# Florida - February 2008



## skinheaddave (Feb 27, 2008)

So Tamara and I have just returned from a little trip to Florida.  We went down with a group of University students and a couple more "others" like ourselves.  Not the most exotic locale, but still a good number of cool critters to poke at and photograph.  Following are some of my photos -- please chime in if you have more precise ID or find fault with any of my ID.






Not a great sunrise, but this represented the beginning of the trip for us. We had been driving for over 20 hours with only brief stops for refueling. Furthermore, it had been dark and about 0 degrees C since West Virginia. This  sun brought with it the promise of warmth, animals and fun.





Orb weaver (Gea sp.)





Centipede (Scolopendra viridis)





Southern spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer batrramiana)





Centruroides hentzi





Scorpion (Centruroides hentzi) fluorescing under ultraviolet light.





Rough earth snake (Virginia striatula)





Spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis)





Scorpion (Centruroides hentzi)





Mud snake (Farancia abacura abacura)





Florida redbelly turtle (Pseudemys nelsoni)





Spider (Tidarren sisyphoides)





Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis)





Humpback dung beetle (Deltochilum gibbosum)





Cotton stainers (Dysdercus suturellus) mating





Five lined skink (Eumeces fasciatus)





Crab (Uca sp.) -- not 100% on this ID.





Brown anole (Anolis sageri)





Gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus)





Southern black racer (Coluber constrictor priapus)





Amblypygid (Tarantula marginemaculata) -- potentially now Phrynus marginemaculata but I am not overly familiar with the taxonomy.





Growth in an obviously burnt area.





Scarlet skimmer (Crocothemis servilia)





Wolf spider (Hogna sp.)





Corn snake (Elaphe guttata)





Caterpillar -- possibly a moth species but I have yet to investigate this one.





Green anole (Anolis carolinensis)





Brown anole (Anolis sagrei) showing nuchal and dorsal crests





Pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus)





Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)





Young alligator (Alligator mississippiensis)





Black crowned night heron (Nycticorax nycticorax)





Southeastern five-lined skink (Eumeces inexpectatus) -- may be a E.fasciatus as well, but the placement of the dorsolateral line would seem to indicate this species.





Young cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)





Southern toad (Bufo terrestris)





Orb weaver (Eriophora ravilla)





Pig frog (Rana grylio)





Great blue heron (Ardea herodias)





Gar





Brown anole (Anolis sagrei)





Leaf footed bug (Acanthocephala sp.)





White peacock butterfly (Anartia jatrophae)





Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga)





Great horned owl chick (Bubo virginianus)





Southern lubber nymphs (Romalea guttata)





Fly





Black vulture (Coragyps atratus)





Double crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus)





Stick bug (Anisomorpha buprestoides)





Scorpion (Centruroides hentzi)





Squirrel tree frog (Hyla squirella)





Scorpion (Centruroides hentzi)





Amblypygid (Tarantula marginemaculata)





Oak toad (Bufo quercicus)





Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)





Chiton





Fish





Orb weaver (Argiope argentata) -- there is a slight chance this is A.florida but I am fairly confident on this ID





Scorpion (Centruroides gracilis)





Spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis)





Starfish





Sailboat





Florida softshell (Apalone ferox)










Orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta)





Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)





Trees at Flamingo campground.





Regal jumping spider (Phiddipus regius)





Scorpion (Centruroides guanensis) -- the differentiation of C.guanensis from C.hentzi is a problematic area. Using the existing literature I would put this as C.guanensis based on proportions, overall size and pectine tooth count. There remains, however, the question of whether or not these are indeed separate species and, if so, how the C.guanensis of Florida (ne C.keysi) relate to the C.guanensis of Cuba.  

	
	
		
		
	


	




Orb weaver (Eriophora ravilla) - not 100% sure on this one.





Orb weaver (Eriophora ravilla)





Grizzled mantis (Gonatista grisea)





Huntsman spider (Heteropoda venatoria.)





Huntsman spider (Heteropoda venatoria)





Green mangrove jumping spider (Lyssomanes viridis)





Dusky pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus milarius barbouri)





Dusky pygmy rattlesnake (Sistrurus milarius barbouri)





American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus)

Cheers,
Dave


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## tarcan (Feb 27, 2008)

Great pictures Dave! Looks like you had some fun... but the question is did you see any indigenous species from Florida or only all those introduced species? Just kidding!

Thanks for sharing!

Martin


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## ahas (Feb 27, 2008)

Beautiful pics!


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## xgrafcorex (Feb 29, 2008)

awesome pics!  congrats, you've already seen more florida species of snake, scorpion, and centipede than i have..and i lived there for 7 years!  :wall: 

no Nephila clavipes?  love the first pic of the E. ravilla, very nice!  :clap: 

looks like a fun trip all and all.  hope it wasn't too humid for you.  that's one thing i definitely DON'T miss about florida!


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## skinheaddave (Feb 29, 2008)

xgrafcorex said:


> no Nephila clavipes?  love the first pic of the E. ravilla, very nice!  :clap:


Oddly enough, no.  And no iguanas, no burms.  We spent a good deal of time in the 'glades proper, though, and didn't really hit your old stomping grounds at all -- hence no Nephila or iguanas.  The burms was mostly a result of our hunting time -- too late in the day and too hot already.

