- Joined
- Jul 18, 2003
- Messages
- 186
Hello fellow forum-goers,
My primary targets on this trip were Sistrurus miliarius barbouri and Latrodectus bishopi. I was fortunate enough to locate multiple examples of both, but was only capable of taking pictures of the bishopi. That said, Mike (MikeyFresh) held on to one of the barbouri for me, so I may be able to get some images up in a few days.
I started my searching early Friday morning for L. bishopi in some nice palmetto scrub habitat not too far from my parent's place. Within a half mile of hiking I found an obvious Latrodectus web on the crown of a chest high palmetto, and saw this girl tucked deep between the leaves (fronds?).
Red Widow - Latrodectus bishopi,
Southeast Florida.
It's my understanding that this species is protected, or will be shortly; so to my dismay, I left all the examples exactly where and how I saw them.
After another half mile or so, I located this mature female having a meal. She easily had the largest web of the three females I saw, and the most intricate retreat.
Red Widow - Latrodectus bishopi,
Southeast Florida.
The brief literature I found on this species all described, to one degree or another, the bishopi webs as being a tangled mass looming above a broad sheet, which tapers into the spider's retreat. This description was definitely the case in all three examples I came across. The following is my miserable attempt to photograph the web design.
Latrodectus bishopi web and retreat,
Southeast Florida.
After failing in my attempt to maneuver this girl to photograph her dorsal pattern, small dots of red caught my eye within her retreat (the mass of dead foliage). My thoughts became jumbled as I realized I was looking at a nest of one of the rarest spiders in the state.
Red Widow Spiderlings - Latrodectus bishopi,
Southeast Florida.
Still blathering to myself about how f'ing spectacular the past hour had been, I nearly walked into the next spider on my trek. I would have, without a doubt, had it's legs not been illuminated by the sunlight.
Green Lynx - Peucetia viridans,
Southeast Florida.
I also observed dozens of copulating Two-Striped Walkingsticks, Anisomorpha buprestoides, but failed to take any images of value.
---
The next morning I met up with Mike (MikeyFresh) at a mall parking lot at 8 a.m.
We went North from there seeing roughly a dozen DORs along the way. I say we, but in reality, I don't recall spotting a single one before he did. The following are some of the less mutilated examples.
Yellow Rat - Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata,
Florida peninsula.
Several more E. o. quadrivittata...
Okay, so I know realize the only DORs that weren't incomplete pancakes were Yellow rats... Well, we also saw some Garters, Corns, Ribbons, and Nerodia spp.
Shortly before we hit our destination, we came across this guy, which was a lifer for us both.
Florida Snapping Turtle - Chelydra serpentina osceola,
Florida peninsula.
Once at our destination, our targets were Gopher torts and Gopher frogs. I'll save you another moaning anecdote and give you the results:
Gopher Tortoise - Gopherus polyphemus,
Highlands County, Florida.
Gopher Frog - Rana capito aesopus,
Highlands County, Florida.
It is interesting to consider all the different kinds of animals that share G. polyphemus burrows. The first Gopher frog we saw was nestled against the burrow wall, about two feet down into the burrow. The animal pictured was found under a discarded plywood sheet.
After an hour or so of cruising for G. polyphemus burrows, we did some flipping. Found a few skinks, a vinegaroon, a massive millipede, and a colorful phasmid of some kind.
We did some more road crusing and found an adult Gopher Tort about 4 miles from our first spot.
Gopher Tortoise - Gopherus polyphemus,
Highlands County, Florida.
At about this point it became too hot to really do much, so we passed the time pulling our hair out and waiting for sun down.
When it came... it brought gifts...
The first was a nice 5-6 foot Crotalus adamanteus, a huge lifer for me.
Eastern Diamond-Back Rattlesnake - Crotalus adamanteus,
Highlands County, Florida.
We also found a nice racer, followed by a ribbon snake:
Southern Racer - Coluber constrictor ssp.,
Florida.
Ribbon snake - Thamnophis sauritus ssp.
Florida.
We also caught, after the aforementioned, a crayfish snake, corn snake, 2 AOR dusky pygmies, 1 DOR dusky pygmy, and a sweet mud snake, which was a great find as well.
Mud Snake - Farancia abacura ssp.
Florida.
All in all it was a nice, grueling one day trip that ended 2 am the next day. On our way back, we saw this (Bard?) Owl waiting on a sign next to a street lamp.
