Field Biology
American Vultures
(Incorrectly called buzzards) Dark eagle-like birds, often seen soaring in circles; naked heads are smaller than those of hawks or eagles.
Hentz's Orb weaver
(Neoscona crucifera) Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Orb web spider with a web and a retreat very similar to those of the marbled spider; web and retreat are usually less well maintained than those of the marbled spider; this species is readily recognized by its drab appearance and the markings on the opistosoma, which resemble a cross (or sword) pointing distally.
white grub (beetle larva)
(beetle larva) Order: Coleoptera Feeds on plant roots or decaying wood; these beetle larvae have a hardened head capsule, three pairs of functional legs, and they curl up when disturbed.
Peregrine falcon
(duck hawk) Class: Aves The one we saw was a resident bird, it didn't fly south; about the size of a crow; bold distinctive mustache; in migration often in pairs; soaring looks like broad-winged; wing beat is fluid, rhythmic, elastic, whip-like; large female, small male.
Handsome Locust
(slant-faced grasshopper) Order: Orthoptera One of the short-horned grasshoppers, recognized by their short antennae, short ovipositor, and tympanum on the first abdominal segment; face slants backward, but there is no prosternal spine, which is present in the spur-throated grasshopper; in handsome locusts the male is smaller and tan/brown/black, as opposed to the mostly green female.
mountain laurel
A medium-sized shrub found in a variety of habitats in the mountains; in the Piedmont this species is nearly restricted to north-facing bluffs along streams; is can be distinguished from Carolina rhododendron by its shiny leaves and the lack of round brown scales on the lower leaf surface.
Endopterygota
A subclass of pterygota Insects with a complete metamorphosis, including a pupal stage; have internal wing buds. Larva or pupa look very different from adult. Ex: Order: Neuroptera (lacewings) Order: Coleoptera (beetles) Order: Lepidoptera (butterflies & moths) Order: Diptera (true flies) Order: Hymenopters (bees, wasps)
Exopterygota
A subclass of pterygota Insects with a simple metamorphosis, without pupal stage; have external wing buds. Nymph or naiad look similar to adult. Ex: Order: Odonata (Dragonflies & damselflies); Order: Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, locust & crickets); Order: Hemioptera Suborder: Hemiptera (True Bugs)
River birch
A typical levee forest species, its shreddy, papery bark is diagnostic; bark makes an excellent paper substitute when starting a fire. Birches are the preferred food plant for a large number of different caterpillars, including the viceroy butterfly.
American sycamore
A typical levee forest species, trees can often be "easily distinguished from other trees by its mottled exfoliating bark, which flakes off in great irregular masses, leaving the surface mottled, and greenish-white, gray and brown"
Silverfish
Apterygote (wingless) Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Thysanura
American beech
Beech Forest. The typical canopy dominant of the Beech Forest community; found throughout SC but in the Piedmont restricted to relatively steep north-facing bluffs along rivers; distinctive features are the smooth grayish bark and the simple leaves with fine hairs on the leaf margins; leaves will die in late autumn, but turn a golden color and remain on the tree until spring.
Eastern Painted Turtle
Class Reptilia Order: Testudines
Eastern box turtle
Class Reptilia Order: Testudines
Eatern river cooter
Class Reptilia Order: Testudines
Snapping turtle
Class Reptilia Order: Testudines
Yellow-bellied slider
Class Reptilia Order: Testudines
Amphibians classification
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Bull frog
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Eastern Spadefoot Toad
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Fowlers toad
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Northern cricket frog
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Pickerel frog
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Southern Leopard Frog
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Spring peeper
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Wood frog
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura
Upland chorus frog
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura Family: Hylidae Chorus frogs are tree frogs with intercalary cartilage but without enlarged toe pads; very variable in pattern, but always 1) a light line along the upper lip and 2) a dark stripe that passes from the snout to the eye and passes through the eye; also usually with three dark stripes on the dorsum; base color is brown or gray; this is an upland frog in the north but a lowland species in the south, inhabiting wet swales, swamps, etc.
