This area is part of my daily bugtography walk, the north cross-fence of my property, lined with Himalayan Blackberries. Lately, there have been very few insects about, even spiders and stink bugs which are usually all over the blackberries now - odd for the end of August, even more odd considering how prolific the yard (6+ acres) has been this year. (I'm beginning to think our unusual weather is confusing the wildlife; they're all acting a bit peculiar this year.) Regardless, this image was taken about six weeks ago, and my guess is I'll not see this specimen again. I will, however, keep looking.

As a possible alternative, I may have additional images of this specimen or others like her. I take up to 300 pictures a day, and I currently have a 6,500 picture backlog to sort through. If I come across any other specimens, I'll post and cross link them to this post.

A week before taking the image in this post, I took an image of a male Xysticus. The image in this post was taken in the same area as the male; perhaps this is a female Xysticus?

I'm afraid this episode is over (though the little fly - let's assume it's the same one - does appear in another series), and there's still a 6,500+ image backlog left in the cutting room . . . plus I add to the vault every day.

Looks like (all) the stars will be dead before there's a sequel. Well, Phil, I'm sure you'll have other posts that I'll find equally engaging.