Eric R. Eaton

If you like me here, you can also find me on.... Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/75196... iNaturalist: www.inaturalist.org/observations... Bug Eric blog: bugeric.blogspot.com Sense of Misplaced blog: senseofmisplaced.blogspot.com

#entsoc2026

Great. We have two a$&h0le candidates running to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate. The incumbent is reprehensible, too. I *hate* that I live in this state, but this has become the typical political scenario in most states, sadly.

There were many of these Banded Garden Spiders, Argiope trifasciata, in the fields of Baker University Wetlands yesterday. They are among my favorite arachnids. So silvery! Lawrence, Kansas, USA. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

@samanthagallagher.bsky.social, the illustrator for the Bugwatching book, will also be there. Get your book signed by both of us! #entsoc2026

If this is true, I have to burn my Bengals jacket AND find a new bank (complicated because I inherited my late father’s accounts). My contact at that bank will get an earful in the meantime.

I really enjoy this account.

I rarely see guardstone spiders like this Phrurotimpus borealis, let alone one standing perfectly still. On the exterior of our garage at night, May 26, 2026, Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

Still hearing Common True Katydid, Pterophylla camelifolia, here in our Leavenworth, Kansas, USA neighborhood tonight.

Momma Common House Spider, Parasteatoda tepidariorum, with her “newborns,” in a corner of our garage, a few months ago. Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

There are some folks on here that I would follow were it not for a damn AI-generated banner or profile pic. Total deal breaker.

Anyone else having a problem creating ALT text in Bluesky lately, using their phone? I have an iPhone 14. When I tap the word I want, only a few letters of the word “stick,” the rest disappear. Very frustrating.

Obligatory #Arachtober photo of a Brown Recluse, Loxosceles reclusa. This one has killed a male Furrow Orbweaver, Larinioides cornutus. Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

I am always delighted to find Basilica Orbweavers. This one was outside of Hot Springs, North Carolina, USA, by the French Broad River. The web is a tight spiral, pulled into a dome. Gorgeous. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

Arrow-shaped Orbweaver, Micrathena sagittata, in her web in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways, northeast of Venice, Missouri, USA, on September 5. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

By far, this young Cornfield Bolas Spider, Mastophora hutchinsoni, was our best yard find this year, discovered by my partner, Heidi, in late August. Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. This photo from August 29, but seen on the 25th first. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders

Here's an actual camera photo I took of a labyrinth orbweaver, genus Metepeira, at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson, on October 4. These spiders pair a tangled web, and conical retreat, with the "standard" circular one. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

I spotted this little Bowl and Doily Spider in her web yesterday, in an oak sapling in our backyard. Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

A trashline orbweaver, genus Cyclosa, in the hub of her web, with a string of egg sacs and debris above her. Photo taken today in our yard in Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. #Arachtober #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

There are more apt names for data centers: “bot manufacturing facilities,” “privacy violation headquarters,” “data *collection* hubs.” What else, that describes these things for the functions they perform?

A funnel weaver spider sits in her retreat, in a flower bed at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson, Arizona, USA, for #Arachtober 12. Photo was taken October 4. #bugsky #bugwatching #spider #arachnids

Can we turn a "holiday" into meaningful action? senseofmisplaced.blogspot.com/2026/10/indi... #IndigenousPeoplesDay #blogpost

A wolf spider, Tigrosa grandis, for #Arachtober 11, seen last Thursday in Leavenworth, Kansas, USA. #bugsky #bugwatching #spider #arachnid

It's also #Arachtober.... bugeric.blogspot.com/2026/10/happ... #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders

This very large orbweaver, genus Araneus, was one of several under the eaves of the visitor center at Las Vegas (New Mexico, USA) National Wildlife Refuge. Happy #Arachtober 8th. Photo taken yesterday morning. #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

I didn’t know, or had forgotten, that #InsectThursday is a thing. Here is a female sweat bee, family Halictidae, taking flight from a flower at the visitor center in Las Vegas (New Mexico) National Wildlife Refuge. #bugsky #bugwatching #pollinators #bees

Apologies, yesterday’s wall spider was for #Arachtober 5th. Today, the 6th, features a female Western Black Widow guarding her egg sac in her silken tunnel retreat. Cottonwood Picnic Area, Cimarron National Grassland near Elkhart, Kansas, USA. #bugsky #bugwatching #spider

My #Arachtober 4th spider is from yesterday at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, west of Tucson, Arizona, USA. Wall spiders, family Oecobiidae, are very small, even as adults. #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

For #Arachtober the 4th, a large fishing spider on a wall above a shallow pool at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson, Arizona, USA. Poor thing is missing two legs, but is a mom(see baby in lower right. #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachids

#Arachtober third: A large female Green Lynx Spider has killed an American Snout butterfly, on a prickly pear cactus pad. Florida Canyon, Santa Rita Mts., Arizona, USA. #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

#Arachtober for today, a very leggy cellar spider (family Pholcidae), casts two shadows on the wall of the art gallery it is living in. Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum west of Tucson, Arizona, USA. #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

Happy #arachtober everyone. Here is a running crab spider (Philodromidae), from yesterday at the visitor center in Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico, USA. #bugsky #bugwatching #spiders #arachnids

I have to find another source of exciting entertainment besides American football. There are more teams I hate than I can cheer for. I haven’t known an autumn without football since around 1970, though.