Comments for naturalistguy.com

Comment on Jack-O-Lantern Mushroom (Omphalotus sp.) by Debbie

Debbie — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 15:35:15 +0000

I found this unknown, beautiful mushroom at the bottom of a pine tree (in NETexas), pictured it, googled it, and found you! And the Jack-O-Lantern! Thanks for naming it for me – ha! I am passing on your site to a science group I know. It’s amazing!

Comment on Parachuting Red Eyed Tree Frog, Agalychnis saltator! by Martin

Martin — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 08:37:27 +0000

Hi,

nice find and beautyful frog!

BTW, this frog looks more like Agalychnis spurelli than Agalychnis saltator to me. A. spurrelli has hugely webbed feed, A. saltator does not.

best regards,
Martin

Comment on Eastern Hognose Snake Eggs, and Egg Hatching Series, 2006 Memories by Jane Settle

Jane Settle — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 22:24:24 +0000

Hi, NaturalistGuy,
Just came across this in my search for help in hatching a clutch of Eastern Hognose laid by a lovely one brought to my 6th grade Life Science classroom about a month ago. I keep a few local herps for use both in educating my students & helping to avoid the terror of all snakes which most adults have. I would love to successfully hatch & release the dozen eggs laid by my “Possum” (named by my students) into the perfect sandy rural habitat near my home. They were laid on June 22. Could you please tell me the proper temperature at which they should be kept? I already knew about “mulch $ mist”& have them set up. Thanks so much for any information that you could provide.
Best,
Jane Settle

Comment on Warm Day Roamers- Pill Bugs Mating?- A Land Crustacean! by Katherine

Katherine — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:45:15 +0000

Hi. If you are a fan of these cuties, perhaps you can help me give a name to something I saw almost a decade ago. It was in Tofino,Vancouver Island, and took a kayak trip to an island with a hotspring. The bug I saw was walking on rocks near tidal pools warmed by the spring’s flow… so I don’t know if he was from salt or freshwater, land or liquid. He was a >2″ isopod, slate grey, but otherwise shaped like the ones you show here. Everyone tries to tell me it was a chiton, but as a big fan of pill bugs (14 legs! living fossil! cute antennae! samurai armour! What’s not to love?!) I assure you I wouldn’t easily mistake their kin. He proved impossible to photograph because he was shimmering along super-fast & sneeky, like an isopod does, floating on his bouquet of legs.(even at my computer with no one to see I held my fingers out & wiggled them leggily while making a weird “deeedley deedley” noise! It’s an essential part of discussing isopod locomotion!) But aside from the humungous deep-sea ones I have found no word of a BIG isopod! Maybe it was just an average pill bug species, but the individual was freakishly grown due to the year-round warmth. It was majestic though, whatever it was.

Comment on Slug Fest: Large, Flat, Thick, Wide and In Huge Numbers On Maui by Anne

Anne — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 01:04:56 +0000

We found something very similar on our wall here on Oahu. Did you ever figure out what they are?

Comment on Humming Bird Moth on Wild Iris! by Linda

Linda — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:46:42 +0000

This is Hemaris thysbe, a cousing to H. diffinis. Larvae feed on honeysuckles and viburnums. The small hornworms are quite pretty, too.

Comment on Humming Bird Moth on Wild Iris! by Linda

Linda — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:46:42 +0000

This is Hemaris thysbe, a cousing to H. diffinis. Larvae feed on honeysuckles and viburnums. The small hornworms are quite pretty, too.

Comment on Humming Bird Moth on Wild Iris! by Linda

Linda — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:44:33 +0000

You’re right about the general description. This is Hemaris thysbe, a close relative of the snowberry clearwing, H. diffinis. Both larvae feed on honeysuckles and viburnums of different species. The larvae are small and usually very pretty.

Comment on Slug Fest: Large, Flat, Thick, Wide and In Huge Numbers On Maui by naturalistguy

naturalistguy — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:54:12 +0000

Hello Haiku Mommy!
Sorry I missed this note, but to this date, I have no definite species name for this slug!! They hang out on lawns in Maui, where I shot that photo. It’s likely they are from some other land, but maybe they ARE native? I have an email into the Hawaii Dept. of Ag., and maybe we will luck out. They struck me as VERY different than most slugs. . .with reduced antennae even. Thanks for commenting! If you find out before me, please share Mahalo!
NG

Comment on Northern Water Snake Youngster in Cayuga NY Gorge by Chuck Annicelli

Chuck Annicelli — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:21:16 +0000

That snake is (was) Anerythristic!