Io Moth

The io moth, Automeris io, is notable for large eyespots in the middle of the hind wings. There are seven species in the US; Automeris io is the only one found in Florida. Its range extends through most of the eastern US. These moths are sometimes also called the corn emperor moth and peacock moth….

Whitefringed Weevil

The whitefringed beetle, or whitefringed weevil, Naupactus leucoloma, is originally from South America but can now be found across the southern US, Australia, and South Africa. They are a type of weevil with a broad, down-pointing snout. Adults are relatively large for a weevil, around 12 mm long. N. peregrinus is light to dark gray-brown…

Dog Day Cicada

Growing up in Kentucky and Indiana, I saw one or two of the big “cycles” of the 17-year cicadas. Those periodical cicadas don’t live in Florida, but here we get serenaded each summer by a variety of annual cicadas which brood every year. The dog day cicada (Tibicen canicularis or Neotibicen canicularis, depending on whom…

Halloween Pennant Dragonfly

I love these dragonflies, because they are so easy to identify — they are the only dragonfly in Florida with those multiple big, brown spots all over their wings. Also, who doesn’t love Halloween?!? Celithemis eponina lives all over the eastern United States, mostly near bodies of water. They mostly appear in the summer in…

Golden Silk Orb Weaver

These highly impressive spiders are brilliantly colored, very big (two to three inches across), and like to hang right at face-height in nearly invisible webs strung between branches. They are also known as banana spiders, although they do not like to hang out in bunches of fruit — they just are the color (and, it…

Pig Frog

Meet the pig frog, Lithobates grylio, also known as the southern bullfrog or lagoon frog. (It is also sometimes identified as Rana grylio, probably due to some minor quirk of scientific bickering about which I do not care.) This particular individual is about four inches long; these frogs can grow to more than six inches…

Paper Wasp

Paper wasps (Polistes sp.) are named because of the paper-like nests the queens build. They are members of the family Vespidae. Paper wasps are primitively eusocial, like bees. There are three castes: fertile queens, infertile female workers, and fertile males who do nothing but fertilize the queen. Founding queens sometimes start a nest in a…

Cobweb Spider

This little lady (about 5mm long) is a cobweb spider (Theridiidae sp., possibly Theridion varians, although the geographic range is wrong for that). She lives on my garage door, and I’ve photographed her a couple times “posing” with that Asian tramp snail (Bradybaena similaris) shell. This morning she had produced a beautiful egg sac of…

Broad-tipped Conehead Katydid

Slender, untapered antennae and nearly round eyes distinguish this broad-tipped conehead katydid (Neoconocephalus triops) from some very similar-looking toothpick grasshoppers. About three inches long, and apparently they make some pretty funky noises. This is very probably a male; the ovipositors on the females are very distinct. That top photo was taken with my little mirrorless…

Banana Spider

Huge but harmless, this lovely lady is about four inches across. A male of the species is only about 1/4 her size. These spiders are commonly called “banana spiders” not so much because they are yellow, but because they are often found among bunches of bananas during harvesting. I originally found this species described as…