Stingless Bee Nest

Posted on May 26, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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

This stingless bee nest was nestled in the hollow of a tree. The nest entrance is only about a centimeter wide, making the bees themselves only 5 or 6mm long.

As their common name suggests, these bees have no sting to defend themselves. Knowing that, I got quite close. Harmless though they may be, they certainly look mean.

Looking mean

New arrival below

In that last photo, you can see a new arrival hanging below the nest, with pollen visible in the basket on its hind tibia.

According to Hogue, there are three genera of stingless bees. Lestrimelitta can be eliminated here because it doesn’t have a pollen basket. Of the other two, Melipona is larger, hairier and the wings don’t extend beyond the tip of the abdomen as they do here. These must then be a Trigona species. read more

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Dictyopharid

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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

Just another one of those odd looking dictyopharids.

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Snout Beetle

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

18mm | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

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Prominent Caterpillar

Posted on May 23, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

22mm | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

This caterpillar looks enough like some of my local caterpillars that I can confidently say it’s a prominent moth larva. Its markings camouflage it well as it inserts itself into areas it has eaten.

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Gold-spotted Orb Weaver

Posted on May 22, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

18mm | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

This large orb weaver was hanging out in the understory. I believe this might be Eriophora nephiloides. Most online photos for the species show a brighter yellower abdomen. It appears to be quite variable. Here’s a photo of one similar to mine (along with what’s pictured at wikipedia).

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Large Bark Katydid

Posted on May 17, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

75mm | January 19, 2011

Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

This large katydid was trying to remain inconspicuous on the side a tree. With a body three inches long and antennae over twice that, it was difficult to miss. I considered making this a crypsis challenge, but it seemed too easy.

In the second photo, it’s in the lower right corner.

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Colorful Jumping Spider

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

4mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

It’s hard to resist jumping spiders. This little one sort of has the colors of the Costa Rican flag!

Better view of abdomen

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Apterostigma collare

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

4mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I spotted the structure below on the underside of a large leaf. I really didn’t know what it was, and I gently poked at it. It was quite fragile as it turns out, and it fell open to reveal an ant nest. I then immediately regretted not having taken a photo beforehand. The next day I was lucky enough to find another one, also pictured.

6cm x 4cm | Unexpected ant nest

4cm x 2cm | Nest with an ant entering

These nests are the work of an ant in the genus Apterostigma. Ants of Costa Rica has an info page for this genus in Costa Rica. I tried to use the key there to identify these, but it was a bit technical for me. I’m basing the species identification on the statements from the site that seem to indicate that only Apterostigma collare builds these nests under leaves. There are some more photos of nests at that same site. read more

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Amplypygids – Tailless Whip Scorpions

Posted on May 14, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

20mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

These fearsome looking arachnids have an order to themselves, Amblypygi. Though commonly called tailless whip scorpions or whip spiders, they are neither. Intimidating though they may look, they aren’t dangerous and possess no venom. They are quite timid in fact, and I had to take care not to scare them away while photographing them.

Here’s how you might expect to see one actively moving about, with its oversized first pair of legs outstretched.

Longest legs extend outside frame

That first pair of legs is modified for use as antennae. They wave them about, sensing and probing. While the body of this one measured only 2cm, each one of those antenniform legs was 8cm long! read more

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Hammerhead Fly

Posted on May 13, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

7mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I spotted this little fly on the underside of a large leaf. I was really thrilled to find something so unusual. I probably spent about a half hour chasing it around from one perch to another. Luckily, it always flew just a short distance.

Dorsal view

I had heard of antler flies before, and I figured this was a good candidate to be one. Initial internet searches using that phrase didn’t turn up anything though. On a whim I tried searching for “hammerhead fly” since that seemed like an obvious common name for this fly. That turned out to be a good guess, and I found lots of similar looking images of Richardia telescopica in the family Richardiidae. I’ve been unable to eliminate the possibility of similar looking species. If not for that uncertainty, I’d have made this into an identification challenge. read more

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