Species of a rare habitat
Below are some of the species found at the North Kingsville Sand Barrens. This preserve is the only high-quality fossil dune ridge remaining in Northeast Ohio and supports a number of endangered plants, several rare invertebrates, and a fine population of native lupine.
North Kingsville Sand Barrens is stewarded by the Cleveland Museum of Natural History through its Natural Areas Program, which protects more than 12,500 acres across Northern Ohio. Explore the species below, learn more about the preserve, or dive deeper into the Natural Areas Program.
Arrowhead spiketail
Cordulegaster obliqua
The arrowhead spiketail is a large dragonfly that is most easily identified by its dark abdomen with bold, yellow, arrow-shaped markings. They are forest specialists, breeding in and patrolling small, clean headwater streams and seeps, like those at the North Kingsville Sand Barrens.
Bicknell’s geranium
Geranium bicknelli
Bicknell’s geranium is a low, native geranium with five-petaled pink flowers that bloom in summer. A fire-adapted species, its seeds can persist in dry upland forest openings for years until disturbance exposes them to sunlight and they germinate.
Photo: Ken Schneider
Bracken fern
Pteridium aquilinum
Bracken fern is a vigorous, coarse fern that spreads by extensive underground runners that can dominate open, disturbed areas; dense stands may at times suppress other native plants.
Photo: Arthur Haines, Native Plant Trust
British soldiers lichen
Cladonia cristatella
British soldiers lichen is a small, fruticose (i.e., having a shrubby or coral-like growth pattern) lichen notable for its bright red fruiting tips contrasting with pale gray-green stalks. It commonly grows on exposed rock, decaying wood, and compacted soil.
Photo: Kara Quirke
Burrowing wolf spider
Geolycosa sp.
Burrowing wolf spiders dig vertical burrows in well-drained soils and wait near the entrance to ambush passing insects. They prefer sandy or gravelly pockets and sunny open ground, making sand barrens and dry upland edges suitable habitat.
Photo: Sam O'Connell
Butterfly weed
Asclepias tuberosa
Butterfly weed is a native milkweed with clusters of bright orange, nectar-rich flowers that attract butterflies, bees, and other pollinators. It is commonly found in dry, sandy soils and open conditions.
Photo: Ken Schneider
Chestnut oak
Quercus montana
Chestnut oak is a medium- to large-sized oak with deeply ridged bark and sturdy acorns that mature late in the season and feed wildlife. It favors well-drained, rocky or sandy upland soils, and often occurs as scattered trees or small stands in sand barrens and adjacent upland forests.
Photo: Mwanner
Common marauder robber fly
Proctacanthus milbertii
This large, predatory fly perches in sunny spots and captures other insects in flight, often eating them on a nearby stem. It favors open, dry habitats such as sand barrens and the sunny edges of upland forests, where it is an effective insect predator.
Photo: Sam O'Connell
Cooper's hawk
Astur cooperii
Cooper’s hawk is an agile, mid-sized raptor that hunts birds and small mammals on the wing, often through dense shrubs or woodland edges. It uses upland forest and forested wetland edges and will perch in trees to ambush prey, taking advantage of the sheltered structure of wooded habitats.
Photo © Evan Lipton / Macaulay Library
Dead man's foot
Pisolithus arhizus
Dead man’s foot is a stout, irregularly-shaped fungus that often appears as a hardened, brownish mass on the ground. It forms beneficial associations with tree roots (mycorrhizae) and can be found near trees and shrubs in poor, sandy soils of upland forests and barrens.
Photo: Sam O'Connell
Doll’s eye
Actaea pachypoda
Doll’s eye is a woodland wildflower with striking white stems and clusters of white berries marked with black dots—the “doll’s eyes.” Also called white baneberry, its berries are toxic if eaten. It prefers cool, shaded, rich soils in upland forests and forested wetlands.
Photo: David Hochadel
Eastern black-legged tick
Ixodes scapularis
The black-legged tick is a small arachnid that can transmit Lyme disease and other pathogens to people and wildlife. It waits on low vegetation or in leaf litter for passing hosts such as small mammals, deer, or humans. Use repellent and check for ticks after visiting the North Kingsville Sand Barrens and other natural areas.
Photo: Scott Bauer, USDA
Eastern bluebird
Sialia sialis
The eastern bluebird is a small, cavity-nesting songbird with a blue back and warm orange breast that feeds mainly on insects and small fruits. It favors open areas with scattered trees or nest boxes, such as sand barrens, grassy clearings, and forest edges where low vegetation makes insect hunting easier.
Photo: Judy Semroc
Eastern cicada-killer wasp
Sphecius speciosus
The cicada-killer is a large, solitary wasp that digs burrows in bare or sandy soil and provisions each nest with paralyzed cicadas for its larvae. It prefers sunny, open ground such as sand barrens or sandy trail edges. Despite its size and loud flight, it is not aggressive toward people unless handled.
Read more about the cicada-killer wasp.
Photo: Sam O'Connell
Eastern hemlock
Tsuga canadensis
Eastern hemlock is a slow-growing, shade-tolerant conifer with feathery, flat needles and tiny cones. Most commonly found in moist ravines and forested wetlands, the spreading, evergreen branches of hemlocks shade the ground year-round, creating a microclimate perpetually cooler than the surrounding landscape. Hemlock is considered a keystone species: Without hemlock, the surrounding forest and stream ecosystems would change drastically, or collapse altogether.
Photo: Sam O'Connell
Eastern kingbird
Tyrannus tyrannus
The eastern kingbird is a bold, flycatching songbird with a dark head and white-tipped tail that hunts insects from exposed perches. It nests in shrubs and small trees at field and wetland edges and will use isolated tall shrubs or snags in barrens and along upland-forest margins to hunt over open ground.
Photo © Sue White
Eight-spotted rainbow robber fly
Taracticus octopunctatus
The eight-spotted rainbow robber fly is a predatory insect that captures other insects in flight. It frequents sunny, open habitats, often perching on bare ground or low vegetation, from which it launches itself in pursuit of prey.
Hooded warbler
Setophaga citrina
The hooded warbler is a small songbird with a bright yellow face and throat, framed by a dark “hood” in adult males. It feeds on insects near the ground, and is typically found in sheltered shrub pockets and moist upland or wetland forests.
Photo © Evan Lipton / Macaulay Library
Lowbush blueberry
Vaccinium pallidum
Lowbush blueberry is a low, spreading shrub with small edible berries and attractive fall color that grows in dry, sandy, or rocky soils. It thrives in open, acidic pockets of sand barrens and in sunny upland clearings where it can form low carpets and provide food for birds.
Photo: Ken Schneider
Narrow-leaved bluecurls
Trichostema setaceum
Narrow-leaved bluecurls is an upright, aromatic wildflower with tubular blue flowers that bloom in late summer; native bees are their chief pollinators. It tolerates dry, sandy, or rocky soils and can persist in thin-soil openings and the sunny edges of sand barrens and upland clearings.
Photo: Kara Quirke
Northern walkingstick
Diapheromera femorata
The northern walkingstick is a slender, twiglike insect that feeds on leaves and relies on camouflage to avoid predators. It inhabits shrubs and young trees at forest edges and in thickets, and is most likely to be found in upland forest and forested wetland margins adjacent to barrens.
Photo: Judy Semroc
Six-spotted tiger beetle
Cicindela sexguttata
The six-spotted tiger beetle is a fast-running, metallic-green predator that hunts small insects on bare ground and trails. It prefers sunny, well-drained edges and can be common along sandy paths and open patches within sand barrens and upland clearings.
Photo: Sam O'Connell
Skunk cabbage
Symplocarpus foetidus
Skunk cabbage grows in seeps and forested wetlands. It blooms in late winter, well before other plants, and its flowers are thermogenic—they generate heat, and can melt surrounding snow. The flowers also mimic the scent of carrion, and attract the year’s earliest insect pollinators. As spring progresses, skunk cabbage produces massive, cabbage-like leaves that emit a sulfurous odor when disturbed.
Photo: Kara Quirke
Spicebush swallowtail
Papilio troilus
The spicebush swallowtail is a medium-sized butterfly whose caterpillars feed on spicebush and sassafras; adult butterflies have dark wings with pale spots and a strong flight pattern characterized by rapid wingbeats interspersed with glides. Spicebush swallowtail are most often seen near shrubby edges and moist forest pockets where their host plants are common.
Photo: Kara Quirke
Spicebush
Lindera benzoin
Spicebush is a fragrant native shrub with aromatic leaves and (on female plants) bright red berries that ripen in fall. It commonly grows in moist woodland edges and forested wetlands, where it provides cover, food for birds, and host plants for spicebush swallowtail caterpillars.
Striped maple
Acer pensylvanicum
Striped maple is a small understory tree named for its pale-striped bark. It has three-lobed leaves and produces small, two-winged samaras (seeds) in autumn. It prefers cool, shaded forest patches and is most likely to occur in richer upland forest understories and sheltered wetlands rather than in exposed barrens.
Photo: Sam O'Connell
Velvet ant
Dasymutilla nigripes
Velvet ants are actually wingless female wasps covered in dense, often brightly colored hairs; the females can deliver a painful sting if handled. They are active on dry, sandy, or rocky ground and are commonly encountered in sand barrens searching for ground-nesting bees or wasps, whose larvae they parasitize.
Photo © Judy Gallagher
Wild lupine
Lupinus perennis
Wild lupine is a low, clumping perennial with spikes of blue-purple, pea-shaped flowers that bloom in late spring or early summer. It prefers sunny, well-drained, sandy soils and open upland patches, where its deep roots and ability to fix nitrogen (via bacteria in its roots that add nitrogen to the soil) help it persist in poor substrates. Wild lupine supports many native bees, and it is the essential host plant for the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly, a conservation priority species now found in Ohio only in the Oak Openings region near Toledo. Lupine benefits from periodic disturbance, such as fire or careful mowing, that maintains open habitat and prevents tree and shrub encroachment.
Photo: Ken Schneider
Witch hazel
Hamamelis virginiana
Witch hazel is a shrub or small tree. Unlike non-native species that bloom in spring, this native species produces yellow flowers that bloom in fall and produce explosive seed capsules the following year. It grows in woodland edges and along forested wetland margins and provides late-season nectar for insects and seeds that feed wildlife.
Photo: Sue White
Yellow birch
Betula alleghaniensis
Yellow birch is a medium- to large-sized deciduous tree with papery, fragrant bark and small nutlike seeds that disperse in autumn. It prefers cool, moist soils, and is often found in association with eastern hemlock.
Photo: Ken Schneider