Fowler's toad x American toad x hybrid
Class: Amphibia Order: Anura (frogs and toads) Recognized as a toad by its warty skin and the paired, elongate glands on the back of its shoulders (paratoid glands). Paratoid glands release poisonous secretions, as does the skin itself. Three or more warts in each dark spot distinguishes Fowler's from the American toad, which has one or two warts per dark spot. Dr. Ab Abercrombie suggests that we have a swarm of Fowler's X American toad hybrids. if a variation of 1,2, or 3 warts, than it is a hybrid
Adult eastern newt or red spotted newt
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Greater Siren
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Hellbender
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Juvenile (terrestrial) eastern newt or red spotted newt
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Marbled Salamander
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Mountain Dusky Salamander
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Red Salamander
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Two-lined Salamander
Class: Amphibia Order: Caudata
Gray tree frog
Class: Amphibia Order:Anura
Slimy Salamander
Class: Amphibia SubClass: Lissamphibia (living amphibians) Order: Caudata
Green lynx spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Lynx spiders are day-active ambush predators; they can capture prey several times their own size. Medium sized 5-10 mm Females active guard their age sac All members of this family have six large eyes arranged in a hexagon and two smaller eyes below; legs are unusually spiny
orchard spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Most commonly found in floodplain forests, this spider hangs upside down in a web that is at an angle from the vertical; the greenish-yellow legs and carapace and the silvery, dark-lined abdomen are distinctive. Builds its web in floodplain forest or adjacent woods
Marbled Orbweaver
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae One of the orb web spiders; builds a large web that is usually well maintained; female awaits prey in a retreat formed by sewing together the margins of a leaf Like most orb weavers, the opistosoma is much larger than the prosoma
Arrowhead spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Orb-weaver and spiny-backed spiders Female; the triangle on the hardened (spiny) back of the abdomen resembles an arrowhead and usually is yellow, but rarely may be white or pink. This spider builds and takes down its web daily Males is different in size and appearance
white micrathena spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Probably our most common fall orb-weaving spider. The abdomen is shiny, white and hardened, presumably for protection; distinguished from the female spiny micrathena by the flatter, less spiny abdomen and from the male spiny by the broader abdomen.
Rabid Wolf Spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae SC most common ground hunting spiders Females carry her egg sac in her spinnerets; new hatched spiderlings are carried on their mother's back Easily distinguished from nursery web spiders by the pattern of their eyes and the relatively-shorter leads; distinguished from the very similar dotted wolf spider by faint light spots not he dorm of the abdomen, near the distal end.
Black and orange argiope or "garden spider"
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Sometimes called a writing spider (because of the distinctive central zig-zag bands called stabilimenta) or garden spider (because of the one common location) One of the most common and largest orb web spiders in east Hangs upside down in the center of the web
jumping spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae These spiders are often brightly colored They are day active and common on plants flowering in fields and other open habitats They can jump many times their length and have excellent visual acuity; they can recognize prey items or predators distinctly 4-8 inches away.
long jawed orb weaver
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae This spider is very habitat specific; it always builds webs in low vegetation over water; its orb web is always at a 45 degree angle; note the extremely long "jaws".
Nursery Web Spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae This spider looks like a wolf spider but the broad brown stripe edge in white that runs the length of the spider's back (carapace) is distinctive; eye patterns are different in wolf spiders and nursery web spiders but an easier character to notice is the much relatively longer lets in nursery web spiders; after mating the female makes a nurse of a folded grass or herb lead in which she lays eggs.
funnel web spider
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae recognized by their sheet-like webs that narrow to a funnel at one end; the spider hides in the funnel and runs out to bite and kill prey items; the web it not sticky In most species a pair of spinnerets extended well beyond the tip of the abdomen, like short, paired tails or like cerci in some insects.
