Can you find the critter hidden on this tree trunk? Even after you find it, I bet you’d be surprised that its overall length spans more than half the height of this image!

Looks like all commenters easily spotted the snake in this photo.

It’s about a third of the way from the top right. Here’s a closer shot from roughly the same angle.

As Andrea J determined, this is an eyelash viper, Bothriechis schlegelii. It’s difficult to pick up an ecotourism brochure in Costa Rica and not see a picture of the yellow variety of this species.

Look out for a separate post on this individual with many more photos.

Oh, and don’t worry, I kept a respectful distance. This encounter reminded me why I always carry around a teleconverter.

The last crypsis challenge was surprisingly difficult, but I think this one might be easier.

What has hidden itself here, just where an unsuspecting tourist might place their hand? A general description is fine, although I suspect someone will know exactly what this is.

Well, this challenge was certainly more difficult than I anticipated. Nonetheless, several people did find the frog in the image above. Below, I’ve outlined it.

Now that you know it’s there, I bet you can’t look at the image without it standing out.

Andrea J. went on to suggest it might be a Leptodactylid. I agree. Here’s a close crop from the photo above.

I picked up this book while in Costa Rica:

According to that book, all Costa Rican leptodactylids lack webbing between their fingers. In the crop above, I don’t see any webbing. There are only three genera in Costa Rica. One genus has only large species, and this one is small. Another has only a single species, easily dismissed because it has extremely warty skin. So by deduction this must be an Eleutherodactylus species. There are 40 highly variable species in that genus that the book calls a “taxonomic nightmare”, so I won’t speculate further on the species. I might even be wrong about the family . See comments below… I was fooled by the size. Turns out it’s the first genus I dismissed based on size, and it’s just a baby.

Here’s one more look at this well camouflaged species.

It’s tough for me to know just how  difficult these crypsis challenges are, since I obviously know what’s in them. I would think this is very easy, but then a coworker commented that others that I thought were easy were in fact hard for him.

Anyway, see how challenging it is for you to spot the critter camouflaged in the photo above. A general identification is fine, since I haven’t yet determined anything more specific.

Commenters had no trouble finding the cryptic critter circled above on a partially eaten leaf. No one figured out that it was a caterpillar though, and a rather bizarre one at that. Here’s a closer look.

It does a pretty good job, I think, of blending in with the damaged areas of the other leaves. I suspect the brown leaf areas were damaged by an earlier instar that chews away at the surface of the leaf rather than eating the entire thing. It looks formidable and I didn’t risk touching it. Those black structures are unlike anything I’ve seen on a caterpillar.

Here’s a head shot.

I don’t really have any idea what type of caterpillar it is. I suspect this is just a middle instar and that the final instar might be quite different looking.

Can you find and identify the order of the critter hiding in plain sight above?

What was hidden here?

Ted was on the right track with his comments about the mantid-like head. It is in fact a mantid of some type. Here’s a close crop from the image above.

Can you find and name (generally, say to order) the hidden critter in this image?

At least a few people found the caterpillar outlined below, from the last crypsis challenge.

I like how effectively it blends in. The dorsal markings match up pretty well with the damaged areas on the leaf.

It has spun a sort of silken lair across the entire leaf as well.