williampaulwhite17's Favorites

This is by far the rarest and coolest herp I’ve found at LLELA, especially since this is the first observation of one on iNaturalist! I had been wondering if the nearby ephemeral pond could be suitable habitat for small-mouthed salamanders, and conditions were just right (55 degrees Fahrenheit overcast and heavy rains the day before) to find this individual under a log. Some interesting behaviors I saw from this individual were lifting up and wagging its tail in the air and producing a little chirp sound. Last picture is as flipped

These salamanders miraculously appear almost every December, around this time during or right after a rain. They show up on our driveway or patio. Today, a Hermit Thrush was trying to eat one when we saved it and relocated it in our yard.

Green Lynx Spider (Peucetia viridans)

18 September 2022
Clear Creek Natural Heritage Center (CCNHC)
Denton, Denton County, Texas

Green Lynx Spider preying on Eastern Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa virginica) hidden among the beautifully attractive but deadly blooms of Leavenworth’s Eryngo (Eryngium leavenworthii)...

White Rock lake, Winfrey Point
This observation is for the skink. I am only sure of the genus level. Ran it by a herpetologist (Carl Franklin) He thinks it possibly is a prairie skink, Plestiodon septentrionalis but cannot swear to that. It was caught in a blackland prairie area.

A female Giant Ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus) oviposits into the side of a tree.

I was honored to have this observation selected as observation of the day for June 11, 2020, and again as observation of the week (week of June 21, 2020). It is covered in this blog post: A Trip to Texas Provides a Long Sought Photographic Opportunity - Observation of the Week, 6/21/20.