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NATURALIST'S GUIDE TO THE AMERICAS 



bastard-turtle (Caretta kempii) and the 

 green-turtle {Chelonia mydas) which 

 nest on the upper beach. 



Mangrove Swamp: Much of the low 

 coasts of tropical Florida which are 

 protected from hard frosts, are lined 

 with a dense growth of mangrove, the 

 red mangrove {Rhizophora mangle), 

 and the black mangrove {Avicennia). 

 In these mangroves nests the Florida 

 cormorant and various herons and 

 egrets. Here occurs the katydid, and 

 the crickets Anaxipha scia, Orocharis 

 gryllodes, Nemobius cubensis, and Hygro- 

 ncmobius alleni, and the earwig Euborel- 

 lia ambigua. The butterfly Phocides 

 balabano breeds on the red mangrove. 



3. Flatwoods. a. The so-called "flat- 

 woods," are comparatively' level regions, 

 poorly drained, and underlaid at a 

 depth of a few feet with a layer of hard- 

 pan that is almost impervious to water. 

 The result is that the soil is very acid 

 although often comparatively well sup- 

 plied with humus. The vegetation 

 consists of an open forest of long- 

 leaved and loblolly pine and, especially 

 in the south, the slash pine and saw 

 palmetto interspersed with gallberries, 

 huckleberries, pitcher plants, sun-dew 

 (Drosera), and other plants charac- 

 teristic of sour boggy soil, and a good 

 growth of grasses. 



Mammals : The cottontail rabbit {Syl- 

 vilagus floridanus) and the Florida 

 swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris palu- 

 dicola) occur here, as does also the 

 raccoon. 



Reptiles: An occasional diamond- 

 backed rattle-snake, and ground rattler 

 occur here, as do also the black-snake, 

 the common chicken-snake (Elaphe 

 quatrivittata) , the spotted chicken-snake 

 {E. obsolela confinis), the king-snake 

 {Lampropeltis g. gctulus), and the corn- 

 snake {Elaphe guttata). Lizards are 

 comparatively scarce. 



Characteristic birds are the bald 

 eagle and the Florida red-tailed hawk, 

 which nests in the tallest pines, and 

 the wood duck. 



Insects: The beautiful little pink day 

 flying moth {Utelheisa bella) is especially 



abundant here. Butterflies characteris- 

 tic of this region are the southern dog- 

 face {Zercnc caesonia), the pearl cres- 

 cent, and Phaon, Hunter's butterfly 

 {Cynthia virginiensis), always abundant 

 about thistles, the nymph Neonympha 

 phocion, the small reddish brown south- 

 ern metal mark {Lephelisca virginiensis 

 syn. Calephelis), Strymon melinus, and 

 S. cecrops. 



Gallberries are often blackened by 

 the sooty mold fungus growing in the 

 honey dew given off by the Florida wax 

 scale {Ceroplastes floridensis). Orthop- 

 tera characteristic of this region are 

 the mantids {Stagmomaniis floridensis, 

 S. Carolina, Oligonyx scudderi, and 

 Thesprotia graminis) ; the walking sticks 

 {Manomera tenuescens, M. brachypyga, 

 and Anisomorpha buprestoides); the 

 locusts {Radinotatum brevipenne, Mer- 

 miria alacris, Gymnoscirtetes pusillus, 

 Aptenopedes sphenarioides. A. aptera, 

 and Melanoplus rotundipennis) ; the 

 katydids {Odontoxiphidium apteriim, Or- 

 chelinum militare, Belocephalus sub- 

 apterus, and B. sabalis) ; and the crickets 

 Falcicida hebardi, and Nemobius ambitio- 

 sus. Characteristic crane flies are Tip- 

 ula sayi, Decranomyia liberta, Rhaphidia 

 domestica, and Gonomyia sulphurella. ^ 



During the late spring horseflies and 

 "deerflies" {Tabanus and Chrysops 

 and mosquitoes are very abundant 

 here. 



Jassids and cercopids are abundant 

 on the grasses and shrubs, and on the 

 former the black thrips {Haplothrips 

 graminis). 



b. Cypress swamps: The shallow de- 

 pressions in this flatwoods country, 

 which are usually under water but often 

 go dry, are commonly occupied by a 

 dense growth of the pond cypress {Taxo- 

 diiim imbricarium. From the roots of 

 this tree there extend up into the air 

 numerous projections, "knees," which 

 are covered with mosses and ferns. 

 The trunks of the trees frequently bear 

 orchids and other epiphytes {Tillandsia) , 

 and from the branches droop long fes- 

 toons of "Spanish moss," {Dendropogon 

 usneoides). These cypress swamps also 



