Finescale Stoneroller

Posted on December 31, 2021 by tspuckler

I came across a couple of examples of this fine fish while on my outing to southern Illinois this year. This minnow is characterized by having a rounded snout overhanging a crescent-shaped mouth.

The Finescale Stoneroller’s preferred habitat is pools or riffles with gravel or rubble substrate in small to medium-sized streams. It prefers cool, clear water with moderate to fast currents.

This fish is generally herbivorous, feeding primarily on algae scraped from rocks and logs with the cartilaginous ridge on its lower jaw. It is classified as a grazing minnow and large schools of these fish often feed together.

During breeding season, males begin building nests starting in late Winter and continuing throughout Midsummer, creating large, bowl-shaped depressions in calm waters by rolling stones along the bottom with their noses, giving them their common name.

This small fish is prey to many larger fish as well as many birds and reptiles. To avoid them, they move fast, travel in schools and hide when they perceive danger.

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Eastern Tiger Salamander

Posted on December 24, 2021 by tspuckler

While visiting southern Illinois, I came across the largest land dwelling salamander in North America. It generally grows to be between 7 and 8-1/2 inches in length, but can reach up to 13 inches.

The Eastern Tiger Salamander is stocky with sturdy limbs and a long tail. Its body color is dark brown (almost black) and irregularly marked with yellow-to-olive colored blotches.

Belonging to the family known as Mole Salamanders, Tiger Salamanders are fossorial, spending much of their lives underground, feeding on worms, snails, insects and slugs.

These salamanders migrate to breeding ponds in late Winter or early Spring. One to two days after courtship, a female lays up to a hundred eggs, which hatch about four weeks later. The larvae stay in the pond for 3 to 5 months before emerging to live on the land.

Eastern Tiger Salamanders are the most widely distributed salamander in North America and can be found in habitats ranging from woodlands to open fields to marshy areas.

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Small White Morning Glory

Posted on December 17, 2021 by tspuckler

On my travels to southern Illinois this past Autumn, I came across this neat native wildflower growing along some railroad tracks.

Small White Morning Glory favors disturbed habitats like prairies, thickets, the gravelly bars of streams and banks of lakes, moist meadows near rivers or woodlands, abandoned fields, areas along roadsides and railroads and miscellaneous waste areas.

The “Morning Glory” name is applied because these flowers, which can be especially glorious when large numbers are blooming, will close up later in the day as the bright sun shines on them. Each flower is about one inch wide.

Small White Morning Glory’s heart-shaped leaves are often crimson-edged and it relies primarily on its vining habit to disperse into new areas. Its vines range from 3 to 10 feet in length.

The flowers of the Small White Morning Glory attract primarily bumblebees and other longer-tongued bees for its nectar.

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Carolina Mantis

Posted on December 10, 2021 by tspuckler

While walking along some railroad tracks in southern Illinois, I came across this cool creature.

The Carolina Mantis is a species native to North Carolina and South Carolina; hence the name. But, actually it is a common mantis is most states of the United States. It also occurs in Mexico and South America.

These insects are about 2-1/2 inches long and are highly variable in color. They may be gray with spots, green, green with spots or bands, brown, and brown with spots or bands.

The front legs are usually held folded in front of the insect in a pose resembling prayer. When an unfortunate insect gets too close, the mantis’ forelegs spring out, grab the prey and then hold it while it is eaten.

This insect is found in woodlands and meadows, especially around flowering plants. It tends to stay in one place as for long as there is a good supply of food and usually uses a “sit-and-wait” tactic of obtaining its prey.

The Carolina Mantis is the state insect of South Carolina.

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Speckled Kingsnake

Posted on December 3, 2021 by tspuckler

My only “lifer” snake found this year was encountered in a glade in Missouri. I was flipping rocks and enjoying seeing Slimy Salamanders, Black Widow Spiders and Bark Scorpions, when this fine serpent turned up.

This is an easy to identify medium-to-large, shiny black snake covered with small yellow spots. The ground color is generally black or dark brown. A white or yellow spot occurs in the center of most of the scales, to make the snake look speckled.

Speckled Kingsnakes are not only common in relatively undisturbed habitats, but often are also common in agricultural areas, particularly around buildings and junkyards.

This reptile kills its prey by constriction. Its foods include small rodents, lizards and other snakes, including venomous species such as Copperheads, Cottonmouths and Rattlesnakes. It is immune to the venom of snakes living in its home range.

The Speckled Kingsnake is often called the “salt-and-pepper” snake. This reptile was a most welcome find on my Autumn outing.