Velvet mite
Class: Arachnida This is one of the trombidid mites, a suborder that includes many plant and animal parasites; up to 4mm long; larvae are parasites on insects and arachnids; the velvety mite adults feed on insect eggs; spider mites are very small (0.3-0.8 mm long) and can be serious pests of plants, especially in greenhouses.
spotted forest orb weaver
Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae Species of the genus Neoscona Like the Hentz's orb weaver it has markings on its opistosoma that resembles a cross; much more brightly colored and always found in moist deciduous forest
Black Vulture
Class: Aves
Blad eagle
Class: Aves
Common Raven
Class: Aves
Turkey Vulture
Class: Aves Family: American Vultures
Broad-winged Hawk
Class: Aves Genus: Buteo
Red-tailed hawk
Class: Aves Genus: Buteo
Birds classification
Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes
Stone Centipede
Class: Chilopoda Order: Lithobiomorpha Aggressive predators with poison fangs, they are often found under decaying logs or rocks; this group is readily recognized by its small size (< 1.7") and few segments and legs (18 and 15 respectively).
Aquatic crayfish
Class: Crustacea
Sporobolid millipede
Class: Diplopoda One of the 4 orders of cylindrical millipedes; body cylindrical or only slightly flattened; 5th segment has only one pair of legs. Many species give off a bad-smelling fluid, which contains either iodine or hydrogen cyanide and is very toxic; the one we found released iodine-based fluid; day active and feed on plants and decaying materials. Similar to the common giant millipede in size.
Reptiles classification
Class: Reptilia Order: Serpentes
Broad-headed Skink (female)
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia
Broad-headed Skink (male)
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia
Eastern slender glass lizard
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia
Fence Lizard
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia
Five-lined skink (adult top right; young bottom)
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia
Six-lined Racerunner
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia
Green or Carolina anole
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia This is probably our most common lizard; individuals may green, mottled green and brown or all brown; they can change skin color, but not very rapidly; not a true chameleon; males attract females by displaying their enlarged pinkish throat fans; females have a distinctive light dorsal stripe.
Ground skink
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Lacertilia (Sauria)
Banded water snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Black Racer Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Corn Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Eastern Garter Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Eastern Hognose Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Eastern Kingsnake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Northern Copperhead
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Northern water snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Queen snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Rough Green Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Southern Ringneck Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Timber Rattlesnake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
Worm Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Adults are less than 12 inches long; brown back with smooth scales and a pink belly are distinctive; almost always found under rocks or logs; seldom found in the open; like earthworms, they are excellent burrowers; their primary food is earthworms.
Northern (Dekay's) Brown Snake
Class: Reptilia Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes Two parallel rows of dark spots down the back, dark downward streak on side of head; once called the "city snake" because of its abundance in cities; likes moist woods, swamps, lake margins.
Polydesmid Millipede
Class; Diplopoda Polydesmids have 18-22 body segments and prominent lateral keels; all lack eyes; unlike this one, many are brightly colored, and most have stink glands.
Accipiters (Bird Hawks)
Crow-sized or smaller; with small heads, long tails and short, rounded wings; major flights are often before sunrise
Crane fly
Diptera
Buteos (Buzzard Hawk)
Large and full bodied; with broad wings and wide rounded tails
Poison Ivy
Leaves of three, let it be. Leaves shiny in spring and early summer, becoming dull with age; vine climbs by means of numerous hair-like, dull reddish-black adventitious roots; urushiol is the compound that causes allergic reactions; rash can be prevented by washing in hot water with lots of soap within about 6 hours of contact. Poison ivy is very common in levee and bottomland forests, and is predicted to become more common with global climate change.
Eagles
Most birds of prey look back over their shoulder before or just after striking prey, but no eagles; very large birds; slow deliberate wing beat; don't rock.
Canada Hemlock
One of the characteristic species of acidic soils along streams in the mountains, it is the canopy dominant in a plant community named for it, i.e., Canada Hemlock Forest; the bark of this species was once the major source of tannin used to transform animal skins into leather.
white oak
One of the white oaks, all of which have rounded lobes that are not bristle tipped; wood has been used extensively in making barrels, especially whiskey barrels; white oak wood provides some of the special characteristics distinctive to aged whiskeys; bark is whitish and flaky, scaly or platy.
