Seemingly ever-present sargussum at Bahia Honda State Park. Any ideas of species, though?
janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
I am definitely not a master of brown algae, but I'm pretty sure this is Fucus distichus, rockweed. Further, after digging around http://www.seaweedsofalaska.com, it appears this is the subspecies F. d. evanescens. Pretty remarkable stuff. Southcentral Alaska never ceases to amaze.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Myrmekiaphila torreya, the Torreya trapdoor spider, photographed in Lowndes county, Georgia (23 December 2011). http://dusttracks.com.
There was a slew of arabescas hanging out over the water, next to a bridge, near Crawfordville, Florida. Tons of them.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Millipede of power! I've seen quite a few of this species romping about since moving to south Georgia in the summer of 2011.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
I thought this was a smaller, reddish blue land crab at first -- but alas, it's another species of land crab: Gecarcinus laterals, the Blackback land crab. A cute little critter, he was quickly scampering across the road in Big Pine Key -- in the Florida Keys.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
The rainbow agama is yet another introduced species now established and living in south Florida. There's a robust population of these lizards at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida. The individual featured here is an adult male. Females are much smaller and have a more mottled appearance.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Non-native to the state, the brown basilisk is now established in south Florida. There is a particularly dense population of them at Matheson Hammock Park in Coral Gables, Florida.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
As I work through my library and upload species photos, I have to laugh that I nearly forgot the Carolina green anole, Anolis carolinensis carolinensis. Heh. A fairly abundant lizard in Florida. My apologies for nearly forgetting you, Carolina green.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Lithobates clamitans clamitans is locally known as the bronze frog, not the green frog. And for good reason: they're bronze, not green. I've seen a decent number of these at Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area northeast of Valdosta.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Our resident green tree frog: this individual has staked a claim on the back corner of our house. By day, the frog hangs out under the roof's edge. By night? It's dinner time on the back patio. A beautiful frog housemate.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
I love being able to say that I caught a frog at the North Pole. heh. This is a wood frog, Lithobates sylvaticus, caught just northeast of North Pole, Alaska. The ability of wood frogs to survive the Alaskan winter with relative ease and little discomfort makes them far more suitable for Alaska than I. Impressive.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
In south Georgia we have the bronze frog, Lithobates clamitans clamitans -- the type/subspecies of Lithobates clamitans (the green frog). I'm not too familiar with subspecies status of this genus/species, so I'm tagging this as the general green frog. They're firmly established in Grand Bay WMA. This individual was found hiding in a root hole.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
This is a subspecies of the southern cricket frog, the coastal plains cricket frog, Acris gryllus gryllus. In this neck of the woods, they're pretty much everywhere. A thick population density in my neighborhood and in Grand Bay Wildlife Management Area.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
For all the Florida cricket frogs I've seen, I'm discovering the I have precious few documented encounters with photographs. I'll need to work on that this spring, especially now that I'm finding another subspecies, the Coastal Plains cricket frog, in south Georgia.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
These images will be posted twice, once to represent the eaten and again to represent the eater.
This spider was identified as Thiodina sylvana, a jumping spider, by the good folks at bugguide.net. An agile little tank, to say the least.
This was photographed in residential Mt. Dora, Florida -- on a fence.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Firstly, these images will be posted twice, once to represent the eaten and again to represent the eater.
This one represents THE EATEN. Here we see a Thiodina sylvana taking down a Diogmites neoternatus robber fly. A tough spider, a dead robber fly.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Techincally, these photos represent *two* observed orchard spiders at Wekiva Springs State Park. Given the ridiculous abundance and population density of this species, I'm okay with that. Heh.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
A residential black and yellow argiope in Valdosta, Georgia. Not exactly uncommon.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
The Puerto Rican crested anole is now firmly established in parts of South Florida, in this case Coral Gables. The ground around Fairchild Botanical Garden and Matheson Hammock Park are densely populated by the gorgeous anoles (in addition to other anole species, native and introduced alike).
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
A young green iguana at Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys. One of many green iguanas, actually. This one was quite cooperative and let me slink up next to it for some macro shots. Nice.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Ah, the southern ringneck snake. Tiny, quite common.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Great land crabs: quite common in the Florida Keys. Though often referred to as the great "blue" land crab, this species can be quite variable in coloration -- from bright yellows and reds to dark blues and purples. A remarkable crab.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Key deer, though threatened, can seem quite abundant in and around No Name Key, Florida and the land of the Key Deer National Wildlife Refuge. Tiny, cute, and confident little deer.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Walking around the Key West Botanical Forest and Garden, we spotted two Florida box turtles mating. Awkward, but impressive.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
The spiny orbweaver, a remarkably common (and tiny) spider on the Floridian peninsula.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
A solitary white ibis on Stock Island, Florida Keys.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
Walking the Bahia Honda beach and looking for lizards, I was pleasantly surprised to find this lovely yellow-crowned night heron along the way. Though not necessarily uncommon, I don't often see this species. Not as much as the great blues, at least -- and the other heron/egrets.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
A young, nimble green iguana creeps through the bush at Bahia Honda State Park in the Florida Keys. Though they are often seen moving slowly and deliberately through the foliage, make no mistake: these lizards are fast! Faster than me, at least. Much, much faster.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
A low-riding bark anole at Bahia Honda State Park, Florida.
~ janson jones,
http://dusttracks.com
