NATURAL AREAS AND RFOGIONS 



429 



ers many of the smaller shallow lakes 

 and sluggish streams. 



These savannas occupy most of the 

 southern third of the peninsula. In 

 these savannas and swamps nest the 

 Florida duck, the Florida redwing, 

 the boat-tailed grackle, Ward's heron 

 the common little blue heron, whose 

 young are white, the black-crowned 

 night heron, the reddish egret, the snowy 

 heron, the American egret, the king rail, 

 the clapper rail, the Florida gallinule, 

 the purple gallinule, on the Kissimmee 

 prairie, the Florida burrowing owl, and 

 in the cypress trees nest the swallow- 

 tailed kite, and the everglade kite. 

 On the beaches various sandpipers 

 (plovers) nest. 



This is also the home of the alligator 

 {Alligator mississippiensis), rapidly di- 

 minishing in numbers. The marsh rat 

 {Oryzomys palustris) is abundant, the 

 round-tailed muskrat (Neofiber allcni) 

 occurs, also the otter {Lutra canadensis 

 vaga), mink {Mustela vison hitensis), 

 and raccoon {Procyon lotor). 



Burrowing in the mud occurs the 

 horn snake {Farancia abacura). Other 

 characteristic snakes of the region are 

 the green water-snake, the banded 

 snake, and the cotton mouth moccasin 

 {Agkistrodon piscivorus). Here also oc- 

 cur the Florida terrapin {Pseudemys 

 floridana), the alligator snapper turtle 

 (Macrochelys temminckii), the common 

 snapper, the soft-shelled turtle [Amyda 

 jerox), the banded mud-turtle {Ki- 

 nosternon baurii), and in the extreme 

 south the crocodile {Crocodylus acutus). 

 Common amphibians are the Congo 

 eel {Amphiuma means) and the mud- 

 eel {Siren lacertina). The curious 

 gopher-frog {Rana aesopus) leaves the 

 gopher holes to breed here. 



Characteristic orthoptera are the 

 earwig {Doru davisi), the katydids 

 and the lubberly locust. 



Among the butterflies most abundant 

 here are the pearl crescent {Phycodes 

 tharos), P. phaon, the white peacock 

 {Anartia jatrophae), Basilar chia flori- 

 densis, which breeds on willow, the 



minute skipper {Ancyloxypha numitor, 

 whose larva feeds on grasses, the little 

 rod moth Eulnphe rulncundarin, the 

 pretty little Utctheim belln, and Ap<inte- 

 sis spp. 



Some of our largest and most charac- 

 teristic plant bugs occur here, the large 

 club-legged plant bug {Acnnlhncephnlus 

 femorahis), the southern green stink 

 bug (Nezarra viridaln), the leaf-footed 

 plant bug {Leptoglossus phyllopus). 



The salt marshes along the coasts 

 form a well marked and distinctive 

 type. The grass Spartinn is the domi- 

 nant plant. Another coarse grass is the 

 sea-oats {Uniola panic ulata). In the 

 tidal flats grow two succulent woody 

 plants, one with broad leaves {Scaevola 

 Piumieri) and one with narrow leaves 

 {Tourneforlia gnaphaloides. Here also 

 grows the high-water -shrub {Iva imbri- 

 caria). 



In the extreme south characteristic 

 plants are the sawgrass {Mariscus 

 jamnicensis) and Juncus Roemerianus. 



Characteristic orthoptera of the salt 

 marshes are the locusts Orphulclla 

 olivacea, and 0. halophila, and the 

 meadow grasshoppers Conocephaliis aigi- 

 alus, C. nigropluroides, C. spartinx, 

 and Orchelinum fidicinium. Haplo- 

 thrips leucanthemi is the characteristic 

 thysanopteran. The great southern 

 white butterfly Pieris monusta is 

 characteristic. 



E.xcept during the winter months the 

 salt marsh mosquitoes are extremely 

 abundant. The malaria mosquitoes 

 {Anopheles) are, however, comparatively 

 scarce. In the late spring horse-flies 

 {Tabanus and Chrysops) are extremely 

 abundant. 



Characteristic of the salt marshes are 

 the following birds. Some of them nest 

 in the cabbage palmettoes and shrubs 

 along the edges of the swamps and on 

 the islands. The brown jiclican, the 

 wood ibis, the Anhinga, the herring 

 gull, and the black skimmer. Charac- 

 teristic reptiles are the salt-water 

 moccasin {Natrix cumpressicnuda). the 

 loggerhead turtle {Careila cir.lt.i). the 