Osprey
Only bird of prey that plunges feet-first for fish; a little
Yellow jacket
Order Hymenoptera: Family: Vespidae In family with paper wasps, potter wasps and hornets; the family is recognized by the black and yellow (yellowjackets) (or brownish (paper wasps) or black and white (hornets) body coloration and notched eyes. Although adults feed primarily on items rich in sugars and carbohydrates (fruits, flower nectar, and tree sap), the larvae feed on proteins (insects, meats, fish, etc.). Adult workers chew and condition the meat fed to the larvae. Larvae in return secrete a sugary material relished by the adults; this exchange is technically a form of trophallaxis. In late summer, foraging workers change their food preference from meats to ripe, decaying fruits or scavenge human garbage, sodas, picnics, etc., since larvae in the nest fail to meet requirements as a source of sugar. This is why yellowjackets are known largely as an unwelcome nuisance at picnics.
American grass web weaver spider
Order: Arachnida Order: Araneae Members of the genus Ageleopsis and are funnel weavers; they weave nearly horizontal sheet webs that have a funnel at one end; the web is not sticky, but the spiders have sensitive touch receptors that alert them to prey on the web, which they run rapidly to dispatch. They are common on grass, weeds and low ground cover
Twig griller beetle sign
Order: Coleoptera
Asian lady beetle or Japanese ladybug ladybug
Order: Coleoptera Adults are carnivores and aphids are their favorite food. They were introduced to North America to control aphids and scale insects; the orange and black coloration suggests that they are distasteful to potential predators. Again lady beetle has great individual variation in the base color (red. orange, or black) and the # of spots present. recognized by the species by the black "M" or "W" on the white pronotum. Males are smaller than females. Invades homes in great numbers to overwinter as adults.
Bessbug or patent-leather beetle
Order: Coleoptera All beetles have hardened forewings called elytra that meet in a straight line down the back; adults of this distinctive species feed on decaying wood; larvae feed on food pre-chewed by adults; food consists of a mix of wood chips and feces; when disturbed they make a squeaking sound by rubbing wings together.
Rove Beetle
Order: Coleoptera Have especially short wings and elytra and raise their abdomen, scorpion-like, when disturbed; linear, mile-like tunnels, 1-5mm wide are made in riparian sand and mud by their larvae; small ones are made by smaller larvae Rove beetle family is extraordinarily common and diverse and in fact is the largest living family of beetles (63,000+ species) Fossilized rove beetles go back 200 million years
Whirligig Beetle
Order: Coleoptera Spins (whirls) in tight circles when disturbed, with part of the body above water and part below, including the eyes. Eyes are divided into upper and lower halves; the upper are adapted for sight in air; the lower are adapted for sight in water. Aggressive predators, they kill their prey and suck out their juices with beak-like mouth parts.
Tachnid Fly
Order: Diptera A very large family of flies with most members recognized by the stiff bristles symmetrically spaced over the entire body and the well-developed postscutellum; most tachinids are parasitic and lay eggs in or on a host; larvae complete their development inside the host, i.e., they are parasitoids; useful in controlling pest insects.
Syrphid Fly
Order: Diptera. = "two wings" (referring to the presence of only one pair of wings); hind wings are modified into small club-like structures called halteres, which act as flight stabilizers; also called hover flies; mimics wasps and bees as a form of Batesian mimicry; there are more dipterans with medical or veterinary importance than any other insect family (malaria, dengue fever, yellow fever, filariasis, to name a few).
Nymph of a spittlebug
Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Auchenorrhyncha Family: Cercopidae Spit-like masses on grasses and shrubs are produced by one or more nymphs that hang upside down and mix honeydew with other secretions; spittle apparently provides protection from predators; spittlebugs are the nymphs of froghoppers.
Water strider
Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Heteroptera An active predator that moves on the surface of the water aided by fine hairs on tarsal segments of the 2 hind pairs of legs. Feeds on other insects. Some species produce wingless forms early in the season and winged forms later in the season; wings required for dispersal.
Leaf-footed bug
Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Heteroptera Classic true bug; forewings with hardened proximal portion and membranous distal portion; forewings are unlike hindwings; prominent scutellum is obvious; beak-like proboscis arises from the front of the head. The dilated and somewhat leaf-like hind tibia are the best field characters; many species produce strong odors, but they are technically not stink bugs; some feed on plants, others are predators.
