Snake!!

3/21/2012

Harmless Water Snake? OR VENOMOUS WATER MOCCASIN?

Same situation as last post. Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens. 5 megapixel iPhone 4...

This snake was just relaxing in the shallows of the pond, and don't worry I didn't get close enough to get a good picture as I did with the caterpillar. Possibly a water moccasin, but then again possibly a simple water snake. I had no previous knowledge of the distinction before I went out there but from what I have read... based on my picture and memory it could honestly be either. No ID here... :(

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9981144

White-Marked Tussock Moth larva (Orgyia leucostigma)

3/21/2012

Took a nice trip to the Jacksonville Arboretum & Gardens yesterday, not expecting to take any pictures or do any spottings but I could not help myself. I was just going for a stroll with a friend but ran into some very fascinating species. Unluckily, I did not bring my camera so I had to take all of these pictures with my.... that's right, iPhone 4.... 5 megapixels versus my normal 16. That was difficult to work with. However, I try to make the best of every situation and simply sucked it up taking as many as it required to get a good shot. 

First off I ran into this little guy on the water fountain. They were everywhere... like at one point I looked down while walking and noticed one on my leg... Luckily I've seen them before and even know what they were! This is the White-marked Tussock Moth Larval stage. Beautiful, yes... annoying? absolutely. 

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9948718

NEW IDs!!!

3/20/2012
Took a visit to the local Library and was able to use some reference books to identify some of the unidentified specimens on this site!
Such as:
White Domed Cap from 2/27
Burgundy Cap from 2/27
I finally published a long process trying to identify a
small hairy gilled bracket fungus
And it helped me develop and ween down my options for multiple other posts.
Just an update!
978-1-4027-4154-8
0-394-50432-1
0-394-51992-2
0-394-50760-6
0-394-50763-0

Larkspur

3/18/2012

I found a flowering weed growing in the neighbor's unkept yard. It's a vacant house so it's not taken care of regularly. This one was rather pretty, with a 2 foot talk stalk with bright purple flowers all over it. The leaves are strange as well, almost needle like and bushy.

3/20/2012

A visit to the library like so many other posts... 

The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Wildflowers Eastern Region

possibility:

Spring Larkspur (734)

Delphinium tricorne

YES. Solved. Well if it's incorrect it's at least in the same family and I'll find it soon.

Rocket Larkspur (Consolida ajacis)

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9946638

Black Tupelo? (Nyssa sylvatica)

3/7/2012

I've had this post developing for awhile. Ive been trying to ID this tree through the use of the resources off the internet but I have not had the luck of actually solving the puzzle.

so today, 3/20/2012, I went to the library to finally figure this out. 

I found a field guide entitled: The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Trees Eastern Region

Possibilities:

Black Tupelo (620)

Nyssa sylvatica

Leaves and berries match description and pictures. 

http://www.eattheweeds.com/nyssus-tart-botanical-tangles-2/

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9948610

Common Split Gill (Schizophyllum commune)

3/7/2012
Tiny shelflike bracket mushroom found in abandoned house's back yard.
Funny story I actually was climbing down an overgrown bank/ hill and it was rather steep. I was trying to keep my balance but when I saw this specimen I tried to put my backpack down so I could take a picture but I ended up falling down into the dead trees and overgrown bamboo/ ferns below. Rather painful but I was able to make fun of myself substantially. Felt like an idiot...

Common Split Gill (493)
Schizophyllum commune

"Stalkless, fan-shaped, white hairy cap with white to pinkish gill-like folds split on edges."
habitat: On dead branches of dedicuous trees, I found it in two locations, both matched
Spore print was white, as well as the description.
"fan- to shell-shaped when laterally attached to wood, vase- to saucer- shaped when centrally attached; white to gray, dry, densely hairy"
DENSELY HAIRY... check. Fits the description flawlessly...
Something interesting about the fungus? "The common split gill... survives loss of moisture by curling back the outer sides of it's folds and rolling the cap margin inward. It revives in wet weather." It can be seen doing that in the third picture down there. Fascinating really.
http://www.mushroomexpert.com/schizophyllum_commune.html
The specimen I encountered was a small, younger version of the ones in the pictures. However I'm 100% certain that I found the correct ID.
It's lookalike is Plicaturopsis crispa and I even looked into it but it's not the same as my specimen.

