2011 in my Biodiverse Wildlife Garden

Last year (2010) I did a recap of the wildlife biodiversity found in my garden. 2011 was no less an adventure of wildlife biodiversity around my place. I attribute my sometimes unusual findings to the abundance of native plants that I have allowed to restore thus providing the proper habitat for those interesting critters that all serve a purpose in nature. I hope you enjoy a few of the many different things I discovered this year!

January: Litter Moth (Idia americalis). Having found out that my county of Osceola, Florida is severely underrepresented in sightings of moths and moth caterpillars at Butterflies and Moths of North America, I have become a citizen scientist and am working on submitting my moth sightings for verification to make the database more accurate for my location.

February: Striped Mud Turtle (Kinosternon bauri). This species was new to me. It grows only to five inches long. It has three light stripes on a smooth shell. The stripes may fade as the turtle ages. The male has a spine on the tip of his tail. The striped mud turtle is the most land-loving of the mud turtle group, and may be found in puddles or small retention ponds. It feeds on snails, insects, dead fish, and some vegetation. It is also known as the “cow dung cooter” because it is sometimes found foraging in manure.

March: Fishing Spider. They love to walk on water too!

April: Eastern Bluebirds (Sialis sialis). I was again thrilled to have had three broods for a total of 11 of these fabulous birds and I patiently await to see more of the same in 2012.

May: Halloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina) One of the more beautiful skimmer dragonflies.

June: Mantidfly (Dicromantispa spp.)

This odd looking creature is a predator. Life Cycle: Stalked eggs typically laid in large numbers. Larvae undergo hypermetamorphosis. In some genera, larvae are parasitoids of spiders. Others are more generalist predators of other insects, especially terrestrial larvae of scarab beetles, noctuid moths, and certain wasps.

July: Oak Toad (Bufo quercicus). The oak toad is said to be the tiniest toad in North America.

August: Antlion (Myrmeleontidae Family)

Antlions stay in larval stage from 1 to 3 years. Adults eat nectar and pollen and live for 30-45 days but are usually nocturnal, so are rarely seen. They are weak flyers.

September: Syrphid Flies. I thought this was a great photo capture (lucky for sure)!

October: Hieroglyphic Moth (Diphthera festiva). One of the owlet moths (Family Noctuidae)

November: Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) A predator of katydids, grasshoppers and kin.

December: Regal Jumping Spider (Phidippus regius) This is the female which I find simply adorable in looks, but she was causing problems with the timer on my water filtration system. That’s where she was setting up a nest site. It took me three days to convince her to move.

All the best in 2012! May your gardens promote wildlife biodiversity through use of plants native to your location…Grow critters as well as flowers! Happy New Year!

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