Green stink bug nymph
Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Heteroptera Family: Pentastomidae This is the nymph of one of several species of green stink bugs, stink bugs that are all green at maturity; common name refers to the "bad" odor they produce; mostly plant feeders, sometimes on agricultural crops; pentastomid = 5 sections = 5-segmented antennae and what appears to be five body segments.
Nymph of a true bug
Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Heteroptera The presence of wing buds indicates that this is a nymph, not a larva; the long, pointed proboscis arising from the front of the head indicates that this is a true bug (Hemiptera, Heteroptera)
Hemlock Woolly Adelgid
Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Sternorhyncha Family: Adelgidae A native of East Asia that feeds by sucking sap from hemlock trees (Tsuga spp.). In eastern North America this is a destructive pest that poses a major threat to the eastern hemlock and the Carolina hemlock. It has now been established in eleven eastern states from Georgia to Massachusetts, causing widespread mortality of hemlock trees. 50% of the geographic range of eastern hemlock has been impacted. Larvae emerge in spring and can spread on their own or with the assistance of wind, birds and/or mammals. In the nymph state, the adelgid is immobile and settles on a single tree. The next state is the adult which needs a species of spruce not found in the Eastern United States to sexually reproduce, so the only populations from year to year are the two asexually produced generations. (Modified from the account in Wikipedia) It is distinguished from other closely-related sternorrhynchans by technical characters of the wings. For our purposes, any woolly aphid-like critter on hemlock is the hemlock woolly adelgid.
Soft scale mass on silverbell
Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Sternorrhyncha (former Order Homoptera) Scale insects are sometimes serious pests of cultivated plants; the female is often legless and covered by a scale-like covering; identification to family and species requires examination of characters only visible under a microscope; this scale is unusual because numerous individuals form a continuous, sticky mass that is distinctly un-scale-like; damage to the twig can be observed where the sticky covering has been uncovered, as can individual scale insects; shellac is derived from one distinct family of scale insects.
Paper wasp nest
Order: Hymenoptera
Pipe-organ mud-dauber wasp nest
Order: Hymenoptera
Red Imported Fire Ant
Order: Hymenoptera
honey bee and bumble bees
Order: Hymenoptera Family: Apidae Hairy, black and yellow body; first segment of the hind tarsus is long, flattened and hairy (it forms the pollen basket); pollen is mixed with honey (bee bread) and fed to all larvae except the queen larvae, which are fed royal jelly (white paste secreted by workers); adults feed on nectar and honey. Note the collection of pollen on the hind tarsus of both bees!
Paper wasp
Order: Hymenoptera Family: Vespidae "Paper wasps are vespid wasps that gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva, and use to construct water-resistant nests made of gray or brown papery material. Some types of paper wasps are also sometimes called umbrella wasps, due to the distinctive design of their nests." Distinguished from other vespid wasps by the brownish color, and conical first abdominal segment.
thread-waisted wasp
Order: Hymenoptera This group is in the same family as most mud-dauber wasps; in this case the solitary adults nest in the ground and "provision" their nests with caterpillars; another group in this family provisions their nest with grasshoppers or crickets and have such descriptive names as the purplish-blue cricket hunter.
Carolina Satyr
Order: Lepidoptera A butterfly, not a moth or a skipper, because of the straight terminal knobs on the antennae. Dull brown above and without spots; underside of hind wings has 5-6 spots with yellow outer ring, black inner ring and a silver central spot. Found in deciduous forests, or meadows; caterpillar feeds on grasses.
Cloudless sulphur butterfly
Order: Lepidoptera Also known as the giant sulphur This is one of the common butterflies seen in migration in October in SC The female has small dark marks on the wings; the male is pure yellow (cloudless)
Grapeleaf skeletonizer moth
Order: Lepidoptera Commons species that occurs over much of the eastern US Larvae feed externally on the lower leaf surfaces of grapes and Virginia creeper, eventually skeletonizing the leaves Larvae are yellow with black stripes, aposematic coloration that suggests predator beware; experts suggest handing or touching the larvae can result in a rash that lasts several days.
