Pond Slider Moves Up

This Pond Slider is determined to get to the top, and it doesn't care who it has to step on to get there. In this case it's climbing on the back of a Northern Red-bellied Cooter. Though I've seen other species of turtle do this climbing thing, Pond Sliders have some reputation for being aggressive (or at least obnoxious).

There are 2 subspecies of Pond Slider here in New Jersey and it's a little difficult to tell which 1 this is:

  • Usually the Red-eared Slider has a pretty obvious red mark on its ear [1]. This picture is a little inconclusive though, with what I think is a slightly reddish tint blending in with the dark head. 
  • The Yellow-bellied Slider lacks the red "ear", which I initially thought was the case for this turtle. They're also supposed to have wide yellow stripes on the side part of their plastron; this turtle looks to have fairly thin yellow stripes instead.
  • My field guide suggests that there are a small number of Red-eared Sliders without red ears, which is what I'm thinking I've got here.
  • Since Red-eared Sliders and Yellow-bellied Sliders are the same species of turtle, I'm also sure that they can hybridize. Since my understanding is that there are more Red-eared Sliders around here than there are Yellow-bellied Sliders, I'm betting on this being the rare Red-eared Slider without (or barely with) a red ear, though obviously it's safer to identify this individual at the species rather than subspecies level.
  • Neither subspecies of Pond Slider is native to New Jersey. Both were originally a more southern species.
March 29, 2023 at Duke Farms
Photo 270605645, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] More accurately, a red mark on the head where you'd expect an external ear to be.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tussock Moth Herd

Image
Some caterpillars are usually seen in large numbers (like Armyworm Moth caterpillars and Eastern Tent Caterpillars ), while most are more solitary. The Milkweed Tussock Moth caterpillars (more about them are here ) seem to be slightly social. I'll sometimes see them alone, but more often I'll see them in groups of 2-9 members. In the 1st picture below, you can see there is a clear size difference in some of these individuals. I'm almost certain the little one in the middle is in an earlier instar than the others (though they lack the colorful tufts of fuzz in their earliest instars). August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477945, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC) In the picture below, it's clear that these caterpillars don't require a lot of personal space. August 31, 2021 at Washington Valley Park Photo 167477979, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Read more

Copper Underwing Caterpillar

Image
I believe this caterpillar to be a Copper Underwing [1]. At least the coloring and the dorsal hump (near the left end of the caterpillar) seem consistent with the Copper Underwing. These caterpillars are not what you'd consider picky eaters; my Caterpillars of Eastern North America describes their diet thusly: Many wooded plants including apple, basswood, blueberry, cherry chestnut, current, grape, greenbrier, hawthorn, hickory, lilac, maple, oak, poplar, raspberry, rhododendron, viburnum, Virginia creeper, and walnut. Wikipedia adds: Ash, privet, honeysuckle, rose, and service trees. That's a pretty wide range of trees and shrubs. One of the challenges of finding them is that they could be almost anywhere; the other challenges are: Their green coloring blends in pretty darned well with the average leaf. They have a habit of feeding underneath leaves, so they're probably not visible when looking down at their location. They have a tendency to move from leaf-to-leaf; if you
Read more

Eastern Pondhawks

Image
I'm going to try something different today with my Eastern Pondhawk pictures. I'm going to let ChatGPT do my blog today. (ChatGPT is an AI program that you can converse with in a pretty human way; an explanation of it is here .) Me:  Can you tell me something interesting about the Eastern Pondhawk? ChatGPT:  The Eastern Pondhawk (Erythemis simplicicollis) is a dragonfly species that is native to North America. It is a medium-sized dragonfly, with a wingspan of about 3 inches, and can be found in a variety of habitats, including wetlands, marshes, and ponds. One interesting characteristic of the Eastern Pondhawk is its mating behavior. Male Eastern Pondhawks are known for their territorial behavior and will defend their territory from other males. They will patrol their territory and will try to mate with any females that fly into their territory. Another interesting fact about the Eastern Pondhawk is that it is a fast flyer and is able to hover in midair. It is also an import
Read more