A week in the Las Vegas Area - June 5-11
It was hot and drier than usual on this trip compared to last year. Temperatures reached over 100 degrees every day.

I started off in Arizona in the Cerbat Mountains.

Plateau Fence Lizard.

A wasp hitching a ride up the mountain.

I photographed this Eastern Collared Lizard out of the driver's side window of the car.

A Yellow-belly Assassin Bug...

...that decided to attempt to assassinate the camera (I think it saw its reflection in the lens).

Gila Spotted Whiptail.

A smaller, darker Gila Spotted Whiptail actively foraging in the leaf litter.

Cicada exoskeleton "as found."

There were a number of these small, spotted beetles on the flowers of cacti.

Cow.

Yucca.

Yucca fruit.

Lichens forming the letter "G."

A mammal that I've never seen before - a Rock Squirrel - they are surprisingly large.

Eaton's Firecracker being visited by bees.

Later that night...Wolf Spider.

And still later - Spotted Leafnose Snake.

Another photo of the Spotted Leafnose Snake.