Biodiversity of Eckerd College

The eastern amberwing (Perithemis tenera) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is very small, reaching a total length of no more than 25 mm. The males have orange or amber wings. Both genders have a red pterostigma. The eastern amberwing dragonfly is one of the only types of dragonfly that actively mimics a wasp. The yellow and brown stripes on its abdomen encourage predators to stay away. When perched, they will wiggle their... less ↑

The green darner or common green darner (Anax junius), after its resemblance to a darning-needle, is a species of dragonfly in the family Aeshnidae. One of the most common and abundant species throughout North America, it also ranges south to Panama. It is well known for its great migration distance from the northern United States south into Texas and Mexico. It also occurs in the Caribbean, Tahiti, and Asia from Japan to mainland China. It is... less ↑

Labidura riparia is a species of earwig in the family Labiduridae, formerly Forficula riparia , characterized by their modified cerci as forceps, and light tan color. They are more commonly known as the striped earwig, due to two dark longitudinal stripes down the length of the pronotum. They are sometimes wrongly referred to as Labidura japonica, although said species is actually a subspecies, Labidura riparia japonica, found only in Japan. L. riparia ar less ↑

Aedes aegypti, the yellow fever mosquito, is a mosquito that can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, Mayaro and yellow fever viruses, and other disease agents. The mosquito can be recognized by white markings on its legs and a marking in the form of a lyre on the upper surface of its thorax. This mosquito originated in Africa, but is now found in tropical, subtropical and temperate regions throughout the world. less ↑

Drain flies, sink flies, filter flies, or sewer gnats (Psychodidae) are small true flies (Diptera) with short, hairy bodies and wings giving them a "furry" moth-like appearance, hence one of their common names, moth flies. There are more than 4,700 known species worldwide, most of them native to the humid tropics. This makes them one of the most diverse families of their order. Drain flies sometimes inhabit plumbing drains and sewage systems, where they a less ↑

The American cockroach (Periplaneta americana), also colloquially known as the waterbug, but not a true waterbug since it is not aquatic, or misidentified as the palmetto bug (see Florida woods cockroach for the differences), is the largest species of common cockroach, and often considered a pest. It is also known as the ship cockroach, kakerlac, and Bombay canary. less ↑

The Surinam cockroach or greenhouse cockroach (Pycnoscelus surinamensis) is a species of burrowing cockroach. It is a common plant pest endemic to the Indomalayan region that has spread to tropical and into subtropical regions around the world, and in isolated populations to temperate climates where protective habitat such as greenhouses provide shelter for individuals inadvertently shipped in the soil of plants. Its populations are almost exclusively female, and it reproduce less ↑

The Florida stone crab, Menippe mercenaria, is a crab found in the western North Atlantic, from Connecticut to Belize, including Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, Cuba, The Bahamas, and the East Coast. The crab can also be found in and around the salt marshes of South Carolina and Georgia. It is widely caught for food. The closely related species Menippe adina (gulf stone crab) is sometimes considered a subspecies – they can interbreed, forming hybrids –... less ↑

Callinectes sapidus (from the Greek calli- = "beautiful", nectes = "swimmer", and Latin sapidus = "savory"), the Blue Crab, Atlantic Blue Crab, or regionally as the Chesapeake blue crab, is a species of crab native to the waters of the western Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, and introduced internationally. less ↑

Aratus pisonii, commonly known as the mangrove tree crab, is a species of crab which lives in mangrove trees in tropical and subtropical parts of the Americas, from Florida to Brazil on the Atlantic coast, and from Nicaragua to Peru on the Pacific coast. It feeds mostly on the leaves of the mangroves, but is an omnivore, and prefers animal matter when possible. A. pisonii is the only species in the monotypic genus Aratus. The specific... less ↑

Porcellionides pruinosus is a cosmopolitan woodlouse that is native to Europe, and is suspected to consist of very closely related species. Ten subspecies are recognised. The species carries Wolbachia endosymbionts, which is an alpha-proteobacterium that is known to modify the reproduction of their crustacean hosts by inducing cytoplasmic incompatibility or feminisation. less ↑

