At right is a monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus in larval form, feeding on tropical milkweed Asclepias curassavica. 

Follow the links below for some interesting info that you probably did not know, or you might have heard once or twice but dismissed as being irrelevant.  Maybe it is; maybe it isn't.

http://www.monarchbutterflyusa.com/Cycle.htm

http://www.monarch-butterfly.com/

Here are a couple of photos of a female banana spider Nephila clavipes.  This is also called the golden silk spider, because of the color of the web it spins.  Enlarge the photo below to see the web more closely.  You may also take a look at the headgear that the spider wears.  Cyclists and Vikings may want to take note of the design and consider what could become trendy helmets.   

Oh, look, how cute, it's a Julia butterfly Dryas iulia.  Is it just flittering from one flower to the next in search of nectar?  Oh no!  It is caught in the trap of the banana spider!

It is completely stuck and won't get free by itself.  Which side are you on, the spider's or the butterfly's?

Can you truthfully say that one is right while the other one is wrong?  One is good, and the other evil?

There are no such concepts in nature; there is only survival. Think about that the next time someone says something you don't agree with.  Maybe the problem is just that you are a spider and the other person is a butterfly. Try to be a nice spider!

Female ruby-throated hummingbird Archilochus colubris  finds the firespike Odontonema strictum irresistible.

Animals use a variety of tactics to make themselves less noticeable to predators.

Notice the mimicry exhibited by the hummingbird in the photo below.  She is masquerading as part of a dead palm frond.  This is like a celebrity going out incognito in old clothes without make-up.

Camouflage, or, to put it into fashion terms, color coordination, is an important technique that animals use to blend in wherever they go.

See how the mockingbird Mimus polyglottos  (the Florida State Bird since 1927) in the photo at right is wearing a practical, charming outfit that goes nicely with the lichen-decorated branches of the black ironwood  Krugiodendron ferreum.

This little feller at right, the American alligator Alligator missippiensis, doesn't give a hoot about blending in at the moment, being more concerned with catching some rays.

This is the Eastern Screech Owl Megascops asio.  They are much more common around here than you would think.   

Every night, they silently keep watch, waiting for their prey to make a mistake.  

The owl pounces, and tears its dinner into easily digestible strips, like mouse jerky, all while you are sound asleep in your safe, warm little bed.  

At right is a Knight Anole  Anolis equestris, wearing a sensible green outfit with accessories of sunshine and shadow.

These lizards are not aggressive and will not attack you, unless you are a cockroach or a spider (or an egg).

What is nature without a little danger to keep you on your toes?

At right is the Florida Bark Scorpion Centruroides gracilis.

You can tell the scorpion has already passed on and is safe to mess around with, because its tail is not raised.