Thank you! I didn't realize this was a crab spider.

A beetle? The back legs look like an aphid...but I'm not sure.

After reading your comment I looked at my next image of the spider and rove beetle. It looks to me as though the rove beetle might be after the mystery insect. I so wish I'd realized what was going on when I photographed the spider!! ... and I wish I knew what he was after.

I've posted the next image ( # 1045778 (under Tibellus)

Pretty sure it's an aphid...But there are often things we wish we new were going on when we shot the photo!

The rove beetle is definitely dining on the other insect. EXIF says your shooting insects with a 420mm lens???

Yes, Arthur, the photo was shot with a 300mm lens plus an extender. Virtually all our insects are shot with that lens or a 100-400 zoom. ... and cropped. I have a 200 mm macro but it has to be on a tripod and I don't get as good results. The first two lenses are image stabilized and we use a monopod. Someday I may get something more specifically for insects, but so far we are having fun with our big lenses.

...a mode of use that suits you. If it 1:1 macro it will open a new world for you! I'm not very proficient with an external flash, and am not sure what settings are offered for the internal flash on that model.

I am still more that confident that with my preferred settings, you would soon be loving that lens. The short answer would be setting the mode to AV and start with f/5.6 and ISO at 800. Then you may find the shutter speed is over exposed at 1/8000th of a second it it is sunny, so you might change to f/8 and ISO 400. At any rate you will soon arrive at a shutter speed range that will keep your photos sharp.

It won't be long before you start using the internal flash as a fill flash, and adjust the settings.

Then when you are hooked on the unbeatable sharpness of the macro lens you'll probably get more elaborate techniques. But if you click forums you'll find a photography forum. Some people here are really talented. Everyone has there own styles. The photographers I like the most are mostly using 150-200mm macro lenses. Without stabilization. Some use the small light 90 to 105mm sizes.

I have a 1:1 60mm and 180mm (neither stabilized) that are easy to use. And I have a 90mm old manual focus lens capable of 1:2, 1:1, and 2:1 depending on if I add tubes and tele's.

If you are not talking about 1:1 macro, then you might not get what I'm talking about. I'm not knocking other lenses, and clever techniques to achieve high magnification, but when you find the right macro lens, you will be in heaven.

BTW I went from the Tamron SP 90mm with I thought was great because of it's compact size, to using 180mm for most insects. It's a little heavy, but is beats sneaking up on every insect!