Cheers,
Dave


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## cacoseraph (Feb 29, 2008)

good lord! awesome trip!


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## pandinus (Mar 1, 2008)

man, florida was good to you dave. how long were you guys down there? I'm not positive myself, but the second hogna spp. you shot looks more like some sort of huntsman to me. I have quite a few marine invert textbooks, I'll have to dig one up and ID that star. I'm impressed you got to see a crocodile, not the easiest of tasks. Also, that gar looks like a gator gar.



John


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## skinheaddave (Mar 1, 2008)

pandinus said:


> man, florida was good to you dave. how long were you guys down there?


Just over a week.



> I'm not positive myself, but the second hogna spp. you shot looks more like some sort of huntsman to me.


Well, you can be positive now.  Looked at the eye arrangement on the full sized images and not only is it Sparasidae, it is Heteropoda based on the recurved arrangement.  I've assigned it H.venatoria based on the fact that this is the only species known to have established itself in the area.  That being said, who knows what is actually down there.  Thanks for catching that!



> I have quite a few marine invert textbooks, I'll have to dig one up and ID that star.


If you need any details, let me know.  Someone did nab a picture of it extending its little thingamajiggers from the ends of its arms if that helps.



> I'm impressed you got to see a crocodile, not the easiest of tasks.


  It is if you know where to look.   It was harder finding them in Costa Rica than in Florida. 



> Also, that gar looks like a gator gar.


That is what I was thinking on odds alone, but based on a single blurry picture I am unwilling to go further than just "Gar."

Cheers,
Dave



John[/QUOTE]


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## gunslinger (Mar 6, 2008)

Nice stuff,  Im heading to Florida Saturday for a week or so and Im hoping to find some stuff.  Really would love to find Amblypygids and some spiders, any pointers on some cool places to check out?


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## syndicate (Mar 7, 2008)

wow great finds and awesome photos!thanks for sharing.
i cant wait for it to warm up round here


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## lhystrix (Mar 7, 2008)

skinheaddave said:


> So Tamara and I have just returned from a little trip to Florida.  We went down with a group of University students and a couple more "others" like ourselves.  Not the most exotic locale, but still a good number of cool critters to poke at and photograph.  Following are some of my photos -- please chime in if you have more precise ID or find fault with any of my ID.


Great images! 
Here are a couple ID's if interested:



> Wolf spider (Hogna sp.)


 A wolf spider, but an adult male  Sosippus floridanus.




> Caterpillar -- possibly a moth species but I have yet to investigate this one.


Appears to be Lymire edwardsii.




> Orchard orbweaver (Leucauge venusta)


 An adult female Plesiometa argyra.




> Orb weaver (Argiope argentata) -- there is a slight chance this is A.florida but I am fairly confident on this ID


 A. argentata is correct.




> Orb weaver (Eriophora ravilla) - not 100% sure on this one.


 E. ravilla is correct.

Last but not least, the exposed P. regius is guarding an egg sac.


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## Vys (Mar 8, 2008)

Good tele lens any?
Nice pictures!


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## telow (Mar 8, 2008)

i miss home !!!! 

i think im gonna have to move back to florida ! 

looks like you had a good trip dave.


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## skinheaddave (Mar 8, 2008)

jeff h said:


> Here are a couple ID's if interested:


Thanks!  Once I'm done sorting through Tamara's pictures I'll have to get you to ID some of the other araneomorphs.



> An adult female Plesiometa argyra.


How did you reach that conclusion?  It definitely seems to have a little zig in what might be called the dorsolateral lines -- but it doesn't seem to constrict as highly as pictures of Pleisiometa that I've seen.  Are there other features?



> Last but not least, the exposed P. regius is guarding an egg sac.


Indeed she was.  She was actually collected as firewood -- or rather her log was.  Once we realized she was there we snapped some pics and put her back.  The whole time she was spinning silk to try to cocoon herself back in ... I actually have some ventral shots of her which is odd for field shots.

Cheers,
Dave


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## lhystrix (Mar 9, 2008)

skinheaddave said:


> How did you reach that conclusion?  It definitely seems to have a little zig in what might be called the dorsolateral lines -- but it doesn't seem to constrict as highly as pictures of Pleisiometa that I've seen.  Are there other features?
> Cheers,
> Dave


The dorsal markings are the main difference along with different ventral and lateral markings, and there is some variation in coloration as well; L. venusta is more 'colorful'. Smaller, too.


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## crawldad (Mar 10, 2008)

A - Maz - Ing!


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## NrthCstInverts (Mar 11, 2008)

Those are absolutely stunning!! (im going to hang my head in shame at my weak picture taking skills now)


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## froggyman (Mar 11, 2008)

the marine fish looks like sculpin of some sort


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## skinheaddave (Mar 12, 2008)

froggyman said:


> the marine fish looks like sculpin of some sort


Good call!  No idea what kind it might be, but it looks like it fits the group as a whole.  I didn't pull it out because it looked like it might be spiny.

Cheers,
Dave


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## froggyman (Mar 12, 2008)

thanks yeah be carful around sculpins and their kin the can give you some nasty stings

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sculpin

the slimy sculpin(Cottus cognatus) is a freshwater member the is a cool little fish to find( just to enrich your day)


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