It’s Pollinator Week, which is a valuable international reminder of the importance of those creatures in our ecosystems and food supply. But it also raises a question: Why don’t we have a Predator Week?
I suppose that no politician would support memorializing facts that we like to forget: The world has far more predators than pollinators; they’re part of virtually all animal groups, and predation is still the world’s fundamental survival strategy. Predation is as important as pollination, if not more so, and usually takes more skill.
Nonetheless, here in celebration of Pollinator Week, I offer an image of a lovely eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly doing its best to pollinate deutzia blossoms while it accepts their gratefully offered nectar. Fluttering swallowtails seemingly like to flaunt their brilliant beauty.
However, in celebration of shy unmentionables, I offer two images of little predators that hide their presence and eat pollinators. Look closely:
Goldenrod crab spiders don’t spin webs; They sit patiently on flowers (such as oxeye daisies, as here), change color, and pounce on unsuspecting small pollinators. But, of course, even spider life has its ups and downs: These spiders are preyed upon by many other predators, including other spiders and hummingbirds that also pollinate flowers.
I’m tempted to extend this discussion into the metaphysical realm of human predation upon ourselves and other creatures, but I guess I’ll leave that to the daily news reports for now. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on June 15, 21 and 23, 2026.)