My Local Swamp (in Durham, NC)
There is a low-lying area in my neighborhood that becomes a duckweed-covered swamp bordered by a marsh during times of normal rainfall. The marsh contains cattails, false nutsedge, a succulent type of plant with yellow flowers, and a variety of grasses. The latter plant grows closest to the swamp and takes it over during droughts. Green Herons and Great Blue Herons visit the swamp when it is deepest and covered with duckweed. Ladybug beetles, grasshoppers, green leafhoppers, Least Skippers (very numerous in September of 2005), Two-lined Froghoppers, Rice Stink Bugs and tiny mirid bugs visit the marsh during rainier times. Eastern Narrowmouth Toads, Toad Bugs and Shore Bugs show up on the edges and probably farther into the marsh. Frogs inside the wetter areas make bleating sounds.
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| On 6/24/05, during a time of plentiful rain, the swamp was filled with water covered with duckweed and a Green Heron visited for a couple of weeks. To order products with this photo on them, visit our store. | .On 8/18/07, during a long drought that began in spring, the swamp dried up and plants with yellow flowers took over. | This was the dominant plant in what used to be the swamp on 8/18/07. | This group of flowers sprang up on the edge of the marsh fronting the swamp after spring rains. Here they are on 5/1/08. |
Birds
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| Green Heron (Butorides virescens), Durham, 6/12/05. This bird spent about two weeks at the swamp. | Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes), Durham, 5/2/05. This bird only appeared once. | Male Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea), Durham, 7/20/05. This bird showed up in a tree. |
Frogs
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| Three views of same Green Treefrog, Durham, 10/3/05. More languid frogs in my neighborhood swamp! | ||
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| Durham, 9/14/05. Depending on your source, either an Eastern Narrowmouth Frog or Eastern Narrowmouth Toad, and its Latin name is Gastrophryne carolinensis (subfamily Microhylinae). This frog/toad was about half an inch long and had strayed from the swamp in my Durham neighborhood, where others of its species normally remain hidden. I brought it back to the swamp edge. | Gray Treefrog. Taken at my neighborhood swamp on 9/3/05. This frog is fully mature: it has no green on top. | Northern Cricket Frog, Durham, NC, 4/7/06. Taken at my (large) neighborhood marsh/swamp. | This was a rather anomalous treefrog seen in my local swamp on 8/28/05. Apparently it has part of a tail left. |
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| A very large tadpole, Durham, NC, 4/22/07 | Green Frog, Durham, NC, 4/22/07 |
Hoppers
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| Leafhopper (Macrosteles quadrilineatus, subfamily Deltocephalinae) nymph and adult, Durham, NC, 8/15/07. These were two of hundreds of such leafhoppers in what used to be a swamp in my neighborhood before a currently long drought. The leaf they were on belonged to one of many succulent plants with yellow flowers. | Leafhopper (Macrosteles quadrilineatus) in flight, Durham, NC, 8/15/07 | Two-lined Froghopper (Prosapia bicincta), Durham, 9/23/05. Found in my local marsh on a cattail leaf. |
Beetles
Most of the beetles in the swamp have been Ladybug Beetles, mostly the Spotted Ladybug Beetle. But a Spotted Cucumber Beetle showed up once. Very near the swamp, Shining Leaf Beetles (Neolema punctata) show up regularly.
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| Spotted Ladybug Beetle (Coleomegilla maculata) mating pair, Durham, NC, 6/17/06, in my neighborhood marsh/swamp. | Spotted Ladybug Beetle (Coleomegilla maculata) larva, Durham, 6/23/05, seen on a cattail leaf at the same marsh as the adult Coleomegilla maculata beetles above. ID based on Marshall (2006), p. 345. | Seven-spotted Ladybug Beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) larva, Durham (edge of marsh at neighborhood swamp), 4/11/09. This plump but nimble little rascal climbed rapidly over grass plants and other objects, readily bending in two. | Ladybug Beetle pupa, Durham, 6/18/05. I found this sitting on a leaf of a tree near the edge of the swamp. This was about a third of an inch long. | This illustrates some interesting similarities. A Spotted Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata, subfamily Galerucinae), at right, shared flower nectar with a (mainly carnivorous) ladybug beetle (Coleomagilla maculata) on 7/2/05. This flower belonged to the same plant described above that took over the swamp during the drought in summer of 2007. |
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| Shining leaf beetle (Neolema sexpunctata), Durham, NC, 7/1/07. This was a tiny beetle, about 4 mm long. |
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| Margined Leather-wing (Chauliognathus marginatus). Wing maintenance, Durham swamp, 7/2/05. Notice the leg over the wing. | Sometime later. |
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| Water Scavenger Beetle (Hydrophilus triangularis), Durham, 6/19/06. This beetle was underwater at the time. | Same Water Scavenger Beetle. |
True Bugs
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| Stink bug, Durham, NC, 8/21/06. Probably a Spined Soldier Bug, perhaps somewhat emaciated. The marsh habitat seems to change the appearance of stink bugs. | Rice Stink Bug (Oebalus pugnax [Fabricius, 1775]), Durham, 9/5/05. This bug attacks rice and sorghum, but lives as a nymph on wild grasses, including marsh vegetation, as shown here. | Brown Stink Bug (Euschistus servus [Say, 1832]), Durham, 10/18/06, found near the swamp in an area with a lot of Oriental River Grass. This is a notorious soybean pest. But since soybeans aren't grown anywhere around here, seeing one around here (in my neighborhood, in this case) is a rare treat. | Stink bug nymph, about 2 mm long. | Mirid Bug. According to Mike Quinn,
Invertebrate Biologist, Rare & Nongame Species, Texas Parks & Wildlife, this tiny bug (less than a sixteenth of an inch long) is a Miridae family member. It was crawling over very tiny flower buds (Asian River Grass?) in my Durham neighborhood marsh on 9/26/05. |
Stilt Bug, Durham, NC, 8/30/06. This bug was found in the same general area as the Brown Stink Bug on the left. |
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| Toad Bug, found near my neighborhood swamp in a marshy area on 5/27/05. How is this for camouflage? Ironically, this small bug was found in the general vicinity of numerous small Fowler's Toads. | Toad Bug, also seen in the neighborhood swamp periphery, on 4/18/06. Note the difference in shape and coloring. | Shore Bug (Saldula pallipes [Van Duzee, 1914], cf. Insects of Cedar Creek Saldula page), Durham, 4/9/06. Seen in a large marsh bordering on a swamp. This bug was about ⅛ inch long. These are scavengers. |
Skippers
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| Dion Skipper. This relatively large skipper showed up on the edge of a swamp in my Durham neighborhood early on 9/5/05. It looked more orange than brown in direct light. The light ray on the hind wing is characteristic. | Least Skippers mating, with a would-be interloper, 9/14/05. The marsh was full of Least Skippers at this time. |
Millipede
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| Millipede, Polydesmida order. At first glance, it looks like a centipede, though. |
Mosquitoes
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| Adult mosquito emerging from pupa. Durham, NC, 9/8/06. The dark objects on the right are probably mosquito pupae. These appeared in a puddle near my neighborhood swamp. | Adult mosquito with foot on exuviae, Durham, NC, 9/8/06 | Mosquito larvae, Durham, NC, 6/17/07. This is just a subset of a ball of possibly hundreds of such larvae. They appeared on the edge of my neighborhood swamp. | Mosquito larvae, Durham, 7/27/06. Note how bubbles come from the tail ends of the larvae. |
