All about bees – their habitat, sting, and how to avoid being attacked
Bee Description: Bees are flying insects with brown or black, hairy, fuzz-covered bodies (the hair on their body is used to collect pollen). The bee’s body typically has 3 or 5 dark, black and yellow or orangish, colored hair bands around their body and lack the “thin” abdomen found in…
All about the American copperhead snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
American copperhead Agkistrodon contortrix Description: Copperhead snakes, also known as death adder, highland moccasin, red snake, and oak snake, have a chestnut color that dominates overall, with darker crossbands of rich browns that grow darker towards the edges and become narrower on top and widen at the bottom. Their pale…
All about the Black Widow Spider or Widow Spider – their habitat, sting, treatment, and how to avoid their bite.
Black Widow spider Latrodectus species Description: Black Widow Spiders are dark, usually black, medium sized spiders with light red or orange markings (typically in the shape of an hourglass) on female's abdomen (underneath the spider’s body). Black Widow Spiders (or Widow Spiders) have dark, glossy, globular bodies about 1/2 inch…
All about the Bushmaster snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Bushmaster Lachesis muta Description: The Bushmaster body color is pale brown or pinkish, with a series of large bold dark brown or black blotches extending along the body. It can grow to a length of 3 meters (10 feet), making it the longest viper snake in the world, and weighs…
All about the Centipede – their habitat, sting, treatment, and how to avoid their bite.
Centipede Description: Centipedes have multi-jointed body, each segment having a pair of legs, growing to 30 centimeters (12 inches) long, with each pair slightly longer than the pair in front of it. Centipedes are typically dull orange, red to brown (species that live underground may have no color pigmentation), with…
All about the Coral snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Coral snake Micrurus fulvius Description: The Coral Snake is colorfully marked with rings that are bright blacks, reds, and yellows in color. Some of the colored bands, particularly the red bands, may be speckled. Other non-poisonous species have similar colors and markings including the Scarlet Snake and the Milk Snake. …
All about the Cottonmouth snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Cottonmouth Agkistrodon piscivorus Description: Also known as water moccasin, swamp moccasin or black moccasin. Colors are variable. Adults are uniformly olive brown or black. The young and subadults are strongly crossbanded with dark brown. Characteristics: These dangerous semiaquatic snakes closely resemble harmless water snakes that have the same habitat. Therefore,…
All about the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Eastern diamondback rattlesnake Crotalus adamanteus Description: Dark brown or black, outlined by a row of cream or yellowish scales. Ground color is olive to brown. Characteristics: The largest venomous snake in the United States. Large snakes can have fangs that measure centimeters (1 inch) in a straight line. This species…
All about the Eyelash pit viper snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Eyelash pit viper Bothrops schlegeli Description: Eyelash pit vipers (also known as Eyelash Mountain Viper, Schlegel’s Palm Viper,Horned Palm Snake, and Eyelash Palmpitviper) are a venomous pit viper that may be identified by 2-3 sharp, spiny scales over each eye giving them the appearance of eyelashes. It it were…
All about the Fer-de-lance snake – the most feared snake on the planet – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Fer-de-lance Bothrops atrox or Bothrops lanceolatus The Fer-de-lance (also known as Lancehead) are several closely related species in this group. All are very considered to be very aggressive and dangerous to man and one of the most feared snakes on the planet. Description: Lancehead or Fer-de-lance snakes have highly variable…
All about the funnelweb spider – their habitat, sting, treatment, and how to avoid one the most dangerous spiders in the world.
Funnelweb spider Atrax species (A. robustus, A. formidablis) Description: The Funnelweb spider, also known as Funnel Web spider, Australian funnel-web spider, and Sydney funnel-web spider, are medium to large, brown or black, bulky spiders. The front part of the body is glossy and hairless. They are aggressive when disturbed and…
All about the Jumping viper snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Jumping viper Bothrops nummifer (or Atropoides) Description: It has a stocky, thick body. Its ground color varies from grayish-brown to gray or reddish-brown with dark brown or black dorsal blotches. It has no pattern on its head. The head is large, with small eyes and broad, round snout. Characteristics: It…
All about the Mojave (Mohave) rattlesnake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Mojave rattlesnake Crotalus scutulatus Description: The Mojave Rattlesnake’s (also known as Mohave Rattlesnake, Mojave Green, Mojave Diamond Rattlesnake, and Mojave Rattler) entire body is a cream or sandy color, sometimes pale green (depending upon its surroundings) with darker diamond-shaped markings bordered by lighter-colored scales and black bands around the…
All about the tarantulas – their habitat, sting, treatment, and how to avoid their bite.
