Observations by swicegoodamber_112

Striped bark scorpions are in the order Scorpionida. They are very common in south central Kansas, where I now live and work. Body color varies from yellow to tan, and they have two black dorsal stripes.The long tail is equipped with a stinger, and that is actually how I found some of these guys the other day. I picked up a rock and there were several underneath. I did get stung, naturally.

Scorpions are arachnids, like spiders. This species is commonly found under bark and rocks.

I was unable to find a crustacean for my insect lab, so I am substituting the scorpion in place of a crustacean.

These tiny brown frogs have a darker "X" pattern on their back. Their loud chorus can be heard in early spring as their mating calls echo around small water bodies.

I found this one at the pond by our house the other day. I found it first by listening, and then sitting very still at the edge of the pond, waiting for one to move. They are very active in spring at dusk, and their calls can be deafening if you are close!

This guy was on the outside of our house. It was certainly a stink bug, because it smelled like it when I picked it up. It is brown in color, and has a plate that looks shield-like on top of its back. They have flat-ish bodies and two semi-long antennae. I brought it in the house to get photos.

I love these bees, and used to catch them for fun as a child. This species is very common in the eastern US, and they bore holes in wood for nesting. Many people consider them a pest because of this. The one in these photos is a female, because she has a black face. Males have a white spot on their face. (Sorry the photos are not that great, but it's the best I can do.) They also do not sting.

This one was flying around getting nectar from flowers in the yard. There were several males zipping around chasing each other.

There are lady beetles all over the inside and outside of the house. The first two pictures are of one with hardly any spots, and the last one has 14 spots. These are two different species, and I could not determine what the first one is. Does anyone know?

The second one appears to be a multicolored Asian lady beetle (Harmonia axyridis). This is an invasive species, but I think the first one is likely a native species. There are numerous species of lady beetles, and they are identified by the number of spots on their abdomen, the color, and the pattern on their head.

This little guy was hiding in the leaf litter in a deciduous woodland. It was kind of cold that day, so it did not appreciate my disturbance.

These millipedes are brown with yellow legs and yellow sides. I captured many of these as a small child roaming the woods.

While centipedes are carnivorous, millipedes feed on plant matter.

I found this spider underneath a piece of bark that I pulled off a dead log. These spiders are fairly large. This one was dark brown with banded coloration on the legs and a mottled brown pattern on the back.

This is one of my favorite lichens. It is a fruticose lichen. It is shrub-like in appearance, and has slender "stalks."

This was growing alongside moss at the edge of a mixed deciduous/conifer forest.

These photos show the whorled leaf arrangement of catchweed bedstraw. This plant is really cool, because it has catching fibers that make it stick to things, like your skin. This is probably a method of seed dispersal. It is an herbaceous plant.

These photos are of poison-ivy, but they show the climbing root structure of the plant. This root is climbing a sycamore tree. Note the fibers that attach it to the tree, and in the second photo a branch comes off the main root stem. You can see the leaf scars. The last photo shows it at a larger scale.

The first photo shows the leaves, node and thorns. Note the 3 main veins in the middle of the leaf, indicative of the genus Smilax. Thorns are modified leaves.

The next photo is an up-close view of the thorns.

The last photo shows the stem and whole plant, which is a vine that grows up through other plants and clings to them.

The first photo shows an up-close view of the flower structure. There are many white petals (called florets). The yellow center is usually slightly depressed.

The next photo shows the entire plant with flower buds on the ends of stems.

The last photo shows a closer view of the alternate, lobed leaves and the herbaceous stems.

The first photo shows the flower structures of the redbud in bloom.

The second photo shows the ends of the stalks left not by leaves, but by the seed pods when they fell off.

The last photo is of a seed pod. The seeds have long since fallen out when the seed pod split open. This particular tree was growing in our yard, and there are many more to be found in the woods nearby.

The first photo shows a close up of the male cones which will begin producing pollen soon. Notice how they are on the ends of the branches. This species is wind pollinated.

The next photo shows a low-hanging branch. You can kind of get an idea of how long the needles are since my hand is at the edge. Needles are in bundles of 3.

The last photo shows the female cone that has fallen off the tree, and last year opened and dropped its seeds.

The first photo shows a close-up of the flower and its 5 petals (dicot).

The next photo shows the small plant's low growing structure. Note the short stems for the leaves, and longer stems for flowers. This raises flowers so pollinators will notice them. This plant is herbaceous.

The next photo shows a close up of the leaf. It is heart shaped with netted veination.

The last photo shows a long taproot. Dicots have central taproots, as opposed to monocots which have a fibrous root system.

Eastern redcedar is typically a dioecious tree. The first photo shows a close up view of the tiny leaf scales which make up the "leaves." This species is in the cypress family.

Something really cool--the female cones are actually those little blue berry-like things in the next photo. This species is a gymnosperm, so these are not actually berries. Note how the internodes are scaly.

The bark is distinctive as well--fibrous and shedding.

The first photo shows the terminal bud with large tan-reddish brown scales. Note the smaller lateral bud and the leaf scars, which have 3 dots in the center.

The next picture shows a lateral bud and the corky outgrowths that are typical of sweetgum branches.

The last photo is the fruit. Sweetgum produce a compound fruit, and each of the holes in the "gumball" held 1 or 2 seeds before they were released when the capsules dried.

One photo shows the twig, which is the best way to ID this species in the winter. The heart-shaped leaf scar looks like a "monkey face" making it easy to remember. Note the lenticels (dots) on the internode region.

The next picture shows the petioles, as this tree has pinnately compound leaves. The petioles take longer to break down, and lay around the base of the tree during winter. During summer the petiole has opposite leaflets (about 15-23, lanceolate).

The last picture is a photo of the fruit, or nut of a walnut. While green in summer, by now it is dry, furrowed, and very hard. Very distinctive of black walnut.

21” stalks, stout
Fronds pinnate
Lanceolate, toothed leaflets. Each has a prominent projection at base.
Evergreen
Growing in wooded area near water
Spores located in sori underneath first several pairs of leaflets