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Blog Archives
BugShot 2012: Wolf Spiders
I enjoyed BugShot 2012, but didn’t take as much advantage of the setting as I’d hoped. By the time I got to Archbold Biological Station, I was coming down with what turned out to be an upper respiratory infection that would last for several weeks. At the end of each day I mostly just wanted to sleep. Not wanting to totally waste the opportunity, I did venture out for several hours on the final night.
Wolf spiders were everywhere and were easily found by the reflections of their eyes from my headlamp. This lighter colored one was my favorite.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Lichen Moth Caterpillar
10mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This cryptically colored little caterpillar reminds me of lichen moth larvae I’ve seen closer to home (Family Arctiidae, subfamily Lithosiinae). If so, it’s in the right place!
Posted in Featured Photos
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Scale Insects
5mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I probably wouldn’t have noticed these scale insects were it not for the ants that would occasionally stop to feed from them.
Its difficult to see in the first photo, but each one has 20 or so waxy threads spiraling away from the body. It’s not clear to me where exactly they’re coming from. The threads are a bit easier to see in the next few photos.
Waxy corkscrew shaped filaments radiate out from the body
I wonder if the spirals don’t help the ants to locate the scale.
The scales excrete honeydew from a small orange tube (to the left above, right below).
Posted in Featured Photos
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Leaf-mining Leaf Beetle
8mm long | July 12, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This attractive little beetle was resting when I found it. Looking at it here, it almost appears to be nature’s idea of a gaudy holiday light display. Just imagine each of those elytral punctures as a tiny LED, and then imagine them programmed so that the dorsal patterns shift down the eltytra, one puncture at a time. Jokes aside, it actually blends in pretty well with the browning foliage.
This is a leaf-mining leaf beetle, so called because the larvae feed between the surfaces of leaves, creating mines. Adults feed on foliage, and it may be responsible for some of the leaf damage visible here, though I didn’t actually see it eating.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Crypsis Challenge #15 Reveal: Moth
Did you find the hidden moth in the last crypsis challenge? If not, here’s where it was hidden.
Moth, Hidden
Moth, Revealed
In natural light it blended in quite well. With a flash though, it really pops out.
40mm wingspan
I thought the eyespot was interesting and I managed to get a closeup before the moth took off.
Eyespot Closeup
I expected this would be an easy challenge. All commenters correctly mentioned the moth. Good job, everyone!
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Crypsis Challenge #15
July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Can you spot the critter hidden on the side of this tree? This is a natural light photo and under the forest canopy it really was dark as shown here.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
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Crypsis Challenge #14 Reveal: Bark Mantis
Did you rise to the latest crypsis challenge and spot the bark mantis in the photo? If not, take another look with the help of my crude outlining skills.
July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Mantis Position Revealed
This bark mantis was the first thing I photographed on my first visit to Victorio Siqueroli Park. It was difficult trying to get some natural light photos that showed off its camouflage. It’s head down in the shot above, but it moved around during the shoot and ended up in various positions. Here’s some more shots with the aid of flash.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
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Crypsis Challenge #14
July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Can you spot the camouflaged critter in this image?
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
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Camouflaged Planthopper
15mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This little planthopper blends in pretty well with the lichen covered bark I found it on.
Side view
Posted in Featured Photos
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Crypsis Challenge #13 Reveal: Jumping Stick
82mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Were you able to find the critter in the photo above? It’s in the lower right corner. Some of you may recognize this as another stick grasshopper in the family Proscopiidae, previously featured in Crypsis Challenge #3. They are so cryptic that I couldn’t resist doing another challenge with this one. Here’s an outline of the grasshopper if you’re still not seeing it.
Grasshopper revealed
Check out how closely the color and texture of the insect matches that of the surrounding vegetation.
Can you distinguish animal from plant here?
Here’s another image where it’s blending in fairly well.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
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