Cliona celata, occasionally called the red boring sponge, is a species of demosponge belonging the family Clionaidae. It is found worldwide. This sponge creates round holes up to 5 millimetres (0.20 in) in diameter in limestone or the shells of molluscs, especially oysters. The sponge itself is often visible as a rather featureless yellow or orange lump at the bottom of the hole. less ↑

Psilotum nudum, known as the whisk fern, is a fernlike plant. Like the other species in the order Psilotales, it lacks roots. It is found in tropical Africa, Central America, tropical and subtropical North America, South America, tropical Asia, Australia, Hawaii, southern Japan, Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, with a few isolated populations in SW Europe ("Los Alcornocales", Spain, Cádiz province). less ↑

Nephrolepis exaltata, known as the sword fern or Boston fern, is a species of fern in the family Lomariopsidaceae (sometimes treated in the families Davalliaceae or Oleandraceae, or in its own family, Nephrolepidaceae) native to tropical regions throughout the world. An evergreen perennial herbaceous plant, it can reach as high as 40–90 centimetres (16–35 in), and in extreme cases up to 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in). It is also known as the Boston swordfern, wild less ↑

Phlebodium aureum (golden polypody, golden serpent fern, cabbage palm fern, gold-foot fern, hare-foot fern; syn. Polypodium aureum, Polypodium leucotomos) is an epiphytic fern native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. It is confined to the eastern side of the continents, extending north into the United States to Florida and the extreme southeast of Georgia, and south through the Caribbean (the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, a less ↑

Juniperus virginiana — its common names include red cedar, eastern redcedar, Virginian juniper, eastern juniper, red juniper, pencil cedar, and aromatic cedar — is a species of juniper native to eastern North America from southeastern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and east of the Great Plains. Further west it is replaced by the related Juniperus scopulorum (Rocky Mountain juniper) and to the southwest by Juniperus ashei ( less ↑

Taxodium ascendens, also known as pond cypress, is a deciduous conifer of the genus Taxodium, native to North America. Many botanists treat it as a variety of bald cypress, Taxodium distichum (as T. distichum var. imbricarium) rather than as a distinct species, but it differs in ecology, occurring mainly in still blackwater rivers, ponds and swamps without silt-rich flood deposits. It predominates in cypress dome habitats. less ↑

Zamia furfuracea is a cycad native to southeastern Veracruz state in eastern Mexico. Although not a palm tree (Arecaceae), its growth habit is superficially similar to a palm; therefore it is commonly known as cardboard palm or cardboard cycad. Other names include cardboard plant, cardboard sago, Jamaican sago, and Mexican cycad (from Mexican Spanish Cícada Mexicana). The plant's binomial name comes from the Latin zamia, for "p less ↑

Senna obtusifolia (Chinese senna, American sicklepod or sicklepod) is a legume in the genus Senna, sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Diallobus. It grows wild in North, Central, and South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania, and is considered a particularly serious weed in many places. It has a long-standing history of confusion with Senna tora and that taxon in many sources actually refers to the present species. less ↑

Guilandina bonduc, commonly known as grey nicker, nicker bean, or knicker nut, is a species of flowering plant in the senna tribe, Caesalpinieae, that has a pantropical distribution. It is a liana that reaches a length of 6 m (20 ft) and scrambles over other vegetation. Stems are covered in curved spines. Its 2 cm (0.79 in) grey seeds, known as nickernuts, are buoyant and durable enough to be dispersed by ocean currents. less ↑

Mimosa strigillosa, also known as sunshine mimosa and powderpuff, is a perennial ground cover in the Mimosaceae family that is native to nearly all US states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and grows north into Georgia and Arkansas as well. The name powderpuff refers to the small spherical flowers that rise above the plant's creeping vines. Like related species in the Mimosa genus sunshine mimosa has sensitive leaves that can fold in a matter of seconds... less ↑

Medicago lupulina, commonly known as black medick, nonesuch, or hop clover, is a plant of dry grassland belonging to the legume or clover family. Plants of the genus Medicago, or bur clovers, are closely related to the true clovers (Trifolium) and sweet clover (Melilotus). Like the true clovers, black medick has three leaflets and a small, yellow flower closely resembling those of lesser trefoil. Black medick belongs to the same genus as alf less ↑

