Predation

Only a close look will find the spider on this budding boneset. No wastrel, the patient spider awaits its opportunities to ensnare pollen-heavy bugs testing the fruition of abundant summer blossoms.
In our backyard, this herbal plant dominates old burn spots and wet hedges in mid-to-late summer, blossoming for perhaps a bit more than a month before its seeds establish another generation.
The next four weeks constitute New England's real summer, as plants and insects and others reproduce amid bounty. All too soon, seed and egg and burrow must weather an arid and barren winter to set this moment in motion once more next summer.