Another Micropezid

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

13mm (body) | January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica

Here’s another micropezid, waving its front legs like they are apt to do.

Frontal view

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Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs

Posted on July 1, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica

The botanical garden is home to many of these colorful little strawberry poison dart frogs, Oophaga pumilio. Unfortunately, they seem to prefer hanging about in the plastic planters. Above, you can see some of the little fertilizer beads. Below, one was just inside the container.

Inside a plastic plant containerI would have been preferred a more natural setting.

Although they were easy to spot amongst the plantings, I would have preferred a more natural setting.

One more

As you might expect, the bright coloration is a warning to not touch these little frogs.

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Crypsis Challenge #11

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica

Can you spot the critter hiding in plain sight in this photo? Just a general common name is all I’m looking for. I’ll moderate comments until I reveal the answer in a few days.

I’m waiting for the day when I post one of these and someone points out something else in the photo that I hadn’t even noticed.

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Green and Black Poison Dart Frog

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I spotted another of these relatively large frogs, Dendrobates auratus, in the botanical gardens. Unlike the one I spotted a few days before, this one wasn’t carrying a tadpole.

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Identification Challenge #12 Reveal: Emesinae

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

30mm (body) | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

Only one reader commented on the latest identification challenge. Bryan Reynolds found it easy to identify this as a thread-legged bug in the subfamily Emesinae (family Reduviidae). Be sure to check out Bryan’s new non-profit, The Butterflies of the World Foundation.

This thread-legged bug was spotted in some leaf litter, finishing off some sort of nondescript prey.

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Another Micropezid

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica

This one looks a lot like the one I found ovipositing.

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Female Yellow-headed Gecko

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica

Compared to the male, this female Gonatodes albigularis is quite drab.

She looks as if she has suffered some unfortunate incident. Not only does she appear to be regrowing the tip of her tail, but one of her hind feet seems a bit mangled.

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Feeding Derbids

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

30mm (wingspan) | January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica

These planthoppers in the family Derbidae are feeding on the yellow stem.

You can clearly see the left one’s beak (rostrum) inserted in the stem. Next time I’ll have to try and get a good profile shot. They really are odd looking.

Face on

Also odd are those Velcro like hooks along the leading edge of the wing.

What purpose might these hooks server?

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Identification Challenge #12

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

30mm (body) | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

Can you identify this critter as far as subfamily?

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Male Wandering Spider

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

This wandering spider in the family Ctenidae was spotted at the base of a large tree.

The large palps leave no doubt that this is a male.

Palps indicate a male

The eye arrangement was my first clue to the family. They also have a deep groove along the mid-line of the carapace, called a fovea, just barely visible in these photos.

I wasn’t able to identify this one any further than family. It’s quite a large spider though. The body measured 25mm (~1″) and with legs it was around 80mm (~3″).

Some species of Ctenidae have a nasty reputation. Suspecting at the time that this was a Ctenid, I kept a respectful distance. read more

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