Scaphytopius Elegans

A beautiful little leafhopper with, alas, no common name, Scaphytopius elegans can be found all over the southern US, from Californa to Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. Adults are pale reddish brown with a wide cream or yellow midline stripe, striped eyes, a pale transverse stripe with black borders crossing the “nose” and going through…

Salvinia Stem-Borer

A small (1cm) white and brown mottled moth with an astonishingly close resemblance to its cousin, S. ecclesialis, the Salvinia stem-borer feeds on many types of aquatic plants, including water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and, of course, Salvinia rotundfolia, a water fern. Since its caterpillars can do a lot of damage to those plants, even to…

Three Spotted Skipper

Who knew? — searching for “small brown butterfly” is just as frustrating as searching for “small brown moth”. This particular small brown butterfly happens to be a three-spotted skipper, Cymaenes tripunctus, a grass skipper in the butterfly family Hesperiidae. It lives all over the Caribbean, and of course Florida because everything lives here. “Skipper” type…

Florida Leatherleaf Slug

I walk through my yard every morning pretending that our leaf piles are not full of these three-inch-long, flat slugs. I love slugs, but I’d prefer not to step on one! Florida leatherleaf slugs (Leidyula floridana), like other terrestrial slugs, eat fungi, decaying plant matter, and sometimes live plants. They are generally active in damp,…

June Bug / May Beetle

Technically, this is neither a June bug nor a May beetle as I found this individual in April. It is not a true bug; it is instead a scarab beetle, Phyllophaga sp. Alas, further identification would require me becoming very personal with this little guy, and, as always, I prefer not to damage my photo…

Metacyrba Punctata

I’ve been told that, when a species does not have a common name, I should give it one. This little fellow deserves one, don’t you think? This handsome Metacyrba punctata jumping spider was wandering around on my garage door when I spotted him. He gave me a few choice leg gestures (“Go away! I’m busy!”)…

Pantropical Jumping Spider

I assumed at first this was a wolf spider, Lycosidae sp. I am hesitant to call it a jumping spider because this individual was “huge” — I would have put it at half an inch long — and pantropical jumping spiders seem to max out at 12mm with the females. On the other hand, half…

Southeastern Five-Lined Skink

The southeastern five-lined skink lives, as one might expect, all over the southeastern United States. It looks a great deal like the American five-lined skink, Plestiodon fasciatus, but based on geographic range (this individual was found in central Florida) this is more likely the southeastern than the American five-lined skink. The scientific name “inexpectatus“, which…

Brown Water Snake

Meet the brown water snake, Nerodia taxispilota, a semi-aquatic snake which lives all over the southeastern United States. It’s one of the most common snakes in Florida. Averaging 30-55 inches long, these snakes live in (as you might guess) watery habitats, including rivers, cypress stands, swamps, lakes, ponds and canals. They are excellent climbers and…

Greenhouse Millipede

A greenhouse millipede (Oxidus gracilis). (Centipedes have a lot of extra, flaily spikes all over their front and back regions, and generally look much more pointy.) About 3/4 of an inch long; eats decaying plant matter.

Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid

Slender, untapered antennae and nearly round eyes distinguish this broad-tipped conehead katydid (Neoconocephalus triops) from some very similar-looking toothpick grasshoppers. About three inches long, and apparently they make some pretty funky noises. This is very probably a male; the ovipositors on the females are very distinct. That top photo was taken with my little mirrorless…

Cattle

These three juvenile beef cattle all wanted to know if cameras were edible.