2020 October 26

 

   Ian Cooper sends a photograph of a more typical Limax maximus than the dark specimen shown in yesterday’s posting.  Both from Colquitz River Park October 16. The white dots on the tail are not part of the slug.  They are probably tiny droplets of moisture reflecting the illumination.

 

Limax maximus (Pul.: Limacidae)  Ian Cooper

   Since the variation in colour of this species has caused us some trouble in identification, we are thinking that maybe the short longitudnal line (dark in the middle, pale on either side) along the back of the head of this slug may be characteristic (and hence useful for the identification) of Limax maximus:

 

Limax maximus (Pul.: Limacidae)  Ian Cooper

    Ian photographed this beetle yesterday at Colquitz River Park.  In a similar vein, the tiny yellow dagger mark starting at the scutellum and extending on to the pronotum may be a characteristic mark (among others!) of Plectrura spinicauda:

 

Plectrura spinicauda (Col.: Cerambycidae)  Ian Cooper

Plectrura spinicauda (Col.: Cerambycidae)  Ian Cooper

   Ian writes:  This delicate fly was minute! Perhaps 4 mm and almost translucent. It showed up as I was gently moving leaf litter aside in hopes of spotting critters among the detritus.

Unidentified (Diptera – Nematocera)   Ian Cooper

Springtail  Orchesella villosa (Coll.: Orchesellidae) Ian Cooper

   Ian  managed to get a video of the springtail crossing a rock:   https://tinyurl.com/y5nppzsc

 

The fly below is quite tiny.  Probably Drosophilidae, known these days as “vinegar flies”.

 

Unidentified (Dip.: probably Drosophilidae)   Ian Cooper