NEWS

Here’s to the land of the longleaf pine, The summer land where the sun doth shine, Where the weak grow strong and the strong grow great, Here’s to “Down Home,” the Old North State. —North Carolina State Toast Longleaf forests once covered up to 60 million acres in the southeastern US, stretching from southern Virginia… Read More >

I share my yard with as much of our native wildlife as I can! I have several lizard species that call my home in Johnston County, home too! Of course, it was their home originally, and they have adapted to my intrusion. Since moving here in 2004, I have seen lizards routinely around my house… Read More >

Although the northern pine snake (Pituophis m. melanoleucus) is among our largest and most impressive snakes, comparatively few North Carolinians have ever seen one. State-listed as Threatened, pine snakes occur primarily in our Sandhills region. A small population also occurs in Brunswick and (at least historically) New Hanover counties, and there are a few records… Read More >

From Dr. Adrian Smith in the Ant Lab: “Leafhoppers, treehoppers, planthoppers, and froghoppers are all insects in the order Hemiptera that are some of the fastest jumping animals on earth! They are also super-common, so I collected a bunch and filmed their jumps in slow-motion!” References and more information on YouTube  

New study suggests a miniaturized origin for some of the largest animals ever to live on Earth Kongonaphon kely illustration. Credit: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Click for larger image. Dinosaurs and flying pterosaurs may be known for their remarkable size, but a newly described species from Madagascar that lived around 237… Read More >