Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge
   HOME
*





Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge
Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge is a nature preserve on the grounds of Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Several other parks, including Mason Neck State Park, Pohick Bay Regional Park, and the Jackson Miles Abbott Wetland Refuge are located nearby. The refuge was established in 1979 to protect sensitive wetlands and wildlife habitats associated with Accotink Bay and to provide opportunities for environmental education and low-intensity recreation. The refuge offers more than eight miles of hiking trails, including a short paved trail for handicapped access. Species native to the preserve include: *Foxes *Deer *American toads *Raccoons *Black rat snakes *Eastern box turtles *Various millipedes, including ''Narceus americanus'' *Various salamanders, including spotted salamanders and red back salamanders *Various spider Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, a ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fairfax County, Virginia
Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. The county is predominantly suburban in character with some urban and rural pockets. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,150,309, making it Virginia's most populous jurisdiction, with around 13% of the Commonwealth's population. The county is also the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, with around 20% of the MSA population, as well as the larger Washington-Baltimore-Arlington, DC-MD-VA-WV-PA Combined Statistical Area, with around 13% of the CSA population. The county seat is Fairfax, although because it is an independent city under Virginia law, the city of Fairfax is not part of Fairfax County. Fairfax was the first U.S. county to reach a six-figure ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Eastern Box Turtle
The eastern box turtle (''Terrapene carolina carolina'') is a subspecies within a group of hinge-shelled turtles normally called box turtles. ''T. c. carolina'' is native to the eastern part of the United States. The eastern box turtle is a subspecies of the common box turtle (''Terrapene carolina''). While in the pond turtle family, Emydidae, and not a tortoise, the box turtle is largely terrestrial. Box turtles are slow crawlers, extremely long-lived, and slow to mature and have relatively few offspring per year. These characteristics, along with a propensity to get hit by cars and agricultural machinery, make all box turtle species particularly susceptible to anthropogenic, or human-induced, mortality. In 2011, citing "a widespread persistent and ongoing gradual decline of ''Terrapene carolina'' that probably exceeds 32% over three generations", the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downgraded its conservation status from near threatened to vulne ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Protected Areas Of Fairfax County, Virginia
Protection is any measure taken to guard a thing against damage caused by outside forces. Protection can be provided to physical objects, including organisms, to systems, and to intangible things like civil and political rights. Although the mechanisms for providing protection vary widely, the basic meaning of the term remains the same. This is illustrated by an explanation found in a manual on electrical wiring: Some kind of protection is a characteristic of all life, as living things have evolved at least some protective mechanisms to counter damaging environmental phenomena, such as ultraviolet light. Biological membranes such as bark on trees and skin on animals offer protection from various threats, with skin playing a key role in protecting organisms against pathogens and excessive water loss. Additional structures like scales and hair offer further protection from the elements and from predators, with some animals having features such as spines or camouflage servin ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Nature Reserves In Virginia
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena. The word ''nature'' is borrowed from the Old French ''nature'' and is derived from the Latin word ''natura'', or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth". In ancient philosophy, ''natura'' is mostly used as the Latin translation of the Greek word ''physis'' (φύσις), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics of plants, animals, and other features of the world to develop of their own accord. The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word φύσις by pre-So ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Lycosa Aspersa
''Tigrosa aspersa'' is a large (up to one-inch (25 mm) body length) wolf spider that inhabits the eastern United States. Compared to its close relative ''Tigrosa helluo'', ''T. aspersa'' is much larger. This species was known as ''Hogna aspersa'' prior to 2012, when it was moved to ''Tigrosa''. A different species (''Lycosa implacida ''Lycosa'' is a genus of wolf spiders distributed throughout most of the world. Sometimes called the "true tarantula", though not closely related to the spiders most commonly called tarantulas today, ''Lycosa'' spp. can be distinguished from comm ...'') was named ''Lycosa aspersa'' in 1849 by Nicolet by accident. References External linksPhoto Lycosidae Spiders of the United States Spiders described in 1844 Taxa named by Nicholas Marcellus Hentz {{Lycosidae-stub ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all orders of organisms. Spiders are found worldwide on every continent except for Antarctica, and have become established in nearly every land habitat. , 50,356 spider species in 132 families have been recorded by taxonomists. However, there has been debate among scientists about how families should be classified, with over 20 different classifications proposed since 1900. Anatomically, spiders (as with all arachnids) differ from other arthropods in that the usual body segments are fused into two tagmata, the cephalothorax or prosoma, and the opisthosoma, or abdomen, and joined by a small, cylindrical pedicel, however, as there is currently neither paleontological nor embryological evidence that spiders ever had ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Red Back Salamander
