Observations by abdelkawi_a_01

I found these species of ants in-front of my house. Carpenter ants are in the genus Camponotus. At first I thought these were the notorious fire ants but they were not. They are part of the Animalia Kingdom. Upon observation, the ants were about 5-10 mm. They did not have club attached to its antennae. In addition, These ants do not have any stingers but they can bite! They are redish and black in color and exist in colonies. When I found these ants, they were near wood and low to the ground, which is the ideal habitat for these species. As I said, the usual habitat of a colony of carpenter ants is within wood, often wood buried or partially buried in the soil. Overall, the interaction with this species was very cautious on my side because i thought they have an intense sting like the fire ants but i was incorrect!

For more information on this species, visit https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in1075 to learn more in depth.

This species was found in Flat-Woods nature park. Flat woods nature park has a lot of low vegetation, ponds, and trees to support numerous types of wildlife. Furthermore, this heron bird belongs to the Animalia Kingdom. More specifically, I believe it is a Great Blue Heron. This bird was very big comparing to other birds I observed on my hike. This bird was about 6 foot tall (1.8 meters) and possessed long feet. In addition, the bird's beak was relatively big compared to a green heron. Furthermore, the Grey Heron occupies niches that have aquatic species such as marshes and ponds. They feed on fish, aquatic invertebrates and the occasional small mammal. Overall This bird was very hard to interact with as it flew away almost every time.

For more information on this species and other relatives of it, visit: https://www.floridasnature.com/florida_birds.html.

Similar to the White Peacock butterfly i obersved earlier, I also found this lizard in flat-woods nature park. Flat woods nature park has a lot of low vegetation, ponds, and trees to support numerous types of wildlife. I encountered this species multiple times across my hike. This Brown Anole, usually grows to about 5-9 inches long (12 - 21 cm). It is very brown/ grayish in color and they tend to have whitish or yellowness patterning on the back. Furthermore, the Brown Anole or Anolis sagrei, belongs to the kingdom Animalia. The Brown Anole prefers and are typically found in areas of low vegetation or very close to the ground. In addition, they are very adaptable and can survive in almost any habitat. Overall, I had a fun interaction with this lizard and chase it down for a long time!

To know more about this brown anole, I suggest you find yourself to this website: https://srelherp.uga.edu/lizards/anosag.htm. It describes the Brown Anole in depth, talking about its origin and history.

The butterfly found above was found at a nature park called flatwoods. Flatwoods contained a lot of wildlife amongst it was this white peacock butterfly that belongs to Kingdom animalia. This species has a wingspan of about 5-7 cm. It had a beautiful color mixture on its wings that resembled a dark orange with black dots as well as some white to contrast. Furthermore, this White Peacock butterfly prefers open, moist areas such as edges of ponds weedy fields, and parks. This is Exactly where I found this species. Overall, the species white peacock or Anartia jatrophae possessed some very cool characteristics and I enjoyed obersving this it.

For more information to expand your knowledge on this cool species, visit https://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/species/Anartia-jatrophae. This website gives a lot more information about this species and ones that are very similar. It talks about the origin and history as well as the fond life cycle this species possess.

Spanish moss, often misrepresented with the moss, Spanish Moss is actually not Spanish nor A moss. Spanish Moss is a vascular seedless plant. Spanish moss is actually seeded vascular plant aka "flowering plant". Spanish Moss is part of the Planate kingdom and the phylum Tracheophyta. Spanish Moss is easy to distinguish with it is grey long wiry branching stems. Furthermore, Spanish Moss is known for its symbiotic relationship with plants due to its epiphyte nature. It was found on multiple trees throughout the campus area. They grew long and they grow plenty. Around the area, some Moss reached 3-4 meters. Overall, this flowering plant prefers moist environments because they retain nutrients and water.

More information and Reference about Spanish Moss: https://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_tius.pdf

The Resurrection Fern Is seedless vascular plant from Phylum Tracheophyta and Class Polypodiopsida. It contains sporophytes and gametophytes. I found this fern along the campus of USF on a palm tree. Although, in the pictures the ferns seem plentiful, the fern was the only one of its kind around the vicinity. No other ferns were present. Furthermore, from the picture we are able to see the visible spori, as well as the sporangia growing on the spores and the gametophytes underneath the sporophyte. The ferns overall were dark green and structurally healthy ranging from about two to five inches in length.

Reference for more information on Resurrection ferns:
https://www.nwf.org/Educational-Resources/Wildlife-Guide/Plants-and-Fungi/Resurrection-Fern

this great egret has long legs and very bright white feathers as well as wings that allows it to fly for abetter mobility and quick reactions. It very cool, i was able to interact with it and see how it senses different things around it! The Great Egret usually forages in rather open situations, as along edges of lakes, large marshes which makes sense as USF has plenty of that with a campus of 1.5k acres.