Skip to main content
UF Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences logo
Give      University of Florida
Resources
  • Book a Reservation at NATL
  • Contact NATL
  • Nature Trails
  • Volunteer
Toggle Search Form
GIVE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
  • HOME
  • Visit NATL
    • History
    • Nature Trails
    • Rules for Using NATL
    • Users and Uses
    • Self-guided Audio Tours
    • QR Trail
    • Welcome Brochure
    • Volunteer
    • Prescribed Fire
  • Education
  • Plant Communities
    • Upland Hardwood Forest
    • Upland Pine
    • Old Field & Meadow
    • Wetland (SEEP)
    • Invasives
    • Clastic Upland Lake & Sinkhole Pond
  • Data Archive
    • Fungi
    • Mosses
    • Plants
    • Animals
    • Miscellaneous
  • #TeamNATL
    • Management
    • Documents & Records
    • Thomas J. Walker
    • Contact Us
    • Gallery
  • Volunteer

  • Resources
    • Book a Reservation at NATL
    • Contact NATL
    • Nature Trails
    • Volunteer

Natural Area Teaching Laboratory

Natural Area Teaching Laboratory

a boardwalk running through a cypress swamp
‹
›
  • Nature Trails
  • Volunteer
  • Reserve Pavilion
  • Give

QR Trail

  • Station 1: A New Kind of Trail

    Thank you for visiting the QR (Quick Response) Trail. If you did not have a QR Reader you can still enjoy the trail.

    Each station is represented below and has the sound you would have heard if you were scanning the QR code on the trail. The QR code to the right is the song of the Buckell's grig (Cyphoderris buckelli). Learn more about this katydid HERE

  • Station 2: Most Complex Song

    Most insect songs become repetitious quickly, but a group known as "virtuoso katydids" (e.g., Amblycorypha longinicta) have songs that last for many seconds before they repeat.

    • Visit the species page
    • Listen to the song
  • Station 3: Raucous Woodland Chorus

    The songs of Common True Katydids (Pterophylla camellifolia) are hard to ignore when many males call at once during summer nights in north Florida woodlands.  Like other singing insects they call to attract the nearly mute females.

    • Visit the species page
    • Listen to the song
  • Station 4: Trilling Field Cricket

    Experts have difficulty identifying specimens of the locally common black field crickets, but even a child can recognize them by their songs. The Southeastern Field Cricket (Gryllus rubens) produces a near-continuous sound (a “trill”).

    • Visit the species page
    • Listen to the song
  • Station 5: Chirping Field Cricket

    Experts have difficulty identifying specimens of the locally species of common black field crickets, but even a child can recognize them by their songs. The Sand Field Cricket (Gryllus firmus) is the one that produces a series of discrete chirps.

    • Visit the species page
    • Listen to the song
  • Station 6: Insect Amplifiers

    Mole crickets, like moles, are specialized for burrowing and spend nearly all their time underground.  Before males of the Southern Mole Cricket (Neoscapteriscus borellii) call, they construct a special burrow that amplifies their song and projects it upward--where females may be flying.

    • Visit the species page
    • Listen to the song
  • NEW QR Signs around NATL

    The Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) is a common bird in NATL and in many yards and neighborhoods! You can see and hear Northern Cardinals in many locations.

    • Listen to the song

    We have released the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) in NATL. Be on the lookout (and listen) for them!

    • Listen to the song

    If you look around the water’s edge, you may see a Little Blue Heron (Egretta caerulea) hunting for a meal.

    • Listen to the song

    Be on the lookout for other QR enhanced signs in NATL, you never know where one will show up!

University of Florida Logo
Contact

Feedback
Entomology and Nematology Department
1881 Natural Area Drive, Steinmetz Hall | Gainesville, FL 32611
(352) 273-3901

Land Grant Mission
  • Teaching
  • Research
  • Extension
Information
  • Ask IFAS (EDIS)
  • UF/IFAS Experts
  • UF/IFAS Blogs
  • UF/IFAS Bookstore
Policy
  • Accessible UF
  • EEO Statement
  • IFAS Web Policy
  • SSN & UF Privacy
  • Analytics (Google Privacy)

© 2025 University of Florida, IFAS Last Modified:Fri, 30 May 2025 13:26:11 EDT