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9948592

Artist's Conk (Ganoderma applanatum)

3/18/2012
Today I stumbled upon a MASSIVE bracket fungus. I knocked a piece off so as to measure and determine its ID possibly. It was about 10 inches across, I don't know how far back it went. But the interesting thing was in the cross section, it seemed like it had regrown underneath itself 4 times, because there were 4 layers of older pores, with the bottom one covered in a white porous material which bruised. The cap itself was woody and hard, however the inside was fleshy. The pores, I believe,  are cinnamon brown. I say that because of the overlap between the few fungi and the powder on the lower caps. I was looking through my field guide and stumbled upon the Artist's Conk (Ganoderma applanatum). Description ideal. http://mushroom-collecting.com/mushroomartist.html sort of regret not drawing on it or something of the sort. Good thing theres some more still growing there!

^^The pores, up close.

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9865790

Pseudoscorpion (Lasiochernes cretonatus) II

So, I was rather upset after my encounter with the pseudoscorpion, here: http://procezzed.blogspot.com/2012/03/pseudoscorpion.html, because the photographs were so terrible, detail was almost impossible to discern. So, I took a magnifying glass, a pad of paper, and some colored pencils, and I sketched out what the creature I found looked like. This is a freehand based on observations made of the little arachnid. I hope it can clear up some questions about what it looked like in detail. I should probably invest in a better camera... however that's somewhat out of the question with my limited funds right now. Enjoy my drawing: 

A description taken from National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders

"Pseudoscorpions are small, flat arachnids, usually less than 1/4" (5 mm) long. Like true scorpions, they have enlarged, pincerlike pedipalps, but the short, oval abdomen does not have a tail or stinger. Some species have 2-4 simple eyes; others do not have eyes. Many species have poison glands in the pedipalps, which are used to subdue insect prey and small invertebrates. Pseudoscorpions also have silk glands, but unlike spiders, which have them at the tip of the abdomen, the duct openings are located on the jaws, or chelicerae. They use this silk to spin cocoons, in which they overwinter and molt. The male in one species produces another kind of silk from the rectum, spinning threads that direct the female to the stalked sperm packet. In most species, the female's brood pouch remains attached to the female's abdomen, and hatchlings stay in the pouch, feeding on a milklike liquid from the female's ovaries. In some species, the female abandons the pouch and the embryos develop unattended. Often young require several years to mature to adults. Some species can live up to 4 years. 

Pseudoscorpions are common in many different habitats- at the seashore, in caves, in houses between the pages of books, and in woods among mosses and under loose bark, leaves, and stones. They can maneuver with great ease, moving forward, backward, and sideways. Frequently, they latch onto large insects, especially flies and beetles, and ride them to a new location. There are over 350 North American species, and about 2500 species known worldwide."

Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon)

I got SO many killer pictures of this butterfly. And a good video! I spotted him on some weed stalk and he was opening and closing his wings for no apparent reason. However I managed to snap some amazing shots, at least I think so!

field crescent (Phyciodes campestris) is a possibility, but the field guide I own says they only exist on the west coast. 

Phaon Crescent (Phyciodes phaon) The upperside markings match as well as the underside markings which change for summer and winter. The season and the markings fit. I'm going to settle with the idea that this butterfly is a Phaon Crescent. 

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Phyciodes-phaon

So sorry for the terrible quality, I swear the recording I have on my computer and what I filmed was not nearly as horrible. Notice the flapping though, that's the point.

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9866767

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

3/18/2012

Ran upon a butterfly today in the backyard. Identification should not be too difficult. 

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) markings match between the picture and the guide I own.  The guide states that specimens in Florida should be double checked and compared to the other two species, Mangrove Buckeye and Tropical Buckeye. I did and I'm fairly certain my first ID was correct, that it is the Common Buckeye. 

