Rutela lineola and am sure you are correct, including the marking on the thorax which I thought might be a broken part. Is there a common name?

If you have a chance to travel in the subtropics/tropics, there's a good chance you will see it. I've spotted it in both Costa Rica and Belize on casual walks in the forest.

Thanks for the Spotting of the Week vote. As it happens, this is one of my more fascinating "learner spottings." It took me quite a while online to work out what sort of spider it was, and as always, I learned a great deal about not only "flatties" but also about other spiders it WASN'T as I researched it.

Thanks. All credit must go to the spider, of course! <grin>

Thank you Daniele. I always find posting with write-ups much more interesting than those without. I expect they are of more value to the Project Noah goals, as well, so I try to include everything I can think of, plus what I am able to find online. I've learned SO much this way!!!

oops! I know better than that! Thanks, Scott.