Ordinarily I prefer using the common name as the title for the post, but this caterpillar, and the moth it will become, has no common name, and unfortunately “Geometrid Moth Caterpillar” does not narrow it down far enough. Its scientific name is Episemasia cervinaria. For those who follow Hodge nomenclature, this is Hodge #6714. When…
Tag: yellow
Eastern Green Grass Springtail
This is an entirely new genus for me — and family — and class! These tiny little insects (only about 2mm long) are very common, but also extremely small, and they like to hide under decaying plant and animal matter so we don’t really see them much. This is the eastern green grass springtail, or…
White Peacock Butterfly
The white peacock butterfly, Anartia jatrophae, is found through much of the southeastern U.S., Central and South America, and the Carribbean. They like warm, open, weedy areas near water. Males display a unique territorial behavior, staking out a territory which may be 15m or so in diameter, and defending it aggressively from other males and…
Dorman’s Tree Snail
The Dorman’s tree snail or manatee tree snail, Drymaeus dormani, is a handsome little hermaphrodite which is harmless to plants. It is native to Florida, and has been used in Florida’s orange groves to protect the trees from sooty mold. These snails have thin, fragile shells which appear translucent. Mature snails reach 25-30 mm long….
Arrow-shaped Micrathena Spider
These striking spiders look like they ought to be related to the spiny orb-weaver (Gasteracantha sp). They are in the same family (Araneidae) but a different genus (Micrathena). They have fewer spines than Gasteracantha (and, again, probably a bunch of smaller details, like the number of hairs on the thorax or which way some microscopic…
Paper Wasp
Paper wasps (Polistes sp.) are named because of the paper-like nests the queens build. They are members of the family Vespidae. Paper wasps are primitively eusocial, like bees. There are three castes: fertile queens, infertile female workers, and fertile males who do nothing but fertilize the queen. Founding queens sometimes start a nest in a…
Florida Tree Snail
This little fellow is prooooooobably a Florida tree snail (Liguus fasciatus). The “tree snails of Florida” identification key is a maze of nearly identical slimy bodies with slightly different patterns of bands on their shells. “Florida tree snail” seems to be what you call it when there aren’t enough bands to identify it properly. I…