Spotted this guy while on a hike at Blunn Creek Nature Preserve. Fun fact: caterpillars look like bird dropping to deter predators (effective, but at what cost?). The live mainly in deciduous forests, but are considered pests in their other habitat: citrus orchards. They range from southeastern Canada to Central America and the Caribbean.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5922630
These guys are super variable butterflies. Though the upperside of the wings are usually black with the forewings having white and/or yellow-orange spots. Hindwings can be almost completely black, have some red spots, rows of white spots, red-orange discs, or yellow-orange bands. The underside of the wings varies just as much. They love daisies, sunflowers, and artichokes, among a lot of others.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5485671
Rock pigeons are recognized by the iridescence on their necks! They also have two black bars on their gray wings. These pigeons are not native to the Americas, and many wild pigeons are descended from domesticated pigeons released into the wild. They’re monogamous breeders and usually have two offspring per brood. Pigeons have been domesticated as homing pigeons, carrier pigeons, and even war pigeons. In fact, quite a few of the latter have received medals and awards for bravery.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5485683
Save the bees! Honey bees congregate in colonies (with up to tens of thousands of bees!) with a single fertile female (Queen Bee, respect that) and many infertile female “workers” and fertile male “drones.” Did you know bees communicate by dancing? The western honey bee was the first domesticated insect, and it’s the single most important pollinator for global agriculture! You can help save the bees by planting some of their favorites: cilantro, lavender, sage, poppies, and sunflowers just to name a few!
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5433908
On our first campus outing with iNaturalist I found this nice flowered plant outside of JBWS. I had absolutely no idea what the identity of the plant was, but I thought it looked pretty. Dr. Belaire suggested that I take a photo and include some specs about the plant, like its height, leaf size, and leaf type. Upon posting I immediately received some responses about the id of the plant. One user correctly placed it into the sage family and another user narrowed it further to Cedar Sage. I googled Cedar Sage and, after some online research, determined that the user was correct. I found that Cedar Sage often grows underneath trees, which is exactly where I found this plant. I also found that this plant is native to Texas, specifically the Edward’s Plateau.
Source: https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=saro3
Observation: http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5433887
When I went to the Austin Zoo last weekend, I came upon this little guy scuttling across my path. As a little kid I always loved to catch lizards and see them up close; I’d grab them quickly but carefully so they didn’t detach their tails and release them right after. I’m from Dallas and we mostly have geckos, so I had never seen a lizard with such pretty spikes in the wild. When I picked up this little guy he bit me pretty good, so one of the things I learned about Texas Spiny Lizards very quickly was that they are not poisonous. A user on INaturalist told me that this was a young one, and I learned later they can grow up to 11 inches. The one I found was probably about 6 inches.
I would never have noticed this little frog had it not been for the keen eye of my lovely boyfriend. This little guy was so well camouflaged that even when I bent down next to the murky puddle he was by it was hard to spot him. Blanchard’s cricket frogs can be found throughout much of the Midwest, from Colorado to Texas. They are the most aquatic treefrog in North America. Unfortunately, they are considered a threatened or endangered in some states, though not at the federal level, due to habitat loss.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5172963
When I went camping out in Dripping Springs, the place my boyfriend and I stayed had a beautiful butterfly garden. As we were walking to go get firewood, we noticed an injured butterfly on a gravel path far from the garden. This little Pipevine Swallow wasn’t flying well on his own, but we carried him to a plant inside the garden in hopes that he would be safer there. The caterpillars of this species feed on the Aristolochia plant species, making them poisonous as both larvae and adults, which offers them protection.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5171394
The Red Admiral is also known as Vanessa atalanta, named after a prominent figure in Greek mythology known as Atalanta. She was a strong hunter who was uninterested in marriage unless the man could beat her in a foot race, which may explain why these butterflies were named after her: they are known as very strong fliers. These butterflies can be found in all 50 states. Males can be very territorial, and will try to chase out anything that enters its territory, with the exception of Red Admiral females.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5171427
Unfortunately, when I found this dragonfly it was dead. The astute users on INaturalist informed me that this was a young female who had suffered some injuries. The males are an iridescent blue while the females, like the one I found, are green with black stripes. Eastern pondhawks mate near the ponds where they reside, and within one minute of mating the female lays her eggs as she skims across the pond.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/5201870