posted: August 31, 2005

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The flowers of the firebush (Hamelia patens Jacquin) are reddish-orange, small, and tubular. If pollinated, they are followed by a many-seeded berry which ripens black. The flowers are transient things opening around the middle of the night and wilting by midday. [Click here to read more...]

posted: April 13, 2005

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The oleander aphid (Aphis nerii Boyer de Fonscolombe) is a distinct bright yellow aphid with black legs, antennae, cauda (tail-like appendage), and cornicles (tubes that extend from the abdomen). It is thought to originate in the Mediterranean and probably spread as oleanders were introduced around the world. The aphid is now found in tropical and temperate zones worldwide. [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 23, 2005

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In early spring, the brilliant yellow spathes of swamp lanterns (Lysichiton americanus Hultén & H. St. John) are highly evident across the forest floor in cedar/alder swamps (Thuja plicata and Alnus rubra), in boggy places, and along rivers. Its large waxy leaves arise slightly later. The spathes shelter the tiny greenish yellow flowers arranged tightly on the spadix. The swamp lantern is an aroid (family Araceae) and the only aroid with a native range from coastal Alaska and British Columbia to northern California and inland to Montana. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 19, 2005

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The jumping bean (Sebastiania pavoniana (Müller Argoviensis) Müller Argoviensis) is a member of the Euphorbiaceae, the spurge family. It is a desert plant found in the arroyos and on slopes in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan deserts southward to the tropical dry forests of Central America. Typical of the family, the jumping bean contains latex, yellow and toxic. The latex is bitter and tacky; herbivores learn to leave the plant alone. [Click here to read more...]

posted: October 25, 2004

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The pillbug (Armadillidium vulgare) is an isopod native to Europe. It arrived in North America, an accidental hitchhiker in straw or hay and other animal feed. Pillbugs are common in gardens; they are innocuous creatures living in colonies under logs or rocks, hiding by day, and venturing forth to forage on detritus at night or during cloudy humid weather. [Click here to read more...]

posted: September 15, 2004

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It was a case of "the third time's a charm". Two attempts to introduce the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris) to North America failed. The third time, in 1890, sixty starlings were released in New York's Central Park. A little over half a century later, starlings had spread all the way to the Pacific. Now, in places like Joplin, Missouri and Tampa, Florida around the end of December, starlings number in the millions. [Click here to read more...]

posted: July 14, 2004

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They hide during the day under flowerpots, rocks, or boards and emerge under the cover of darkness to scavenge for meals. As omnivores, they are important as recyclers eating such things as plant debris and bird droppings. They are innocuous; not capable of biting or stinging. With an estimated 4000 species worldwide, they are variously called pillbugs, roly-polies, sowbugs, or woodlice. They are terrestrial isopods (Order: Isopoda, Suborder: Oniscoidea); crustaceans related to lobsters and shrimp. Unlike their aquatic kin, they have completely left the watery world for a land existence. [Click here to read more...]

posted: May 5, 2004

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With 132 genera and somewhere around 2,300 species, the Annonaceae or pond apple family are native to lowland tropics. The odd members of this family are the eight species of pawpaws (Asimina) found in warm-temperate and temperate zones of North America. Few insects or grazing animals bother plants in the Annonaceae; the plants contain acetogenins. So far, this class of chemicals has been found only in the pond apple family. [Click here to read more...]

posted: March 31, 2004

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The Dixie or prairie iris (Iris hexagona Walter) is an inhabitant of low ground--swamps, prairies, and marshes. The plants tolerate both fresh and brackish waters, growing on seasonally wet to permanently inundated soils. Like other irises, the prairie iris reproduces vegetatively (the growing and branching rhizome) and sexually (the production of seed). The quality of the water affects how the plant will mostly reproduce. [Click here to read more...]

posted: March 10, 2004

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The bald-cypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) L. Richard) is a unique conifer; the tree sheds its feathery needles in the autumn. Natural stands of bald-cypress grow on saturated to inundated soils--flood plains, river banks, broad wet expanses called cypress savannas and in peculiar depressions called cypress domes. [Click here to read more...]

posted: March 3, 2004

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A member of the Scarabaeidae or scarab beetles, the palm rhinoceros beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros (Linnaeus)) is thought native to tropical Asia. The name was built from the Greek words: oryktes "digger", rhino "nose", and keros "horn". The full sized black beetle is about 4 centimeters (1.7 inches) in length with a single recurved extension from its head. [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 18, 2004

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The California sister (Adelpha bredowii Geyer) is a large butterfly of limited range found on the west coast from southern Oregon south into Mexico and eastward to Colorado and Texas. On top of the wings, California sisters are black with a white band and a large orange spot near the tip of the forewings. The undersides of the wings are marked with auburn, red, orange, white, and pale blue. They are creatures of open wooded hillsides and valleys. [Click here to read more...]

posted: February 11, 2004

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The false chinch bug (Nysius raphanus Howard and other species) is a tiny "true bug" found across warmer temperate areas of North America. It is most frequently found west of the Mississippi River and in areas with dry to arid climates. False chinch bugs feed by piercing plant tissues and sucking the juices. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 28, 2004

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It is one of the sadder sights in the environment--the southern live oaks with great arching limbs covered in resurrection fern, butterfly orchids, and curtains of silvery-gray Spanish moss. But high in canopy the stationary gray-green fountains of Tillandsia utriculata Linnaeus are disappearing. Their leaves lie on the ground; the work of the larvae of the Mexican bromeliad weevil (Metamasius callizona (Chevrolat)). [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 21, 2004

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The spined soldier bug (Podisus maculiventris (Say)) is a member of the stink bug family (Pentatomidae), insects well known for their malodorous defense mechanism. The shield-shaped insect is native to much of North America ranging into southern Canada. Like other members of the family, spined soldier bugs have mouth parts modified for piercing and sucking. Unlike other members that attack and damage plants, spined soldier bugs are hunters--stabbing and drinking their prey. [Click here to read more...]

posted: January 7, 2004

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The harlequin bug (Murgantia histrionica (Hahn)) is native to Central America. It appeared in the southern U.S. shortly after the Civil War and quickly became a pest on the crucifers--cabbages, radishes, broccoli, horseradish, and other members of the Brassicaceae. [Click here to read more...]

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