Saddleback caterpillar
Order: Lepidoptera Descriptive in name and distinctive in appearance; one of the few caterpillars that has poisonous spines; inflicts painful sting when handled roughly A generalist feeder, it is most often found on garden and urban ornamental plants Adult is a nondescript brown moth
Common buckeye butterfly
Order: Lepidoptera Medium in size and has large eyespots in fore and hind wings; overwinters as an adult
Southern hairstreak butterfly
Order: Lepidoptera Most hairstreaks have hair-like projections off their hind wings and all have rapid darting flights. The color pattern of this morph is typical of what used to be called the northern hairstreak butterfly; northern variants often are found at high elevations in the southern Appalachians; Laval host plants are various species of oak.
Penitent underwing moth
Order: Lepidoptera Rest on trees or walls with their brightly colored underwings hidden by the well-camouflaged forewings; sudden exposure of the underwings is intended to startle predators; overwinter as eggs on tree bark
Common Sootywing (skipper)
Order: Lepidoptera Skippers are butterflies that have a knobbed antennae with a narrow projection at the very tip They are day active and have very "erratic" flight and seems almost nervous, hence the name skipper Like all butterflies they hold their wings erect or at t angle greater than 45 degrees. Moths have knob-less antennae Most adults rest well camouflaged during the day on tree trunks, with their wings spread (folded) over their back; most come readily at night to lights.
Serpentine leaf mine and miner
Order: Lepidoptera This mine was produced by a small to tiny moth usually pupates in the mine; recognized by the long fringes on the fore and hind wings.
Ailanthus webworm moth
Order: Lepidoptera This small, brightly-colored moth cannot be confused with any other moth in our fauna; larvae feed communally within webs that cover leaves or their food plants, usually Ailanthus (tree-of-heaven or paradise tree)
Red-spotted purple butterfly
Order: Lepidoptera A butterfly because of the knobbed antennae Upper side is blue to blue-green; underside of hind wing has thee basal red-orange spots and a sub-marginal row of three red-orange spots Found in edges and clearings of forests; birch is preferred food plant. The white admiral is now believed to be a northern form of red-spotted purple butterfly
Sleepy sulphur butterfly
Order: Lepidoptera This sulphur butterfly, one author suggests, is called "sleepy" because it is slower in flight than the other sulphur. The upper surface of all wings consists of a brown outer band and an inner orange center "late-season adults overwinter in reproductive diapause"
Carolina Mantis
Order: Mantoidea [Orthoptera]) This is the smallest and least common of our mantis species; this is a wingless female and the only mantid that is sometimes borwn ; lies in wait for its prey with their forelegs raised, a position that looks like "praying"; head is freely moveable; front legs are raptorial; solitary and carnivorous; Chinese mantid was introduced for insect control but never was successful because mantids are so cannibalistic; lay eggs in paper mache-like case.
Lacewing larva
Order: Neuroptera The huge curved jaws, small size, and covering of camouflaging debris identify this as a lacewing larva; highly valuable predators on a variety of sap-sucking insects or on their eggs and/or larvae; I once purchased green lacewing larvae to see if they could help control greenhouse pest insects. Very Cool!
Common skimmer dragonfly
Order: Odonata Family: Libellulidae In this "quintessential" dragonfly family the triangle in the FW points down and the triangle in hindwing points horizontally (i.e., FW and HW triangles are different); in the common skippers, a large group with many common species, the triangle in the forewing is divided in two by a crossvein. We will identify this dragonfly to species in class.
Field cricket
Order: Orthoptera Circi are long and wings are held flat over the back. All crickets make sounds that have pitch, sounds that you can hum and match their notes. Female crickets have a longish, thin ovipositor, which is round in cross-section. Field crickets are large (15-31mm) in length; ground crickets usually are less than 12 mm long.
Band-winged grasshopper
Order: Orthoptera Colorful grasshoppers most easily recognized in flight by the brightly colored distal portions of their hind wings; in hand they are recognized by the fact that they are short-horned and that they have a keel-like central ridge on the prothorax, with the pronotum extending posteriorly into a triangle-shaped segment.
