Observations by bennis_l_19

I found these ants (example of protostome) in a rotting tree trunk (terrestrial environment). The tree trunk was located in a nature preserve by USF. The nature preserve had a variety of different trees and it also had multiple lakes. There were about 50-60 ants that I could see in this tree trunk. They were about a fifth of an inch in length. The head and thorax of the ant were a dark red in color, while the metasoma was a lot darker, closer to a black. The antennas of these ants are twelve segmented ("Florida"). No reproductive structures could be seen.

Reference:
Florida Carpenter Ant - Camponotus Floridanus (Buckley) and Camponotus Tortuganus (Emery), entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/urban/ants/fl_carpenter_ants.htm.

This bird (example of a deuterostome) flew into my parents drive way, a few weekends ago while I was visiting. It was found in a terrestrial, neighborhood environment. This neighborhood is surrounded by many lakes and many other water sources, where this bird probably feeds a lot of the times. The egret was about 2 and a half feet in height. It is smaller than a Great Blue Heron, but it is larger than a Snowy Egret (“Great Egret"). It probably weighed around 5-10 pounds. It was mostly white and covered in feathers. The beak was yellow, and the legs of the bird were a dark brown/black. The neck was S-shaped and the beak was dagger like. The sex of the organism could not be determined.

Reference:
“Great Egret Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology.” , All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Egret/id.

I found this snake in my parents backyard, a couple weeks ago. It was found in a palm tree, in the garden area of the lawn. The habitat was a terrestrial environment. Although this snake was found in a terrestrial environment, it can also be found in semi-aquatic environments (“Eastern Ribbon”). The snake was about 3.5 feet long and about an inch or two in diameter. It had alternating black and beige/yellow stripes along the longitudinal section of the snake. This is an example of a deuterostome. There were no reproductive organs that could have been identified by site, so the sex of the snake is unknown.

Reference:
“Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis Sauritus).” Species Profile: Eastern Ribbon Snake (Thamnophis Sauritus) | SREL Herpetology, srelherp.uga.edu/snakes/thasau.htm.

The habit this plant was found in was a grassy area next to my apartment complex. This flowering plant is not cultivated because it occurred naturally in the cultivated grass area. It was not intended to grow there. The flower itself, looked like a heart, with a bulb in the middle of it. The flower itself was bright yellow. The flower grew a couple inches away from any leafs and was only a few centimeters in diameter. The leafs themselves were about 3 inches in length and a dark green color. The leafs are alternate and compose of only four leaflets (tropseeds)

Reference:
https://www.tropseeds.com/arachis-pintoi/

The specimen was found outside of an apartment building, hidden in a tree (cultivated tree) at 4:08 P.M on 9/11/19. The lizard itself is not cultivated though, as it wasn’t place there by anyone and can roam free away from the property if it wanted. It was about 3-4 inches in size and brown in color with a yellowish stripe down its back. It moved in extremely rapid movements as it tried to avoid the side of the tree I was on.