Month: April 2017

Texas Prickly Pear

I have been walking my dog in Pease Park for a couple years now and Austin has been revamping the park with new landscape and trail construction. I hadn’t noticed this prickly pair cactus before but its yellow flowers caught my eye. It stood about four feet tall and had only two fully bloomed flowers with several on the way. Prickly pear cacti with their flat pads that look like large leaves are the kind of cacti that pop in my head when I imagine a cactus but I had never seen one with flowers. Apparently, prickly pear cacti can have red, purple, or yellow flowers. I had to snap a picture real quick because my dog was getting just as curious as I was and a little too close.

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5926272

Gulf Fritillary

I was on my way to my 9:30 class from my apartment, running late, as usual. Yet, I couldn’t help but stop when I noticed a brown butterfly with beautiful white spots calmly settled on the pavement. Its wings were folded and it didn’t move as I got closer and closer trying to get a good picture, which leads me to believe that perhaps it was injured. ):

This butterfly was difficult for me to identify. I searched everywhere for “brown butterfly with white spots”, and couldn’t find any pictures that matched the ones I took. Luckily, the iNaturalist community helped my identify this Gulf Fritillary.

The reason I couldn’t find pictures of a brown butterfly with white spots is because I could only see the underside of the wings. The other side of the butterfly is actually orange with black markings and three white spots on each wing. More photos and information can be found here:

http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Agraulis-vanillae

iNaturalist Observation:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5971863

Skinks

While visiting my parents in Plano over Easter break, I went hiking with my dog in Oak Point Park and Nature Preserve. I almost didn’t notice this lizard sitting on a fallen tree. Most lizards I have seen have been smaller than my hand but this lizard was gigantic compared to all the other lizards I have seen. It was about 7 inches long and had I not seen its feet I would have thought it was a small snake. In fact, when I uploaded this picture to iNaturalist asking for ID recommendations many people thought it was a snake, so I noted that you could see its feet if you zoomed in the picture. Finally, I got suggestions that it was a skink. Skinks belong to the family Scincidae, which is one of the most diverse families of lizards with over 1,500 different species. Skinks have no pronounced neck, long bodies, and short legs. Some skinks don’t even have any legs at all making them even harder to distinguish from snakes. After I snapped its picture it scurried away, its movement resembling a snake more than a lizard, and hid under a pile of leaves.

 

 

 

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5916017

Lantana urticoides

I was walking with my dog on Red Bud Isle and noticed a shrub I have seen many times before but didn’t know the name of. This shrub is usually known as the Texas lantana, but despite the name, it is actually native to Central and South America and has spread to over 50 countries. It persists in Texas because it can survive throughout droughts and extreme heat. Of the verbena family, the Texas lantana is a spreading shrub that grows from the ground upward. The clusters of the small four petal flowers appear from April to October. Many people plant them to embellish their gardens and add a bright orange color, but this shrub has actually become an invasive species in many places. It crowds out other species and reduces biodiversity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5602222

Forest Tent Caterpillar

I found this little guy crawling across a waterfall observation deck in Colorado Bend State Park. Native to America, the Forest Tent Caterpillar feeds on trees so it was no surprise to find this one on wood. They are identifiable by their dark colored two-inch long bodies with light blue stripes on either side of them and white footprint-shaped spots along its back. The caterpillars, or larvae, appear once a year, usually in April. After about five to six weeks as larvae, they spin solitary cocoons and three weeks later emerge as a moth. The moth stage is the shortest lasting only five days, but in those five days they mate and lay eggs so that the Forest Tent Caterpillar can emerge again in April.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5561275

Northern Cardinal

While camping in Colorado Bend State Park, I woke up to the sound of a bird singing and looked outside my tent to find a cardinal. He was a nicer wake-up call than my alarm clock would have been. Its striking red color made it easy for me to spot. I read that the male cardinals and red and the female cardinals are brown so the cardinal I saw was definitely a male. The color was its main identifier, but I also recognized it for his long tail and short, thick beak.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5561216

Claret-cup Hedgehog

Although this prickly flowered cactus is sometimes referred to as the king cup cactus, it is fairly small standing less than a foot tall. This cactus is also known as the claret cup hedgehog because of its spiny resemblance to a hedgehog and cup-shaped flowers. Its spines help deter herbivores and the flowers retain moisture for the plant. I came across this cactus while hiking a rocky trail in Colorado Bend State Park. As you can see from the picture, this cactus typically grows in gravelly soil. I was drawn to its reddish flowers, which happen to remain open night and day, unlike many cacti flowers that close at night. The flowers bloom for about 3 to 5 days from April to June and are pollinated by hummingbirds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5561209

Northern Mockingbird

I almost didn’t spot this mockingbird because of its gray color blending into the tree it was sitting on, but its constant singing was hard to miss. Known for singing almost endlessly, the mockingbird likes to make its presence known. When reading about the northern mockingbird I found out that they continue to add new sounds to their repertoires throughout their life, kind of like their own person playlist. A male mockingbird may know around 200 songs towards the end of his life. I’ve seen and heard mockingbird before and that isn’t surprising since they are very common in towns and cities. I spotted this particular mockingbird in a park less than a mile from my home.

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5555802

Chinavia hilaris

I was visiting some friends in San Antonio, impatiently waiting for them to open their door, when I noticed a green bug that looked remarkably like a leaf on the upper part of their door frame. I quickly snapped a picture before the door opened or the little guy got frightened away.

After a bit of research, I concluded that this was a green stink bug, also known as Chinavia hilaris.

Yikes! Luckily, the bug wasn’t frightened by the door opening or the noise spilling out from within. Good thing too, because further research informed me that these bugs have wings, which is a big ol’ nope from me. If this bug had flown anywhere near me, our combined defense mechanisms (me: swatting madly and running in circles, and the bug: stink) would have resulted in a bad time for us all. Luckily, I snapped a harmless picture and made it safely inside my friends’ apartment.

 

Observation:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5971866

Reference:

http://entnemdept.ufl.edu/creatures/veg/bean/green_stink_bug.htm