Life and Death on a Grass Seed

Yesterday afternoon I got bored with sitting at my desk so I grabbed my camera and wandered out into the field behind the office.  I was just about to come back in when something caught my eye.

Female Goldenrod Crab Spider feeding on a beetle while a smaller male spider guards her to deter rival males

That is a beetle (unidentified) being grasped in the jaws of a female Goldenrod Crab Spider (Misumena vatia).  If you look closely, a smaller male spider is perched on her abdomen.  I am guessing that they had recently mated and the male was hanging around to chase away other male spiders.