This gorgeous fellow was resting on our garden mums out in the open, and did not move when we "posed" it for the photo. I have only seen this large and very colorful moth one time here in the hardwood bottomland forest near the MS river. (The next day it was gone).

I am thinking this might be a member of the Sphinx moths due to its large size....

There are quite a few pollinators still around this late in the season; the days are still warm here in the hardwood forest of sw TN. I saw this butterfly for the first time on some very small wildflower blooms in a sunny field.

This beautiful, but wary, butterfly has frequented the garden (and this butterfly bush), but tricky to photograph. They are not uncommon, but not nearly as numerous as the swallowtails. Habitat = hardwood bottomland forest, sw TN.

Size: 1 inch long total, approx

This wasp came to rest in the lawn near wildflowers. Hard to get closer for a photo. It looks like a red wasp, but seems to have more green color and pattern. I hope an ID can be made from the photo. It was taken during midday in sw TN.

ID'ed by BugGuide.net as a
Paper Wasp or Polistes metricus (male)

There are large numbers of this moth with the strangely folded wings. Some are faded brown, others sport more auburn colored wings. They are all over the flowers everywhere now.

This has been ID'ed as a
Fiery skipper male
(by GaryC)

This insect was flying around from flower to flower, competing with the carpenter bee in an area of flowering shrubs in a sunny opening in the dense hardwood forest. It has a bluish tint to its black wings and some bright yellow bands on the abdomen. They are rather numerous here.

ID'ed by Ken Wolgemuth (BugGuide.net) as a:

Double-banded Scoliid (Scolia bicincta)
[http://bugguide.net/node/view/584197]

I found this bug crawling on flowers that many other bees and butterflies were also hovering on. There was only one, and it seemed rather slow. It occurred on a patch of wildflowers in the neighborhood near the woods here in sw TN on a beautiful day.

IDed by Gary Griswold, BugGuide.net, as a
"Goldenrod Soldier Beetle" or Chauliognathus pensylvanicus (see http://bugguide.net/node/view/585031)

I observed an sunny area of wildflowers near the forest; many bees and other pollinators were very busy here. This is the first I've seen of this dark winged, red-headed insect, but it stayed for a while on several flowers. The body is bluish.

This has been ID'ed by 3 experts on BugGuide.net [http://bugguide.net/node/view/585016] as a:
"Yellow collared scape moth" or Cisseps fulvicollis.

Cool-looking, isn't it?

I've seen this spider on some of my hikes through the woods. It sits on a leaf (or the underside) and stretches one very long, sticky strand of web across an open space. When disturbed (even lightly), it tucks all its legs very close to its body, which is shaped like a small pyramid with a white patch. Very interesting little arachnid.

ID'ed by Ian Stocks at BugGuide.net
Also called Triangulate Orb Weaver (Verrucosa arenata).

This spider is unusual because it rests in the web with its head up, not head down like most other spiders.