Hope you enjoyed,
-Matt
My primary targets on this trip were Sistrurus miliarius barbouri and Latrodectus bishopi. I was fortunate enough to locate multiple examples of both, but was only capable of taking pictures of the bishopi. That said, Mike (MikeyFresh) held on to one of the barbouri for me, so I may be able to get some images up in a few days.
I started my searching early Friday morning for L. bishopi in some nice palmetto scrub habitat not too far from my parent's place. Within a half mile of hiking I found an obvious Latrodectus web on the crown of a chest high palmetto, and saw this girl tucked deep between the leaves (fronds?).
Red Widow - Latrodectus bishopi,
Southeast Florida.
It's my understanding that this species is protected, or will be shortly; so to my dismay, I left all the examples exactly where and how I saw them.
After another half mile or so, I located this mature female having a meal. She easily had the largest web of the three females I saw, and the most intricate retreat.
Red Widow - Latrodectus bishopi,
Southeast Florida.
The brief literature I found on this species all described, to one degree or another, the bishopi webs as being a tangled mass looming above a broad sheet, which tapers into the spider's retreat. This description was definitely the case in all three examples I came across. The following is my miserable attempt to photograph the web design.
Latrodectus bishopi web and retreat,
Southeast Florida.
After failing in my attempt to maneuver this girl to photograph her dorsal pattern, small dots of red caught my eye within her retreat (the mass of dead foliage). My thoughts became jumbled as I realized I was looking at a nest of one of the rarest spiders in the state.
Red Widow Spiderlings - Latrodectus bishopi,
Southeast Florida.
Still blathering to myself about how f'ing spectacular the past hour had been, I nearly walked into the next spider on my trek. I would have, without a doubt, had it's legs not been illuminated by the sunlight.
Green Lynx - Peucetia viridans,
Southeast Florida.
I also observed dozens of copulating Two-Striped Walkingsticks, Anisomorpha buprestoides, but failed to take any images of value.
---
The next morning I met up with Mike (MikeyFresh) at a mall parking lot at 8 a.m.
We went North from there seeing roughly a dozen DORs along the way. I say we, but in reality, I don't recall spotting a single one before he did. The following are some of the less mutilated examples.
Yellow Rat - Elaphe obsoleta quadrivittata,
Florida peninsula.
Several more E. o. quadrivittata...
Okay, so I know realize the only DORs that weren't incomplete pancakes were Yellow rats... Well, we also saw some Garters, Corns, Ribbons, and Nerodia spp.
Shortly before we hit our destination, we came across this guy, which was a lifer for us both.
Florida Snapping Turtle - Chelydra serpentina osceola,
Florida peninsula.
Once at our destination, our targets were Gopher torts and Gopher frogs. I'll save you another moaning anecdote and give you the results:
Gopher Tortoise - Gopherus polyphemus,
Highlands County, Florida.
Gopher Frog - Rana capito aesopus,
Highlands County, Florida.
It is interesting to consider all the different kinds of animals that share G. polyphemus burrows. The first Gopher frog we saw was nestled against the burrow wall, about two feet down into the burrow. The animal pictured was found under a discarded plywood sheet.
After an hour or so of cruising for G. polyphemus burrows, we did some flipping. Found a few skinks, a vinegaroon, a massive millipede, and a colorful phasmid of some kind.
We did some more road crusing and found an adult Gopher Tort about 4 miles from our first spot.
Gopher Tortoise - Gopherus polyphemus,
Highlands County, Florida.
At about this point it became too hot to really do much, so we passed the time pulling our hair out and waiting for sun down.
When it came... it brought gifts...
The first was a nice 5-6 foot Crotalus adamanteus, a huge lifer for me.
Eastern Diamond-Back Rattlesnake - Crotalus adamanteus,
Highlands County, Florida.
We also found a nice racer, followed by a ribbon snake:
Southern Racer - Coluber constrictor ssp.,
Florida.
Ribbon snake - Thamnophis sauritus ssp.
Florida.
We also caught, after the aforementioned, a crayfish snake, corn snake, 2 AOR dusky pygmies, 1 DOR dusky pygmy, and a sweet mud snake, which was a great find as well.
Mud Snake - Farancia abacura ssp.
Florida.
All in all it was a nice, grueling one day trip that ended 2 am the next day. On our way back, we saw this (Bard?) Owl waiting on a sign next to a street lamp.
Hope you enjoyed,
-Matt