Analysis of it's markings:

Upperside:

forewing:

Two postbasal orange bands outlined in black

'eyespot' on corner of trailing edge of forewing

eyespot is yellow black and blue, beginning on outer circle leading to center

two submarginal 'eyespots' on a smaller scale containing only black and blue

postmedian yellow band stretches from where large eyespot ends to leading edge of forewing

thin yellow median band surrounding inner part of 'eyespot'

one orange marginal band right between the large 'eyespot' and the fringe

the fringe has a bit of white edge

on the hindwing:

two large 'eyespots' 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Junonia_coenia

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Junonia-coenia

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9860804

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)

3/8/2012

This guy was a pain in the butt to try and photograph. I must have taken 50 pictures. The following are the only acceptable ones. This butterfly would land, leave it's wings open for .5 seconds then slam it's wings together. So I got a ton of shots of it with it's wings shut but only one of a partial shot of a wing, for identification. It was super frusterating. It would also not let me get too close. It had a mate, I believe and they were flying around each other then would land then begin 'flirting' again. 

Took me quite a bit of flipping through my field guide reference book, but I finally found the Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_atalanta. Nothing too interesting in regards to it's life. It is fairly common in every state in the continuous US and stretches it's habitat into southern Canada, and apparently all across the other continents, dispersingly. 

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9864479

Dye-Makers False Puffball (Pisolithus tinctorius)

3/7/2012

Saw this guy from a distance and had to investigate. I know I've had 2 other specimens of this exact fungus but this was the largest by far. At first I thought it was an old rotten orange but then I looked around and realized, there was no way an orange could have made it to where I was. He was growing at the base of an old blown-down and decomposing palm tree, and I might add, this guy was a monster. I'm going to identify it, I'm hell bent on it. This guy is EVERYWHERE and I need to know what he is! 

http://americanmushrooms.com/taxa/Pisolithus_tinctorius_01_Paula_DeSanto.htm Look at that. The only possible option I can find. The interesting thing is I've looked into this species as a possible identification before but I stopped because the pictures weren't exact. However, this seems to be the ONLY viable option so I'm going to do some in depth research on the 'dye-makers false puffball'. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pisolithus_tinctorius.html I'm fairly certain now. No, I'm positive. "Fruiting Body: 5-30+ cm high and up to 20 cm across; ball-shaped when young, stretching out with maturity to become top-shaped, tooth-shaped (like a giant molar), stumplike, or just plain odd; the surface at first whitish to yellowish, purplish, or brownish--but soon breaking up to expose the interior; outer rind thin and fragile; interior at first packed with pea-sized spore packages embedded in blackish gel, disintegrating from the top downward to become a mass of cinnamon brown spore dust; base with a rudimentary stem or sterile portion; often with yellowish rhizomorphs attached; odor at first mild, becoming fragrant and, in maturity, foul." Yep, That's it. FINALLY SOLVED! I'm going to go back and fix the other two as well!

 This guy was HUGE... about 7 inches from the base to the 'cap', if you could consider it that.

And then a cross section of the fungus about an inch thickness each time. 

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9861508

Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans) II

3/7/2012

I remembered having heard something about insects landing on poison ivy because their predators know not to attack when they're the irritating vine. I spotted some little flies on some leaves of what I identify as poison ivy. I know I already posted on it, but I found this interesting and snapped a shot.

Spanish Needles (Bidens alba)

3/7/2012

Wildflower I found growing in the backyard. Googled white wildflower Florida. This little guy was one of the first options. http://www.floridata.com/ref/b/bide_alb.cfm. It's called Spanish Needles aka Bidens alba. I can't find much information on the plant, there is no wikipedia page or any other source where a ton of info is offered about it. The seeds of this plant are sometimes referred to as beggarseeds because of their innate ability to attach themselves to passing animals and humans. Annoying little 3/4 inch stick-like seeds stick to clothes, fur, anything they can come into contact with. Cute little flower, however. 

http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/9865482