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Looks like a giant mosquito but it's not. It belongs to different family.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera ("2 wings")
Family: Tipulidae

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Protist Lab 4/15

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Live Oaks in Virginia Beach at False Cape State Park

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Live Oaks in Virginia Beach at False Cape State Park

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I found these gnarled trees in a marine forest in the southeastern most part of Virginia, at a place called False Cape, about 90 minutes from Grafton.

The park ranger said sailors used these trees to repair their wooden boats.

Learn more about this deciduous trees at: https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=78

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I found this strange fungus protist thing

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Millipede at Newport News Park -- look closely at how the legs move!

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This little guy (<1inch long) was found at low tide grasping a piece of broken shell. Can you see his soft brown body/tentacles peaking out? His shell is in the shape of a spiral.

Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Gastropoda
https://www.chesapeakebay.net/S=0/fieldguide/critter/marsh_periwinkle

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There are so many factors when identifying mushrooms, including shape, size, color, texture and types of spores. Check out this website to get a sense of the complexity: http://www.mycokey.com/newMycoKeySite/MycoKeyIdentQuick.html

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This bushy fungi was found at the base of a pine tree in Newport News Park. Clues like overall appearance and types of trees nearby can help narrow down your search when trying to identify fungi.

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Poor bugs don't stand a chance.

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Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata

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So many legs! This guy was 3 inches long and stayed very still. I was amazed I could get this pic just with my phone on zoom and a little LED light I had on my keys..
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Diplopoda

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This tiny fruit hides under the umbrella-like leaf leaf. Learn more at https://wimastergardener.org/article/mayapple-podophyllum-peltatum/

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Learn more about these squishy decomposers at https://herbarium.usu.edu/fun-with-fungi/jelly-fungi

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I used my 40x magnification loupe with my phone's camera to capture this pic of the fungus-like protist whose scientific name is Fuligo septica.

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Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura

He was hiding in the water under a small bridge. Maybe 3 inches long.

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Wow! This little guy stayed still while I used my 40x magnification loupe with my phone camera to take the pic. I cropped the image so you can better see his body.

Phylum: Arthropod
Class: Insecta
Order: Diptera

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on the back of the fronds, with a penny for reference.

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Those prickly burrs have one seed each in them. They formed from the pale blue flowers of this wild comfrey plant. My finger didn't want to get close, so I used a random highlighter found in my bag 😃

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5 petals are a clue that it is a dicot

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Seed AND Pollen cones on display. The needles are in pairs (2 per fascicle) on this species.

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Immature and mature seed cones. The short needles grouped in 2s were a clue that this is Pinus virginiana.
https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=113

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Who knew these reproductive parts could be so tall? Look at shorter green gametophytes for comparison along the soil surface.

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Crustose lichens are just that, crusts. They form a crust over a surface like the trunk of this American Holly tree.

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A week of rain meant a few fruiting bodies are emerging from the soil. I couldn't get under the cap and look at the shape of the spores of this guy.

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That yellow stuff is a fungus-like protist, known by the scientific name Fuligo septica.
https://nwdistrict.ifas.ufl.edu/hort/tag/fuligo-septica/

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Stumbled upon this big guy (more than 4 inches long) near a creek. His coloring threw me off, but the dorsolateral fold helped me narrow it down.

Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura (without tail)

https://www.virginiaherpetologicalsociety.com/amphibians/frogsandtoads/american-bullfrog/american_bullfrog.php

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This is an oak gall, a growth on oak tree. It is caused by the immature offspring of a WASP.

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My rainboot and a penny for reference.

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The fruit are the green berries which turn bright red in late summer. The berries hide under leaf which has 3 leaflets per stem.

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Not your typical waxy magnolia leaf. Huge! They can be 12-24 inches long according to the Virginia Tech Dendrology (tree) website: http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=299

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Found a wet seed cone still attached to the tree near a cluster of pollen cones. Loblollys have needles grouped in 3s.

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Hi from Ms. White from 3B ☺
Narrow leaves with parallel veins is a common characteristic of monocots. Next time you see a blade of grass examine it closely.

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Which type? I don't know.

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I found this moss at the base of a pine tree trunk. The penny helps you see how small the gametophytes (green stem-like and leaf-like structures) and sporophytes (brown stalk and capsule) are.

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A recent storm must have knocked this lichen covered tree bark to the ground. I learned more about the biology of lichen with this US Forest Service webpage:

https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/beauty/lichens/biology.shtml

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Gills (wide and thin sheet like plates that produce spores) are found under this shelf fungi's cap. That's the toe of my rain boot for perspective.

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I found LOTS of algae in the water at Newport News Park on Sunday! (and turtles, lots of turtles) 🐢🐢
Let's see what you can find!!!

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Broadhead skink, Eumeces laticeps
He likes to hang out on that big tree in my back yard 🦎

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Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera

Bugs are hard to photograph 🙃. This guy found some azaleas that were still in bloom.

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Ferns! These are sporophytes too!

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Come from huge trees, but the berries are small.

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(Monotropa uniflora)
The rain brought out this rarely seen plant. It is unique because it does not have chlorophyll. It is a parasite, getting its energy from trees through the mycelium of a fungi.

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This sedge, a grass-like plant that has a triangular stalk (with 3 edges), was found near a creek that feeds the York River.

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A little conifer from my yard

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Check out these sporophytes!

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The humongous tree in my back yard is COVERED in lichen! 🌳

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These shelf fungi were just hangin' out likes bumps on a log, lol! 🍄