January 28, 2022

This is Lantana involucrata

It is a native species also known as Button Sage

It has showy flowers and fruits

And with birds and pollinators, it's all the rage!

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://www.fnps.org/plant/lantana-involucrata

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

January 27, 2022

These are both Lantana Camara,

The bottom one has bloomed, the top one has not

This is the invasive non-native species of Lantana

But even unbloomed, it makes a pretty snap shot.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://gardeningsolutions.ifas.ufl.edu/plants/ornamentals/lantana.html

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

January 26, 2022

I am a Rabidosa hentzi

I'm a tiny species of Wolf Spider

The Genus Rabidosa consists of five species

The other four are bigger and wider. 

(Click the photo to see her eye arrangement, which is one way to identify her.)

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.americanarachnology.org/journal-joa/joa-all-volumes/detail/article/download/JoA_v22_p138.pdf/?no_cache=1

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks

January 25, 2022

I am a nymph Southern Two-striped Walkingstick

One of my colloquial names is "Musk Mare"

I emit a nasty smelling spray from the holes by my eyes - 

Enlarge the pic and see one

<------ right there

(Thanks to Brandon Woo on Bugguide.net for the postitive ID.)

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/walkingstick.htm

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

January 24, 2022

I am an American Bird Grasshopper

When I want to have babies, I dig -

I lay about 70 eggs in the soil, they hatch

Then go through five or six instars before they get big.

Location: Fort Pierce Inlet State Park

Sources: https://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/field/american_grasshopper.htm

https://www.amentsoc.org/insects/glossary/terms/instar/

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

January 23, 2022

This is Houstonia procumbens

Also known as "Roundleaf Bluet" or "Innocence"

Here it is blooming right up through sand

In an act of defiance and insolence.

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=HOPR

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

January 22, 2022

Although I did not see it, 

A Yellow-bellied Sapsucker was here

I know because he left his mark on this tree - 

Rows of holes don't just magically appear!

Location: St. Sebastian River Preserve State Park, Fellsmere

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-bellied_Sapsucker/overview

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson