Copperbelly Water Snake

Posted on December 29, 2023 by tspuckler

I often find this cool creature while visiting southern Illinois. Copperbelly Water Snakes have a solid, dark (usually black) back with a bright orange-red underside that is visible from a side view. Adults range from three to five feet in length.

The snake’s habitat is permanent, vegetated, shallow-edged wetlands mixed with continuous swamp-forest and woodlots. Copperbelly Water Snakes usually are active between April and late October or early November. After emergence from their hibernacula sometime in April or early May, these snakes migrate through forested or vegetated corridors to shallow ponds, lakes, shrub swamps and other shallow wetlands.

Copperbelly Water Snakes require large landscape complexes comprised of diverse suitable wetland habitats and surrounding upland habitats. They are considered one of the most terrestrial water snakes, spending considerable amounts of time away from water.

These snakes are found in two distinct population segments in the United States – the north and south. The northern population is federally listed as “threatened,” and its range includes southern Michigan, northwestern Ohio and northeastern Indiana. Another population of these snakes lives in southwestern Indiana and adjacent Illinois and Kentucky, and southeastern Indiana. That population is not listed as threatened by the USFWS.

Frogs and tadpoles are the Copperbelly Water Snake’s main prey. This species hunts on land and in shallow water and favors seasonal wetlands where frogs, toads and salamanders lay their eggs. In addition to a large number of prey items, the gradual drying of these wetlands provides excellent feeding conditions as tadpoles become stranded.

Copperbelly Water Snakes give birth to live offspring. Newborns are about six inches in total length, and in a year are about 18 inches in total length. They are patterned with two-toned, reddish-brown, saddle-like crossbanding with reddish-orange chins and lips. Their bellies are light orange. Babies are cryptic, camouflaged, secretive, and hardly ever seen.

This snake is always a fun find for me when visiting southern Illinois.

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Great Spangled Fritillary

Posted on December 22, 2023 by tspuckler

While walking along railroad tracks in southern Illinois, I observed an example of this fine butterfly, which I also see in my home state of Ohio on occasion.

This beautiful insect is named for the orange and black fritillary pattern on the upper side of the wings and the silvery spangled areas on the underside of the wings. The sexes are colored differently, with females being more pale with a dark blackish color on the rear half of their wings. This pattern is not seen as distinctly in males.

The species is long-lived and many individuals that are found in late August and September (and in this case early October) are often very worn, with frayed and even missing parts of their wings.

The wingspan of the Great Spangled Fritillary is 3 to 4 inches. As mature butterflies, due to their large size, prefer large flowers including Common Milkweed, Thistle and Joe-Pye-Weed.

Similar to many other butterflies, they have chemoreceptors on the bottom surfaces of their four walking legs. These allow butterflies to find nectar with their feet.

Their caterpillars eat the leaves of different types of violets. They eat at night. During the day, the caterpillars hides under leaves. Unlike most butterfly larvae, which molt five times, they molt six times, becoming bigger each time that they molt until they they reach the final larval stage.

Great Spangled Fritillaries live mostly in temperate climates, but can be found in extremes from the arctic to the subtropical. They can be found in both open woodlands and prairies, preferring to be in moist habitats. Look for this butterfly in open, damp places including fields, valleys, pastures, meadows, open woodland, and prairies.

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European Black Pine

Posted on December 15, 2023 by tspuckler

While exploring a sand prairie in Missouri, I came across a couple examples of this tree. European Black Pine (also called Austrian Pine) was one of the early tree introductions into the United States, first reported in cultivation in 1759. Today, it is one of the most common introduced ornamentals in the United States.

This is a large coniferous evergreen tree, growing to 65–180 feet high at maturity and spreading 20 to 40 feet wide. The bark is gray to yellow-brown, and is widely split by flaking fissures into scaly plates, becoming increasingly fissured with age.

At maturity, its brown cones are about three inches long, and have small prickles on the backside of their scales. They spread their scales to release their seeds, and remain on the tree for up to several years.

European Black Pine is a tree of the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. The majority of its range is in Turkey. It needs full sun to grow well, is intolerant of shade, and is resistant to snow and ice damage.

In the United States and Canada, it is planted as a street tree, and as an ornamental tree in gardens and parks. Its value as a street tree is largely due to its resistance to salt spray (from road de-icing salt) and various industrial pollutants.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, when demand for natural trees was extremely high, its rapid growth, deep green color and low cost made it briefly a popular Christmas tree, but the extreme length of the needles (making it very difficult to decorate) soon led to its fall from favor.

Although not native, this tree has a long and interesting history in the United States.

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False Map Turtle

Posted on December 8, 2023 by tspuckler

While out and about in southern Illinois, I saw a few examples of this turtle basking along waterways. It is a medium-sized species with a prominent keel along the center of the upper shell and thin yellow lines on the head, neck, and limbs. A yellow marking behind each eye extends upward and then backward, approximately forming a right angle or “L” shape. However, these yellow markings can vary among individuals.

Large rivers and their backwaters are the preferred aquatic habitat for Northern False Map Turtles. The species also occurs in river sloughs, oxbow lakes, lakes, and reservoirs. On the Mississippi River, False Map Turtles particularly prefer the main channel of the river, especially around wing dikes. A muddy bottom, some aquatic vegetation, and numerous basking sites are important habitat requirements.

Map Turtles of all species are avid baskers, spending many hours during the day in the sun. When with other turtles, they also are very communal, sharing space and using each other for predator-watching, increasing the odds of surviving an attack. In this photo, one was basking on top of a Red-eared Slider.

False Map Turtles will overwinter at the bottom of lakes and sloughs, in muskrat dens, or under rocks and logs. Mating occurs in the water during the Spring. Females dig nests in open, sandy areas and deposit between 8-22 eggs per clutch during the summer; females can lay 2-3 clutches. The young emerge after 69-75 days.

Females are twice the size of males with ranges of 5 to 10 inches and 3 to 5 inches, respectively.

Map Turtles get their name due to the patterning on their shells, especially in young individuals, where the concentric yellow lines look like a topographic map. This reptile is also know as a “Sawback Turtle,” due to the projections on its upper shell.

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Texas Brown Tarantula

Posted on December 1, 2023 by tspuckler

While herping in a glades habitat in Missouri, we came across this awesome arachnid. It is one of the most common species of tarantula living in the southern United States.

The Texas Brown Tarantula is a stocky, hairy species and is Missouri’s largest spider. The body and legs are uniformly dark chocolate brown, with reddish hairs on its back.

This species is commonly found in grasslands, in underground burrows, or using logs, stones, or other small animals’ abandoned dens as their homes and feeding grounds.

Like many hunting spiders, tarantulas are nocturnal, pursuing insects such as crickets and beetles. Like other spiders, they have fangs that deliver a venom that both subdues their prey and helps digest it. They are not dangerous to humans and tarantulas prefer areas seldom frequented by people.

Texas Brown Tarantulas use their spinnerets to line the entrance of their shelters with webbing to detect passing prey. In this photo the spider’s shed exoskelton is outside of its burrow entrance.

Though it is not aggressive, like any frightened animal, it will defend itself if it feels threatened. Running for cover is its usual response after being spotted.

This is a relatively long-lived creature. Most males do not live for more than a year, however some females can survive up to three decades. This Texas Brown Tarantula was the first adult example I’ve ever encountered and was a welcome find on our herping trip.

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Tim Spuckler's Blog

Reptile Ramblings and More

Monthly Archives: December 2023

Copperbelly Water Snake

Great Spangled Fritillary

European Black Pine

False Map Turtle

Texas Brown Tarantula