13mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
The more I observe nature, the more I realize that parasites rule. Â So far this trip, I’ve accumulated dozens of photos to prove my point, including the one above.
Believe it or not, this caterpillar was still alive. The parasites, wasps presumably, are long gone.
July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
The local common name for these social wasps is marimbondo-chapéu in Portuguese or hat wasp in English. The name refers to the form of the nest, seen above.
Seen from below, I’d say it looks more like a sunflower. They are really packed in there. I’d estimate there are probably a couple of hundred of them.
Sunflower?
Here’s another crop that I like of that same image.
A different crop
You’ve probably noticed by now these images were taken during the day. So what are all of them doing hanging out on the nest? Taking a siesta? I wondered the same thing. I spent around 45 minutes taking pictures and attempting to gauge just how closely I could approach without alarming them. During that whole time, not a single one flew off or arrived.
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Three commenters successfully identified the frog from the last crypsis challenge.
Here’s a closer look.
Frog closeup
That wraps up all my posts from my January trip to Costa Rica.
7mm body | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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.
Lateral view
There’s also a nice collection of spurs on the hind legs. Here’s a closer look at one of those legs.
Hind leg detail
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.
25mm body | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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?
13mm body | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I’m pretty sure this is a huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae.
Frontal view
July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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.
Soldier with worker
30mm | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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.
25mm | Dorsolateral view
This last one was the smallest, but the most robust.
20mm | Dorsal view
It was moving slowly about until it encountered something tasty (rodent dropping?).
Lateral view | Feeding
July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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.
7mm (body) | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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.