Tarantula Theraphosidae and Lycosa species Description: Very large, brown, black, reddish, hairy spiders. Tarantula size ranges from 1-4 inches with legs as long as 12 inches. Most tarantulas are brown. Tarantulas have eight legs and two additional appendages that they use to grip prey. Large fangs that fold much like…
All about the Tropical rattlesnake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Tropical rattlesnake Crotalus durissus or Crotalus terrificus Description: The Tropical Rattlesnake is also known as South American Rattlesnake or Neotropical Rattlesnake. Coloration is light to dark brown with a series of darker rhombs or diamonds bordered by a buff color but can vary depending on the sub species. Some sub…
All about wasps and hornets – their habitat, sting, treatment, and how to avoid their bite.
Wasps and hornets Description: The Wasp, or Hornet (also known as Dirt Daubers, Mud Daubers, Potter Wasps, Velvet Ants, Yellowjackets, Fairyflies), is a rather generic suborder of insects. A Wasp generally a smooth-bodied, slender stinging insects. Like a Bee, Wasps have two pairs of wings, a stinger (only the female…
Australian Copperhead Snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Australian copperhead Denisonia superba Description: Coloration is reddish brown to dark brown. A few from Queensland are black. Characteristics: Rather sluggish disposition but will bite if stepped on. When angry, rears its head a few inches from the ground with its neck slightly arched. Its venom is neurotoxic. Habitat: Swamps.…
Banded Sea Snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Banded sea snake Laticauda colubrina Description: Smooth-scaled snake that is a pale shade of blue with black bands. Its oarlike tail provides propulsion in swimming. Characteristics: Most active at night, swimming close to shore and at times entering tide pools. Its venom is a very strong neurotoxin. Its victims are…
Blue-ringed Octopus
Blue-ringed octopus Hapalochlaena species This small octopus is usually found on the Great Barrier Reef off eastern Australia. It is grayish-white with iridescent blue ringlike markings. This octopus usually will not bite unless stepped on or handled. Its bite is extremely poisonous and frequently lethal.
Boomslang snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Boomslang Dispholidus typus Description: Coloration varies but is generally green or brown, which makes it very hard to see in its habitat. Characteristics: Will strike if molested. Its venom is hemotoxic; even small amounts cause severe hemorrhaging, making it dangerous to man. Habitat: Found in forested areas. It will spend…
Brown recluse spider – how to identify, avoid, and treat brown recluse bites.
Brown house spider or brown recluse spider Loxosceles reclusa Description: The Brown Recluse spider, also known as fiddleback spider, brown fiddler, or violin spider, may be cream colored, blackish gray, or brown to black with obvious "fiddle" on back of head and thorax. The darker violin shape is located on…
Bush viper snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Bush viper Atheris squamiger Description: Often called leaf viper, its color varies from ground colors of pale green to olive, brown, or rusty brown. The viper uses its prehensile tail to secure itself to branches. Characteristics: An arboreal species that often comes down to the ground to feed on small…
Cobra snake – how to identify, avoid their habitat, and treatment for their bite.
Common cobra or Asiatic cobra Naja naja Description: Usually slate gray to brown overall. The back of the hood may or may not have a pattern. Characteristics: A very common species responsible for many deaths each year. When aroused or threatened, the cobra will lift its head off the ground…
Common adder
Common adder Vipera berus Description: Its color is variable. Some adult specimens are completely black, while others have a dark zigzag pattern running along the back. Characteristics: The common adder is a small true viper that has a short temper and often strikes without hesitation. Its venom is hemotoxic, destroying…
Cone Shells
Cone shells Conidae species These cone-shaped shells have smooth, colorful mottling and long, narrow openings in the base of the shell. They live under rocks, in crevices and coral reefs, and along rocky shores and protected bays in tropical areas. All have tiny teeth that are similar to hypodermic needles.…
