Geometrid Caterpillar with Enlarged Thorax

Posted on October 25, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

23mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This caterpillar has an interesting profile. I’ve seen caterpillars with enlarged thoracic segments, but I don’t recall ever seeing a geometrid like this. I assume this is a geometrid because it only has two pairs of prolegs.

Closeup of head and thorax

I was just about to publish this and I decided to look through my copy of Caterpillars of Eastern North America to see if I saw anything similar in the section on geometrids. This is not unlike the caterpillar of the Tulip-tree Beauty (Epimecis hortaria). I’ve never actually seen one of those, even though I often see the adults. Wagner says the odd proportions are distinctive for that species for North America. Perhaps this is a Brazilian species in that genus. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | Leave a comment

Parasitized Brush-footed Butterfly Chrysalis

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

17mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Metamorphosis for this butterfly appears to have been interrupted by a parasite, a small wasp perhaps. You can see the hole where the parasite chewed its way out. Oddly, there’s a similar hole on the other side. Maybe it abandoned this other exit since it looks incomplete. Or maybe there were actually multiple parasites.

Another exit hole?

I know this is the chrysalis of a brush-footed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae because other butterfly families use a a small silken thread around the thorax to help secure it. Here’s an example from an earlier post. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | Leave a comment

Crypsis Challenge #15

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Can you spot the critter hidden on the side of this tree? This is a natural light photo and under the forest canopy it really was dark as shown here.

Posted in Crypsis Challenges | 6 Comments

Spider Corpse with Fungus

Posted on October 22, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

14mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Can you spot the spider corpse here? Looks like it succumbed to some sort of fungal infection. Fungi are quite diverse and I don’t recall ever seeing one quite like this one. Here’s a closer view.

Closeup of fungus

I suspect that webbing is probably from the spider itself. It probably was hiding inside a silken retreat when it died.

Side view

Would the fungus properly be called an arachnopathogen? I think so but there’s practically no hits when I search for that term.

I did find a photo with a similar looking fungus on BugGuide though. Sadly, no info on the identity of the fungus. It’s neat to see that the photo was taken not too far from where I live though. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 6 Comments

Identification Challenge #13 Reveal: Spotted Apatelodes Proleg

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

Spotted Apatelodes Caterpillar | October 2, 2011 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

Did you guess that the caterpillar above was the critter featured in Identification Challenge #13? Both commenters for this challenge were on the right track, guessing that it was a caterpillar. Here’s the photo again from the challenge.

Proleg closeup

Here’s an even closer look at the proleg so I can point out a few interesting things.

Proleg showing crochets in two different sizes

All those little claws on the proleg are called crochets. This particular species, Apatelodes torrefacta, is one of just a handful of species in my area that belong to the family Bobycidae. The most famous member of that family is the domesticated silkworm moth. One feature of caterpillars in this family is that they have crochets of two different lengths, as shown above. read more

Posted in Identification Challenges | 4 Comments

Colorful Leafhopper

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

5mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

It’s a shame I found this attractive little leafhopper on such an ugly leaf.

Posted in Featured Photos | Leave a comment

Identification Challenge #13

Posted on October 9, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

October 2, 2011 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

Despite appearances, I promise this is not an underwater shot of some strange anemone. I brought this critter home from a recent walk in the park.

This could be a difficult challenge. Nonetheless, I bet someone will be able to identify the species shown here. To give you some sense of scale, I had my 65mm macro lens maxed out at 5x for this shot.

Posted in Identification Challenges | 4 Comments

Thorn Mimic Treehoppers

Posted on October 8, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

10mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Treehoppers like this one are sometimes said to mimic thorns. If so, it would have to be a dull thorn, and it doesn’t do it much good hanging out on a leaf. More often though, you’ll find them hanging out together on branches.

Group of treehoppers

Posted in Featured Photos | 4 Comments

Lacewing Eggs Comparison

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

9mm high | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I assume these are hatched lacewing eggs, though I think there are other critters that lay stalked eggs as well. What I found interesting was how long the stalks are relative to the eggs. The lacewing eggs I usually find have relatively shorter stalks. Compare the hatched ones above with some unhatched ones below that I found in a park close to home.

5mm high | August 27, 2011 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

Searching around the internet I see two common explanations for why eggs are laid on stalks. First, the stalks make it more difficult for predators such as ants to reach the eggs. The stalks are sometimes even coated with a repellent substance. Second, lacewing larvae are cannibalistic and the stalks serve to keep keep newly hatched larvae away from each other. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 1 Comment

Scale Insects

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I assume these are scale insects. When I saw them I remembered the mysterious sign I spotted earlier in the year in Costa Rica. After seeing this, I think scales were probably responsible for that.

Note how they’re arranged along the central leaf vein. They’re undoubtedly taking plant juices through that midvein.

Click on the photo for a larger version and see if you scan spot a small mite (an “easter egg” I didn’t know about when I took the photo). Then see if you can find its recently cast off skin! read more

Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos | Leave a comment