This Florida carpenter ant (Camponotus floridanus) was overtaken by a fungus, Ophiocordyceps camponoti-floridani, and eventually died after the fungus puppeteered the ant and forced it to latch onto this piece of Spanish moss. The structure sticking out of the ant is the fruiting body of the fungus.
This is a fairly "fresh" green lynx spiderling (Peucetia viridans). This little dude is only about 1/4 inch (5mm) in legspan!
Green lynx spider (Peucetia viridans) guarding her eggsac. A single eggsac can contain up 600 individual eggs. After 11-16 days the eggs hatch into "postembryos" which lack mouthparts and functional eyes. They remain inside the eggsac for another 10-13 days and undergo their first molt into fully functional, but not yet sexually mature, tiny spiders. The mother typically helps tear open the eggsac to release the young, but should the mother not be around when it's time, the young can rip the eggsac open on their own.This is in contrast to most wolf spiders' eggsacs from which the babies cannot escape without help. The young will then typically spend their first winter living on and around the branch or plant that the eggsac was on which the mother has covered in silk for the spiderlings to provide refuge while they learn to fend for themselves. to fend for themselves.
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