Assassin Bug

While looking for the milkweed bugs in some fringed twinevine, I happened across an assassin bug apparently enjoying a little lunch.

Here's a tigher crop, showing the little aphid or larva it is eating. 

I thought it would be pretty simple to find an assassin bug on Bugguide.net but I really had a heck of a time.  Fortunately, there are many bug experts who know how to figure that out.  It is a Zelus renardii. 

Fringed Twinevine

I suppose it is also known as Climbing Milkweed.  The pitcure below shows the twining.

The flowers can be white or tinged with pink or purple. 

The seed definitely looks like milkweed. 

And they may taste like milkweed, too as the milkweed bugs seem to like it. 

One is hiding behind the plant.  You can see the twinevine twisting through another plant, the Desert Broom (aka Turpentine Bush)

Side view.

 And the close up.

Saguaro Bloom!

They don't bloom like this very often, so I had to stop and take pictures of this one.

I won't bore you with repeated pictures of this same bloom, although I took several.

I will post some crops I made when I noticed something that has me puzzled.

Notice the large honey bee above the flower and the much tinier bee off to the right. 

Now either the smaller bee is being carried or this is an optical illusion due to the juxtaposition of the two flying close together.

According to the experts at http://bugguide.net this is likely some kind of wasp which looks a lot like a honey bee, and that it is carrying of its prey.  How about that! Cool stuff and a lucky shot (although it could have been better focused).

Western Diamondback

I would love to say I found this guy beside a sidewalk at the start of a hike, but truth be told, someone hollared out "Rattlesnake!" and I went to check it out.

It crossed the sidewalk and started up the hill.

 Then it decided I was a nuisance, so it sort of coiled up.  I didn't get close enough to set off its rattle, though.

This one was about a 3 footer, maybe a bit longer.