April 27, 2024

We are Phaon Crescent butterflies

Fogfruit is our caterpillar host

Our wings are just pretty when they're opened

But gorgeous and look like stained glass when they're closed.

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive (photo 1), Titusville and Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (photos 2-4)

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/bfly/phaon_crescent.htm

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

April 26, 2024

I am known as a Paper Wasp

I've got two large compound eyes

I have 3 eyes that are Ocelli

I don't see through them directly

But I can use them to control my flight.

(Click to enlarge the photo, their eyes are pretty cool, and you can see all 5 in the photo.)

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Titusville

Sources: https://engines.egr.uh.edu/episode/2877

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

Resources for Bird Beaks Talk

• Kidwings: Bird Skulls
• Bird Note: What's a Beak Made Of?
• The Remarkable Adaptations of Birds to Their Environment
• The Amazing Secrets of Woodpecker Tongues
• Bluebird Song: Did you know they sing with their beaks closed?
• I Found A Baby Bird. What Do I Do?
• How to find a wildlife rehabilitator
• This Bird Is Evolving Right in Front of Us

April 25, 2024

We are known as Whirlabouts

Because our flight pattern is crazy and unwearied

We are sexually dimorphic

And our color can be somewhat varied. 

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Titusville (male), Titusville and Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park (Female)

Sources: https://alabama.butterflyatlas.usf.edu/species/details/125/whirlabout

https://www2.nau.edu/~gaud/bio300b/sexdi.htm#:~:text=Sexual%20dimorphism%20is%20the%20systematic,is%20larger%20than%20the%20female

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

April 24, 2024

I am known as a Palatka Skipper

Sawgrass is my only caterpillar host

I am one of the largest skippers

And I mostly live near the coast.

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Titusville

Sources: https://www.vararespecies.org/specie/Euphyes%20pilatka

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

April 23, 2024

I am a species of Flower Crab Spider

Munching on some kind of ant

It's like a nightmare nature Turducken

We're both inside a carnivorous plant!

(Shout out to Heather Stapleton for the Turducken inspiration.)

Location: Apalachicola National Forest

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misumena

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turducken

https://www.fnps.org/plant/sarracenia-flava

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

April 22, 2024

I am known as a Poey's Furrow Bee

I'm not carrying much pollen so I'm probably male

Females have long hairs on their hind tibias

I'm thinner and sometimes have yellow details.

Location: Blackpoint Wildlife Drive, Titusville

Sources: https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/IN897

Photo and text © 2024 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.