wildernerd's Identifications

Marion County Florida

Protostome Description:

Visual Description:

• Shape: The shape of the organism was the typically oblong oval shape of a fly with three sections. It had six legs, antennae, large compound eyes, two transparent wings, and an overall furry body.
• Size: The size of the organism was roughly an inch long with the width being about a quarter of an inch.
• Coloration: The coloration of the organism was a mimic of the common bumble bee with yellow (gold) and black blotches.
• Reproductive structures: The reproductive structures were not visible/present.
• Distinguishing characteristic: The distinguishing characteristic of the Southern Bee-Killer (Mallophora orcina) is its resemblance to a bumble bee, large eyes, short antennae, and 4 tergites that are yellow-haired.

Habitat: I found this organism in a wet pine scrub forest/swamp habitat near a cypress swamp a river while camping. They prefer habitats with bees.

Geographic Distribution: This organism is found in the southern United Sates (MD-FL to IN-KS-TX-AZ).

Reference: https://bugguide.net/node/view/6697

Marion County Florida

Deuterostome Description:

Visual Description:

• Shape: The shape of the organism was oval with a narrow mouth and pointed rear (frog-shaped). It had four limbs, two large eyes, one mouth, two nostrils, no webbing between front feet, slight webbing in hind feet, and an overall bumpy body.
• Size: The size was between 1-2 inches long and approximately half an inch wide.
• Coloration: The coloration was a mixture of light and dark grey patterning on the body with a slight blueish hue along with numerous orange spots on its bumps and a ghostly white color with light grey bands on the feet.
• Reproductive structures: The reproductive structures were not visible/present.
• Distinguishing characteristic: The distinguishing characteristic of Spadefoot Toads are large yellow eyes with elliptical pupils and a dark spade on the hind feet that are used for digging.

Habitat: I found this organism in a dry pine scrub forest habitat while camping. As I was setting up the tent, he jumped out of the forest in search of food.

Geographic Distribution: This organism is found in the Eastern United States in areas such as fields and woodlands with loose soil. They prefer sandy habitats, but can be found in nearly every habitat type.

Reference: https://srelherp.uga.edu/anurans/scahol.htm#:~:text=The%20characteristics%20used%20to%20immediately,throughout%20the%20eastern%20United%20States.

Marion County Florida

Deuterostome Description:

Visual Description:

• Shape: The shape of the organism was oval with a narrow mouth and pointed rear (frog-shaped). It had four limbs, two large eyes, one mouth, two nostrils, no webbing between front feet, slight webbing in hind feet, and an overall bumpy body.
• Size: The size was between 1-2 inches long and approximately half an inch wide.
• Coloration: The coloration was a mixture of light and dark grey patterning on the body with a slight blueish hue along with numerous orange spots on its bumps and a ghostly white color with light grey bands on the feet.
• Reproductive structures: The reproductive structures were not visible/present.
• Distinguishing characteristic: The distinguishing characteristic of Spadefoot Toads are large yellow eyes with elliptical pupils and a dark spade on the hind feet that are used for digging.

Habitat: I found this organism in a dry pine scrub forest habitat while camping. As I was setting up the tent, he jumped out of the forest in search of food.

Geographic Distribution: This organism is found in the Eastern United States in areas such as fields and woodlands with loose soil. They prefer sandy habitats, but can be found in nearly every habitat type.

Reference: https://srelherp.uga.edu/anurans/scahol.htm#:~:text=The%20characteristics%20used%20to%20immediately,throughout%20the%20eastern%20United%20States.

Marion County Florida

Seed Plants Description:

Visual Description:

• Shape: The shape of the organism was paddle-like, meaning very thin, extra-wide, and relatively long. It had two large paddles with three buds on the top paddle.
• Size: The size of the organism was roughly two feet tall and 6-8 inches across.
• Coloration: The coloration of the organism was pale green with specks of brown and yellow especially in the bulbs.
• Reproductive structures: The reproductive structures (flowers) were not visible/present.
• Distinguishing characteristic: The distinguishing characteristic of Prickly-Pear Cactus is their clusters of glochids, which are fine clusters of barbed spines.

Habitat: I found this organism in the sandy pine scrub habitat.

Geographic Distribution: This organism is found from Mexico all the way up to Ontario, Canada, which is one of the largest ranges of any cactus.

Reference 1: https://cactiguide.com/distribution_display/?state=florida

Reference 2: https://www.desertusa.com/cactus/prickly-pear-cactus.html#:~:text=Like%20other%20cactus%2C%20most%20prickly,tiny%2C%20barbed%20spines%20called%20glochids.

Marion County Florida

Seedless Plant Description:

Visual Description:

• Shape: The shape of the organism was thin and long branching with medium rounded leaves. The stems are very thin round structures extending from a base.
• Size: The size of the organism was two to three feet for each branch and the leaves were roughly two inches.
• Coloration: The coloration of the organism was green with brown blotches on the leaves and brown stems
• Reproductive structures: The reproductive structures were not visible.
• Distinguishing characteristic: The distinguishing characteristic of Polypodiopsida (ferns) is that they lack flowers and they reproduce via spores. They also have a root-like structure call rhizome

Habitat: I found this organism in the moist undergrowth of a pine forest in damp soil near a cypress forest and a river.

Geographic Distribution: This organism is found worldwide on every continent, but is very abundant in the tropics.

Reference 1: https://mountauburn.org/horticultural-highlight-ferns/
Reference 2:
https://trekohio.com/2014/06/28/basic-fern-identification/