Browsed by
Month: August 2018

Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis)

Take a walk along a shady pond side, river bank or wetland area this time of year and you’re likely to encounter clusters of plants with odd-shaped, singly-borne, bright orange-yellow pendulous flowers – that’s jewelweed! In fact, jewelweeds often grow in such dense clusters that their canopy can suppress or shade out the establishment of perennial herbs. Although there are multiple species of jewelweed, the most common one we have on Cape Cod is spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis). Spotted jewelweed…

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Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta)

Slaty Skimmer (Libellula incesta)

The Libellulidae family, also known as skimmers, is the largest and most diverse family of dragonflies worldwide, with more than 1,000 species. Extremely diverse in both colors and patterns, skimmers can rival butterflies in terms of their bold coloration. Widely varying colors and patterns often allow for relatively easy identification of male skimmers in the field, based on a combination of body, eye and wing color and pattern. Immature males and females, however, often look very different and can lead…

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Mouse bot fly (Cuterebra fontinella)

Mouse bot fly (Cuterebra fontinella)

I first heard about bot flies during a college semester abroad in Costa Rica. After having the life cycle of bot flies described to us, my classmates and I lived in semi-constant fear that we would wake up with a bot fly maggot burrowing under our skin (luckily this did not happen to any of the students that year). However, since Costa Rica was where I’d learned about them, I never considered that bot flies could live anywhere other than…

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Common spider crab (Libinia emarginata)

Common spider crab (Libinia emarginata)

While working in Pleasant Bay in Chatham last week, I saw numerous pairs of common spider crabs (Libinia emarginata) in the shallow water. Spider crabs have quite a different look from other local crabs. Their carapace is rounder with a distinctive beaklike protrusion. Their eight walking legs and two claws are long and narrow giving them a very spider-like appearance. This species is also called “nine-spined spider crab” due to the nine spines, or bumps, running down the center of…

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