Ah cute little Argiope spider?? It really DOES look like a skull. I have to laugh to think that you believe hummingbird moths are scary! Anyway, yes I sure have noticed when certain critters have a banner year.
Everybody knows about the 17 year cicadas with the black and orange bodies and red eyes looking something straight from a horror movie especially when they get this strange fungal disease called Massospora cicadina. It leaves them with only half a body but zipping along like nothing has happened. Many years ago my daughter and her friends enjoyed catching these kind and calling them: "buttless" and "gutless"
You Tube video about this: Why Don't These Cicadas Have Butts?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