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Witches’ Butter

Posted on November 26, 2021 by tspuckler

While walking along the edge of a cypress swamp in southern Illinois last month, some small, yellow, irregularly lobed, gelatinous masses caught my eye.

Witches’ Butter has fruiting bodies that are brain-like, sulfur yellow-to-pale yellow and have a gelatinous texture. It grows in masses on dead deciduous wood, especially oaks.

This fungi’s full-time job is to inhabit dead wood as a parasite that gets nourishment by digesting the tissues of an unrelated fungus (a crust-like fungus that is itself parasitizing and maybe killing the tree). Witches’ Butter is therefore a parasite of a parasite!

Witches’ Butter has a cosmopolitan distribution, having been recorded from Europe, North, Central, and South America, Africa, Asia, and Australia. Its fruit bodies are formed during wet periods throughout the year.

A type of Jelly Fungi, the investigation of the medicinal benefits of Jelly Fungi has revealed that they stimulate the immune system, reduce inflammation, lower cholesterol and are useful in the treatment of allergies and diabetes.

This fungus is also known as Yellow Brain, Golden Jelly Fungus and Yellow Trembler.

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Three-toed Box Turtle

Posted on November 19, 2021 by tspuckler

While visiting a nature center in Missouri last month and walking the trails, I came upon a reptile that I have never encountered in the wild before.

Three-toed Box Turtles are named due to the number of toes on the back feet, though there can be four-toed examples too. Their carapace (upper shell) is high-domed and tends to be olive or brown with faint yellow or orange lines. It’s small size (usually less than five inches), color and pattern allow it to blend in well with the forest floor.

Generally a forest species, it also can be found on forest edges and in brushy fields. Young Three-toed Box Turtles consume mostly earthworms and insects, while adults tend to be more vegetarian, eating a variety of plants, berries and mushrooms.

To protect themselves from predators, turtles are able to pull their heads, legs, and tails into their shells. Box Turtles have the additional ability to clamp their shells completely shut, due to a hinge in the plastron (lower shell). Very few predators can successfully prey on an adult Box Turtle.

Because of this adaptation, once a Box Turtle reaches adulthood, its average life span is 50 years, while a significant portion live to over 100 years in age.

This reptile is native to the south-central part of the United States and is the official reptile of the state of Missouri.

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Modest Katydid

Posted on November 13, 2021 by tspuckler

While exploring a cypress swamp in southern Illinois, I came across this fine creature. Native to the southeastern United States, this species is more common in the south, but appears to be expanding its range northward.

It is found in a wide variety of both dry and wet habitats, though in more northern states, most reside in bottomland forests. The Modest Katydid is small and easily overlooked. Not only is the species size and demeanor modest, the song is barely audible in the field.

Though it looks leaf-like like other katydids, a key identification mark it that it has a bold dark diagonal stripe through its eye. Like other katydids, it eats leaves from deciduous trees in wooded areas, parks and neighborhoods.

The quiet, lispy ticks of the Modest Katydid are very hard to hear in the field. The nighttime chorusing of other katydids and crickets easily drown them out.

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Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad

Posted on November 5, 2021 by tspuckler

While checking out this sand prairie in Missouri last month, I came across a tiny amphibian that I have not seen in many years.

Narrow-mouthed Toads are small, flattened frogs with pointed snouts and a fold of skin across the back of their heads. These unusual, plump creatures are typically only around 1 to 1-1/2 inches.

These amphibians are found throughout the southeastern United States, but are absent from high elevations. They use many types of habitats, as long as adequate moisture and shelter are present.

Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toads primarily eat ants, although they also eat termites and small beetles. Their call is a bleating, nasal baaaa, which sounds like a lamb.

It was really neat to see one of these cool creatures again in my travels.

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Striped Shiner

Posted on October 29, 2021 by tspuckler

While exploring southern Illinois this month, I caught this rather deep-bodied minnow with large, silvery scales that are are generally much higher than they are wide. Its common name refers to the occasional gold iridescence along its back.

This fish occurs in clear, permanent-flowing streams with clean gravelly or rocky bottoms. It prefers relatively warm and quiet water. As far as minnows go, it is reasonably sizeable, at a total length of 3 to 5 inches and a maximum of about 7 inches.

The Striped Shiner is an omnivore, feeding on both plants and animals. Minnows like this are high in ecological importance, because they are a great food source for other fish, birds and species that eat fish.

It was neat to come across this cool creature which I have never encountered before.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Yearly Archives: 2021

Finescale Stoneroller

Eastern Tiger Salamander

Small White Morning Glory

Carolina Mantis

Speckled Kingsnake

Witches’ Butter

Three-toed Box Turtle

Modest Katydid

Eastern Narrow-mouthed Toad

Striped Shiner