Death in the Lettuce - Green Lynx Redux

Wild lettuce, mightiest of the forest giants! Towering above an understory of smaller weeds; flowers spent, almost completely gone to seed. Desiccated remnants of once radiant blossoms, swaying gently in a warm late-summer breeze, broadcasting next year's crop in the sunny spots at the feet of their brooding bark-bound brothers. A wily wasp surveys the terrain, seeking beetles or larvae to nourish its brood,...What!?   Has the Watcher  left the kudzu!?

Aerial ambush artist, green flanks emblazoned with the rosy red chevrons of a decorated arboreal assassin. This, too, is the she-lynx's domain.



Never let down your guard. In the wild and woolly world of the weeds, every leaf might be a mantis, every limb a lynx. Desperate places, where survival is the name of the game, and the next hand is already being dealt...

Ante up!

The Watcher in the Kudzu

In the beginning, when kudzu first began its inexorable assault on the southern landscape, native arthropods jockeyed for position among the   acres and acres of huge green leaves. Lining up for a turn at the fragrant purple flowers. Seeking shelter in the cool depths of a veritable ocean of foliage.

Over time, a hierarchy was established.

At the apex, perching motionless, ever watchful,
watching and watching, and watching still...

with all eight eyes...


sporting an invisibility cloak perfectly suited for this emerald sea, the ruler of this domain,

the Green Lynx Spider.

Lynx. So named for the cat-like leap with which it so often ends its watching...

It is a fearsome predator, favoring bees and nectar-loving wasps, without regard for their pitiful stings.

The Kudzu kingdom has found its queen, an eight-legged one.

Wait... Is that a mockingbird I hear?!