Archivos de diario de junio 2018

07 de junio de 2018

Section Nummulariopsis

Section Nummulariopsis represents a small group of erect herbaceous plants in the Southeastern US that appear superficially similar to the narrow-leafed species in sect. Alectoroctonum or like a small, linear-leafed species of subg. Esula. The group is more diverse in South America and is generally separated by the presence of calyx lobes at the base of the ovaries/fruits. This characteristic is difficult to use in the US species, and it is generally easier to compare these species to the members of sect. Alectoroctonum of the eastern United States (click here to see the guide to those species). Section Nummulariopsis belongs to subgenus Euphorbia, which is primarily an Old World subgenus. There are five taxa of sect. Nummulariopsis in the United States. Out of these, three are restricted to Florida.

Euphorbia inundata var. inundata
Differs from var. garrettii by its geography and broader leaves. iNaturalist observations.

Photo credit: Lillie

Euphorbia inundata var. garrettii
Differs from var. inundata by its geography and narrower leaves. Restricted to the west-central part of the Florida peninsula. Photos and additional information can be found at Atlas of Florida Plants.

Photo credit: Edwin Bridges

Euphorbia floridana
Leaves narrow like E. inundata. Differs from E. inundata by its errose gland edges, shorter pedicels, and seed characteristics. iNaturalist observations.

Photo credit: Andy Newman (left), Alvin Diamond (right).

Euphorbia rosescens
With E. telephioides, characterized by broad leaves less than 6 times their width. It differs from E. telephioides by its larger cyathia and geography. According to FNA, "...a narrow-endemic, gap-specialist known only from the southern portion of the Lake Wales Ridge in Highlands County." Photos and additional information can be found at Atlas of Florida Plants. Also see a picture of the the Holotype, which have leaves that strongly resemble E. inundata.

Photo credit: Edwin Bridges

Euphorbia telephioides
With E. rosescens, characterized by broad leaves less than 6 times their width. It differs from E. rosescens by its smaller cyathia and geography. According to FNA, "...known only from Bay, Franklin, and Gulf counties in the Apalachicola region of the east-central Florida panhandle." Photos and additional information can be found at Atlas of Florida Plants.

Photo credit: Edwin Bridges (Observation 1; observation 2)

Sources:
Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) Section Tithymalus Subsection Inundatae in the Southeastern United States
Flora of North America
Atlas of Florida Plants

Publicado el junio 7, 2018 10:16 TARDE por nathantaylor nathantaylor | 8 comentarios | Deja un comentario

29 de junio de 2018

Tomato Hornworm color variation based on host

I recently got an infestation of Tomato Hornworms (Manduca sexta) on my tomato plant and turned it into an excuse to do a casual experiment. I decided to raise them on several different hosts to see if there was any color variation as I remembered seeing a silvery Manduca quinquemaculata on Silverleaf Nightshade. Anyway, the associated observations tell the story.

They were raised on the following plant species:
Raised on Proboscidea louisianica (Devil's Claw).

Initially collected as pests on my tomato plant. Initial observation here.
Caterpillars from the same batch raised on multiple different plants as follows (click on name to see observation):
Solanum lycopersicum (Tomato)
Solanum tuberosum (Potato)
Solanum elaeagnifolium (Silver-leaf Nightshade):
28 Jun 2018 (same individual or group of individuals)
4 Jul 2018 (same individual or group of individuals)
Solanum rostratum (Buffalo Bur)
Proboscidea louisianica (Devil's Claw):
28 Jun 2018 (same individual or group of individuals)
4 Jul 2018 (same individual or group of individuals)

When they started out, they looked like this: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/13592914. Some were so young that they were yellow instead of green.

I decided to let them go today as the tomato creates a lot of humidity in a little vial which caused problems. Also, my potato plants can't keep up with the caterpillar's needs. Despite this, I still might be able to check on the caterpillars started on native plants as I released them on the same plants they were raised on.

Publicado el junio 29, 2018 03:52 MAÑANA por nathantaylor nathantaylor | 5 observaciones | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario