Insects are the most noticeable of the park’s invertebrates. (At times
you may find your can of repellent as important as your shoes!) In all
the fresh-water and brackish environments, insects and their larvae are
important links in the food chains—at the beginning as primary consumers
of algae and other plant material, and farther along as predators,
mostly on other insects. Some insects are parasites on the park’s
warmblooded animals (including you).
The invertebrates most sought by visitors are molluscs—or rather, their
shells. You may find a few on the beach at Cape Sable, but don’t expect
to find the park a productive shelling area. Stick to marine
shells—_dead_ ones. You cannot collect the fresh-water molluscs. Also
protected are the tree snails of jungle hammocks. Famed for their
beauty, these snails of the genus _Liguus_, which grow to as much as 2½
inches in diameter, feed upon the lichens growing on certain hammock
trees. Look for them—but leave them undisturbed, for they are a part of
the community, protected just as are the park’s royal palms and its
alligators.
[Illustration: INDIANS IN SOUTH FLORIDA]
BIG CYPRESS INDIAN RESERVATION
FLORIDA STATE SEMINOLE INDIAN RESERVATION
DANIA INDIAN RESERVATION
SCATTERED MOUNDS THROUGHOUT SHARK VALLEY
RUSSELL KEY
TURNER RIVER
LOPEZ RIVER
HOUSTON RIVER
MORMON KEY
GOPHER KEY
JOHNSON MOUND
FARM CREEK MOUND
EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK
MONROE LAKE
EAST CAPE MOUNDS
_GULF OF MEXICO_
_FLORIDA BAY_
_ATLANTIC OCEAN_
Indian Mounds
Indian Villages
Big Cypress Swamp
Mangrove Swamp
Pine Rockland
Coastal Prairie
Everglades