Here’s yet a different species of colorful treehopper. These too were found in association with ants.

I had planned to post just a single photo of this scene with ants tending treehoppers. Here we see at least two different colorful treehopper instars, with one actively molting. Ants like the one shown above tended to this small grouping of treehoppers. As I was choosing a photo to post, I noticed something strange about the treehoppers though. Do you see it too?

Look closely and you’ll see that a few nymphs have parasites. I wasn’t sure at first, so I started looking through my other photos. Sure enough, almost every one had one or more parasites. The parasites seem to prefer hiding under the wing pads and below the thorax.

Most of the parasites were small, but there were at least a few plump ones.

None of the photos provided a clear view of the parasites, but I suspect they are mites. In any case, apparently the services provided by the ants don’t include grooming.

On the underside of a leaf, an attractive lynx spider guards her egg sac.

Even though I can’t identify it, it’s pretty enough that I had to post it.

When I spotted a group of treehoppers like the one above, I settled in for a while. With such a beautiful subject, I was determined to get some good photos. The shot above is probably my favorite out of around 300 or so shots. I struggled to get something in the background to avoid the usual black background that usually happens with macro flash photos. A black background wasn’t going to serve very well for these mostly black treehoppers.

Not only are the adults pretty, but the nymphs are also attractive in their own way. I prefer the black background here.

The treehoppers cluster together in small groups.

Somewhat surprisingly, these treehoppers didn’t appear to be attended by any ants.

I thought this exuvium was interesting. The interior is orangish, like the spikes on the abdomen. I suppose the base color is really mostly orange with black spots. The white color must really just be white scales.

They were on a good sized tree.

While looking around for an identification, I encountered a similar looking species on this plate from the Biologia Centrali-Americana identified as Membracis foliata. This article indicates there’s been confusion around that species though, so it could very well be one of the other species mentioned there (unfortunately I can’t access the full text).

When I encountered the planthopper above, I had no idea what was going on. While not entirely sure, I assumed that might be a parasite on its abdomen. I had wanted to get a closeup of just the parasite, but when I went to grab the planthopper, it jumped and flew away with little difficulty. The parasite must not have been as much of a hindrance as it would appear.

Here’s a crop of the image above showing the parasite.

It didn’t take much searching on the internet to determine that this must be the larva of a wasp in the family Dryinidae. There are plenty of images of larvae on BugGuide. According to Wikipedia, a larva initially feeds internally on the host. Only later in its development does it protrude the host as shown here.

I feel lucky to have seen this. As is usually the case, this just whets my appetite for more. Now I’ll be on the lookout for the odd looking adult.

I came across this small blind snake as it slowly wormed its way along a clear patch of ground next to a corn field. I thought it first it might be a worm, but something just looked a little odd about it. I picked it up and through my hand lens I could see it had scales. I also spotted its tongue darting in and out of its tiny mouth.

I didn’t know it then, but I was in the initial stages of chicken pox. All I knew was that I was feeling poorly and wasn’t motivated to take pictures in the field. I stuffed it in a small container for pictures later. The next day I took a few photos as I held it in my hand. I released it later that day in a field much like the one where I found it.

My brother-in-law’s family suggested it was a cobra-de-duas-cabeças (snake with two heads). It does indeed have a rounded off tail, making it difficult to tell which end is which. Some digging this morning though suggests that that name is more properly applied to a different type of reptile which isn’t a snake at all: amphisbaenians or worm lizards. In addition to not being able to easily tell which end is the head, they have the ability to move equally well both forwards and backwards. Probably the more likely common name for the critter I found is cobra-cega (blind snake).

It actually does have eyes, but they’re vestigial. It simply doesn’t need them since it mostly lives underground. Here’s the best closeup I could get of its tiny head. Too bad I didn’t happen to get one with the tongue flicking out.

Blind snakes belong to three families in the  infraorder Scolecophidia. Some reading this morning suggests I probably can’t determine which family this one belongs to based on external characters alone.

I suspected at the time and confirmed this morning that they mostly feed on ants and termites.

 

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!

Whenever I see a moth shaped like this, I assume it’s a tortricid. Probably not a bad guess, considering Tortricidae is one of the largest familes of Lepidoptera.

Resting with its legs held together on the edge of a leaf, this spider quickly grew tired of me. After a few shots, it slipped to the underside of the leaf.

I think this is a crab spider in the family Thomisidae, perhaps a Tmarus species.