Palmetto Tortoise Beetle

Image 28 February 2019 Justin Montemarano Leave a comment

There are all kinds of cool things about this Chrysomelidae tortoise beetle (Hemisphaerota cyanaea) on the internet, including:

Their capacity to stick to leaves. These bizarre little, herbivorous beetles stick themselves to Saw Palmetto leaves with the help of thousands of setae (hairs) soaked in excreted oil when disturbed by a potential predator.
Their larvae build nests from feces.

And look closely… there are POLLEN grains all over the little beetles. Can you imagine having hundreds of sticky bouncy-ball-size pollen grains attached to your body and eyes!? The micro-world of biology is fascinating.

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Pulaski Monument

Image 27 February 2019 Justin Montemarano Leave a comment

Located in Monterey Square (not Pulaski Square, which is a little southwest) commemorates Casimir Pulaski, a Polish immigrant who lead, fought, and died in the American Revolutionary War. It also likely contains the remains of Pulaski, which, according to the infallible Wikipedia, suggest that he may have been intersex.

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Skidaway Island Salt Marsh

Image 26 February 2019 Justin Montemarano Leave a comment

A cloudy, winter day at Skidaway Island State Park.

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Brown-headed Nuthatch

Image 25 February 2019 Justin Montemarano Leave a comment

A first spot for me (although I’ve probably seen them before and had misidentified them as red- or white-breasted nuthatches because I learned the nuthatches of Ohio, not Georgia), the brown-headed nuthatch is markedly smaller than other nuthatches, and a few of them hang out near the entrance to the trails at Skidaway Island State Park—they’re an easy bird to watch and their behavioral quirks make them fun too; hanging out upside-down, diving, pecking, all kinds of cools stuff.

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Sniffing around Skidaway

Image 24 February 2019 Justin Montemarano Leave a comment

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Juniperus virginiana cones and berries

Image 23 February 2019 Justin Montemarano Leave a comment

A couple of weeks ago, the Southern Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) began to produce cones and drop pollen in the Savannah area. The longleaf and loblolly pine also seem to be going, covering vehicles with a thick coat of yellow dust.