Abrus precatorius, known commonly as jequirity, Crab's eye, or crab's eye creeper, cock's eyes, rosary pea, paternoster pea, love pea, precatory pea or bean, prayer bead, John Crow Bead, coral bead, red-bead vine, country licorice, Indian licorice, wild licorice, Jamaica wild licorice, Akar Saga, coondrimany, gidee gidee, Jumbie bead ratti/rettee/retty, or weather plant, is a slender, perennial climber that twines around trees, shrubs, and hedges. It is a legume with long, pinnate-l less ↑

Sophora tomentosa, also known as necklacepod, yellow necklacepod, and occasionally as silver bush, is a pantropical shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae. It commonly ranges in height from 4 to 10 feet and often occurs in coastal conditions and near wetlands. The common name Necklacepod is derived from the characteristic string of seed pods that develop after its yellow flowers germinate into seeds. less ↑

Ficus aurea, commonly known as the Florida strangler fig (or simply strangler fig), golden fig, or higuerón, is a tree in the family Moraceae that is native to the U.S. state of Florida, the northern and western Caribbean, southern Mexico and Central America south to Panama. The specific epithet aurea was applied by English botanist Thomas Nuttall who described the species in 1846. less ↑

Parietaria floridana, common name Florida pellitory, is a plant species native to the southeastern United States, the West Indies, and much of Latin America. In the US, the heart of its range extends from Florida, to Georgia and North and South Carolina, with isolated populations reported in Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Delaware. Some populations in California have in the past been referred to as P. floridana but are now regarded as a sepa less ↑

Pilea microphylla also known as rockweed, artillery plant, gunpowder plant or (in Latin America) brilhantina is an annual plant native to Florida, Mexico, the West Indies, and tropical Central and Southern America. In the southern part of México, specifically Campeche and Merida, the local name is Frescura. The plant belongs to the family Urticaceae. It has light green, almost succulent, stems and tiny 1/8" leaves which contribute to its oth less ↑

Phlox drummondii (commonly annual phlox or Drummond's phlox) is a flowering plant in the genus Phlox of the family Polemoniaceae. Native to Texas, it is also widely distributed in the southeastern United States, especially along public highways. P. drummondii is often used as an ornamental plant. The flowers have a wide range of colours "from white and cream through pinks, lilacs, roses, purples and reds, to almost black". less ↑

Catharanthus roseus, commonly known as the Madagascar periwinkle, rose periwinkle, or rosy periwinkle, is a species of flowering plant in the dogbane family Apocynaceae. It is native and endemic to Madagascar, but grown elsewhere as an ornamental and medicinal plant, a source of the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, used to treat cancer. Other English names include Vinca, Cape periwinkle, rose periwinkle, rosy periwinkle, and "old-maid". It was formerly less ↑

Hamelia patens is a large perennial shrub or small tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae, that is native to the American subtropics and tropics. Its range extends from Florida in the southern United States to as far south as Argentina. Common names include firebush, hummingbird bush, scarlet bush, and redhead. In Belize, this plant's Mayan name is Ix Canaan and is also known as "Guardian of the Forest". less ↑

Eupatorium capillifolium (dogfennel) is a North American perennial herbaceous plant in the family sunflower family, native to the eastern and south-central United States. It is generally between 50 cm and 2 meters tall with several stems that fork from a substantial base. The stems and base are covered in leaves so dissected that they resemble branching green threads coming out of the stem in fractal patterns. When crushed, the leaves and flowers smell rather unpleasant. less ↑

Gamochaeta pensylvanica, called Pennsylvania cudweed or Pennsylvania everlasting, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the sunflower family. It is native to South America and introduced into Eurasia, Africa, Australia, and North America. The pensylvanica epithet is a misnomer, as the plant is not native to Pennsylvania and only marginally naturalized there. less ↑

Bidens alba, which belongs to the family Asteraceae, is most commonly known as shepherd's needles, beggarticks, Spanish needles or butterfly needles. Bidens means two- toothed, describing the two projections found at the top of the seeds, and alba refers to the white ray florets. This plant is found in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Asia, South America, and Africa, situated in gardens, road sides, farm fields and disturbed sites. B. alba is a less ↑