Here’s another crazy looking harvestman for my collection. This was a small one, found under a log. I didn’t want to risk it getting away, so I grabbed it and took those pictures at home on a piece of bark.

Aside from the horns towards the rear of the abdomen, there’s a couple that rise up between the eyes.

There’s also a nice collection of spurs on the hind legs. Here’s a closer look at one of those legs.

Here’s a closer look at the eyes. What I assume is a mite is sitting in front of the eyes, with a scattering of what must be eggs close by. If you look closely, you can find other mites in these photos.

Here’s a few more photos.

I just noticed some harvestman photos online showing how some flouresce under UV light. I didn’t realize that or I would’ve experimented with this one. I already released it in a nearby park, so I’ll have to find another one now!

 

I spotted two of these beetles, both on tree bark at the base of trees. I don’t have any of my references with me, so I can only speculate about the family. Tenebrionidae, perhaps?

I’m pretty sure this is a huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae.

I generally overlook termites, but this trip I decided I’d change that. These were the first ones I found. They were busy pulling grains underground.

Now that I’ve been paying attention, I can see there’s quite a variety. In this species, the soldiers and the workers are about the same size.

I saw quite a variety of cockroaches in my relatively short outing to Monte Alegre. The first one, above, was the largest and was not altogether unattractive. It blended in well with the leaf litter.

The second one was a bit smaller, and was spotted in some low foliage.

This last one was the smallest, but the most robust.

It was moving slowly about until it encountered something tasty (rodent dropping?).

These ants are tending to some treehopper nymphs. Most of the ants are busy collecting honeydew, but the one on the bottom has noticed me and is on alert. I accidentally bumped the branch after this shot and all of the ants started running around looking for something to attack. I held up a leaf for a background here so that the ants would stand out.

In this next shot, I’m assuming the white areas are either treehopper eggs or a protective covering for the eggs. One of the adult treehoppers is also visible here, a darker shade of red than the nymphs.

In this final shot, there are more eggs, another adult and some late instar nymphs.

One of my brother-in-laws offered to drop me off for a few hours in a forested area on one of his farms. I was thrilled, but perhaps a bit anxious when he offered me a revolver in case I encountered a jaguar. I turned down the gun and if there was a jaguar in the area I never saw it.

The first critter I found was this odd looking spider. I spotted it while breaking up a rotting log. It’s quite flat, evolved no doubt for squeezing into tight spaces. I wanted to grab it for a closer look, but it managed to fall into the leaf litter and escape.

It’s difficult to make out details like the number and arrangement of the eyes. Maybe something in the family Thomisidae?