The red-backed salamander (''Plethodon cinereus'') is a small, hardy woodland salamander species in the family Plethodontidae. It is also known as the redback salamander, eastern red-backed salamander,Integrated Taxonomic Information System nternet2012. pdated 2012 Sept; cited 2012 Nov 26Available from: www.itis.gov or the northern red-backed salamander to distinguish it from the southern red-backed salamander (''Plethodon serratus''). The species inhabits wooded slopes in eastern North America, west to Missouri, south to North Carolina, and north from southern Quebec and the Maritime provinces in Canada to Minnesota. It is one of 56 species in the genus ''Plethodon''. Red-backed salamanders are notable for their color polymorphism and primarily display two color morph varieties ("red-backed" and "lead-backed"), which differ in physiology and anti-predator behavior. Description and ecology The red-backed salamander is a small terrestrial salamander, in total length (including ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Spotted Salamander
The spotted salamander or yellow-spotted salamander (''Ambystoma maculatum'') is a mole salamander common in eastern United States and Canada. The spotted salamander is the state amphibian of Ohio and South Carolina. This salamander ranges from Nova Scotia, to Lake Superior, to southern Georgia and Texas. Its embryos have been found to have symbiotic algae living in and around them, the only known example of vertebrate cells hosting an endosymbiont microbe (unless mitochondria are considered). Description The spotted salamander is about long. They are stout, like most mole salamanders, and have wide snouts. The spotted salamander's main color is black, but can sometimes be a blueish-black, dark gray, dark green, or even dark brown. Two uneven rows of yellowish-orange spots run from the top of the head (near the eyes) to the tip of the tail. The spotted salamander's spots near the top of its head are more orange, while the spots on the rest of its body are more yellow. The under ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Salamander
Salamanders are a group of amphibians typically characterized by their lizard-like appearance, with slender bodies, blunt snouts, short limbs projecting at right angles to the body, and the presence of a tail in both larvae and adults. All ten extant salamander families are grouped together under the order Urodela. Salamander diversity is highest in eastern North America, especially in the Appalachian Mountains; most species are found in the Holarctic realm, with some species present in the Neotropical realm. Salamanders rarely have more than four toes on their front legs and five on their rear legs, but some species have fewer digits and others lack hind limbs. Their permeable skin usually makes them reliant on habitats in or near water or other cool, damp places. Some salamander species are fully aquatic throughout their lives, some take to the water intermittently, and others are entirely terrestrial as adults. This group of amphibians is capable of regenerating lost lim ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Narceus Americanus
''Narceus americanus'' is a large millipede of eastern North America. Common names include American giant millipede, worm millipede, and iron worm. It inhabits the eastern seaboard of North America west to Georgetown, Texas, north of the Ottine wetlands. It has a nearly cylindrical gray body, reaching a length of . They can be commonly found in or under decaying logs from March to October. When threatened, they sometimes curl up or release a noxious liquid that contains large amounts of benzoquinones which can cause dermatological burns. This fluid may irritate eyes or skin. Many other millipedes secrete hydrogen cyanide, and while there have also been claims that ''N. americanus'' releases hydrogen cyanide, they are unsubstantiated. They do, however, excrete a substance that causes a temporary, non-harmful discoloration of the skin known as millipede burn. Ecology and behavior Diet ''N. americanus'' are detritivores, primarily consuming decaying wood and leaf litter. The ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Millipede
Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a result of two single segments fused together. Most millipedes have very elongated cylindrical or flattened bodies with more than 20 segments, while pill millipedes are shorter and can roll into a tight ball. Although the name "millipede" derives from the Latin for "thousand feet", no species was known to have 1,000 or more until the discovery of ''Eumillipes persephone'', which can have over 1,300 legs. There are approximately 12,000 named species classified into 16 orders and around 140 families, making Diplopoda the largest class of myriapods, an arthropod group which also includes centipedes and other multi-legged creatures. Most millipedes are slow-moving detritivores, eating decaying leaves and other dead plant matter. Some eat fungi or ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Black Rat Snake
Black rat snake may refer to: *''Pantherophis alleghaniensis'', the eastern ratsnake * ''Pantherophis spiloides'', the central ratsnake *''Pantherophis obsoletus ''Pantherophis obsoletus'', also known commonly as the western rat snake, black rat snake, pilot black snake, or simply black snake, is a nonvenomous species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to central North America. Ther ...'', the western ratsnake {{Short pages monitor ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]