Red-headed bush cricket
Order: Orthoptera Family: Grilllidae Bush crickets are generally small crickets (< 9mmlong) with the 2nd tarsal segment heart-shaped (somewhat) and dorso-laterally flattened; this one is often called the handsome trig; they often wave their enlarged maxillary palps when disturbed.
Angular-winged katydid
Order: Orthoptera One of the long-horned grasshoppers, angular-winged katydids are in a subfamily with several diverse members; they are the member of the leaf katydid subfamily that actually has leaf-like wings (broad with vein-like supports); distinguished from other members of the leaf katydid subfamily by the broad wings that are angulate near the middle, widely-spaced bases of the antennae, and antennae shorter than the body (lots of characters I know, but it is a very diverse subfamily); note the short sickle-shaped ovipositor; true katydids have two short prosternal spines.
Meadow grasshopper
Order: Orthoptera One of the long-horned grasshoppers; antennae longer than body, typani are on the tibia of the first pair of legs, and the ovipositor of the female is very long; recognized by the pair of spines on the prosternum; also differs from cone-headed grasshoppers in that the vertex does not extend beyond the basal antennal segment.
Spur-throated Grasshopper
Order: Orthoptera One of the short-horned grasshoppers; recognized by their short antennae, short ovipositor, and tympanum on the first abdominal segment. The "spur" is an obvious projection on the prosternum (throat). This group includes many of our most common species of grasshoppers, some of which swarm and can cause enormous crop damage; these copulating pair were still "in flagrante delicto" 24 hours after they were collected.
Black rat snake
Order: Squamata Suborder: Serpentes
June bug
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleptera
Ladybug
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleptera
Springtail
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Collembola
Earwig
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Dermaptera
21. Syrphid fly
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Diperta
Solitary wasp
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Diperta
insects classification
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Diptera
Leaf-footed bug
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Hemiptera Suborder: Heteroptera
Termites
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Isoptera
Bee Hawk Moth
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera
Mulberry silk moth
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Lepidoptera
Ant lion
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Neuroptera
Green lacewing
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Neuroptera
American cockroach
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Orthoptera
short-horned grasshoppers
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Orthoptera
Praying mantis
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Orthoptera or Mantoidea
Walkingstick
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Orthoptera or Phasmida
Chewing Louse
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Phthiraptera
Human Louse (sucking louse)
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Phthiraptera Suborder: Anaplura Infraclass Neoptera (new wings- more efficient)
Flea
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Siphonaptera
Caddisfly
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Tricoptera
Caddisfly larva case
Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Tricoptera
Black knot fungus
Phyllum: Ascomycetes Class: Pyrenomycetes
Mayfly
Pterygote: winged Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Ephemeroptera Infraclass: Paleoptera (old wings, less efficient)
Dragonfly and Damselfly
Pterygote: winged Phyllum: Arthropoda Subphyllum: Hexapoda Class: Insecta Order: Odonata Infraclass: Paleoptera (old wings, less efficient)
Great laurel
Species in the Canada Hemlock Forest
Falcons
Streamlined, with pointed wings and longish tails; travel using their own powers of flight; mountain ridges and updrafts don't concentrate them; use thermals and when soaring look unfalcon-like
Spider classification
Subphyllum: Chelicerata Class: Arachnida Order: Araneae
Spotted Salamander
Subphyllum: Vertebrata Class: Amphibia SubClass: Lissamphibia (living amphibians)
Fish classification
Superclass Pices Class: Osteichthyes
Mockernut hickory
The specific epithet "tomentosa" provides one of the most important distinguishing characteristics, hairy leaflets and rachises; wood is very hard to split and twigs are all but impossible to break off (they must be cut off); nuts are good to eat but difficult to process; Indians pounded the nuts and placed in water to separate bits of shell from bits of kernel.
Holometabolous
complete metamorphosis
Hemimetabolous
incomplete metamorphosis
Red breasted Merganser
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Broad-nosed weevil
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Apterygota
primitive wingless insects
Pterygota
winged and secondarily wingless insects