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  ABC > Home > THE FAUNA PROJECT > Survey December 8, 2011


The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Fauna Project

With temperatures barely above freezing and mostly cloudy skies, it was a chilly survey for our three volunteers this time. While we rarely see mammals, there are sometimes clues to their presence. The lower jaw (mandible) of an Opossum was one such find. As a marsupial, its teeth differ significantly from placental carnivores; for instance, foxes, raccoons and skunks have only 3 incisors where this jaw has 4. The bone is from an animal that died when it was about 4 months old, deduced by the presence of 5 premolars+molars. A 5-month-old would have 7 while a 3-month-old would have only 2.

Select Photos and Complete List of Sightings:


hoarfrost on leaf edge
photo by Val Bugh


Zenaida macroura (mourning dove)
photo by Val Bugh


Hemidactylus turcicus (Mediterranean gecko)
photo by Val Bugh


Didelphis virginiana (Virginia opossum, mandible)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (gall wasp)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (root maggot fly attacked by fungus)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (gall midge)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (mosquito)
photo by Val Bugh


Schistocerca sp. (bird grasshopper, nymph)
photo by Val Bugh


Eritettix abortivus (Texas short-winged slant-faced grasshopper, nymph)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (gall-like scale)
photo by Val Bugh


Unknown sp. (wolf spider)
photo by Val Bugh


Eurema nicippe (sleepy orange)
photo by Val Bugh

  • Birds:
    American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
    Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
    Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)
    Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)
    Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)
    Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)
    Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)
    White-winged Dove (Zenaida asiatica)
    Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

  • Mammals:
    Eastern Fox Squirrel (Sciurus niger)
    Virginia Opossum (Didelphis virginiana), mandible
    Coyote (Canis latrans), fresh scat
    White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), fresh tracks

  • Reptiles:
    Mediterranean Gecko (Hemidactylus turcicus)

  • Insects & Spiders:
    orderfamilygenus/speciescommon name

    lepidoptera  pieridae  Eurema nicippe  Sleepy Orange

    homoptera  kermesidae  Unknown sp.  Gall-like Scale

    hymenoptera  cynipidae  Unknown sp.  Gall Wasp

    diptera  limoniidae  Unknown sp.  Crane Fly
      culicidae  Unknown sp.  Mosquito
      anthomyiidae  Unknown sp.  Root Maggot Fly
      cecidomyiidae  Unknown sp.  Gall Midge

    orthoptera  acrididae  Eritettix abortivus  Texas Short-winged Slant-faced Grasshopper (nymph)
        Schistocerca sp.  Bird Grasshopper (nymph)

    araneae  lycosidae  Unknown sp.  Wolf Spider
        Rabidosa rabida  Rabid Wolf Spider (immature)

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