Tag: campus biota

Red-eared Slider

Rescued red-eared slider.

This little guy was rescued just down the road by one of our bicyclists. His under-shell, which is called the plastron, is beautifully decorated.

It’s in the fish tank with the tadpoles at the moment. Red-eared sliders grow to 12-25cm long, and they’re named after the red splotch that’s located just behind their eye.

It seems happy enough in the tank, but we’ll release him to the creek at the end of the semester in a couple weeks.

They’re native to Missouri, but according to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s nice little reference book, Show Me Herps, these have been the targets of illegal collection, and international trade. Ones released in Europe have become invasive species there.

The red “ears” aren’t really ears, just a patch of red behind the eye.

Worm Eating Warbler

A Worm Eating Warbler.

A Worm Eating Warbler flew into the glass window where the middle school students were taking their annual standardized test. It did not survive.

My students tell me that the same thing happened last year. Now I’m wondering just how often it happens, and if I should start a daily survey.

Curiously, despite their name, these birds rarely eat worms, they prefer insects and spiders.

(Thanks to Scott Woodbury for help with the identification.)

Butterfly on the Bench

Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele). View of the underside of its wings (ventral view).

This little guy seemed to like hanging out on the bench near the back door. I believe it’s a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele).

Dorsal (top down) view of a Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele).
Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele).
Great Spangled Fritillary (Speyeria cybele).

Spittlebugs

40x magnification of the head of the spittlebug nymph.

On the wildgrass-covered slope next to school, you can see a lot of these little foamy things, that look like spit, on the stalks of the tall grasses and herbs.

Spittlebug "spit" is mostly made of a froth of the plant's sap.

One of my students collected some to look at under the microscope. We thought it might be the collection of eggs of some creature. It turned out that, at the center of the foam, was what looked like an immature insect. A quick google search for “spit bugs” turned up froghoppers, whose nymphs create the spit to protect them from the environment (heat, cold) and hide themselves from predators.

They suck the sap of the plants they’re on, and can be agricultural pests.

Spittlebug nymphs on a slide.