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Author Archives: Troy Bartlett
Tree Sharpening Caterpillars
~30mm long | January 5, 2013 | Panga Ecological Reserve, Minas Gerais, Brazil
What appears to be a flower here is actually a group of caterpillars working their way down a sapling trunk.
They look like they could do a decent job sharpening a pencil, about the same width as this tree(?) trunk.
Side view | Trunk ~5mm wide
Despite the black background, this was taken a few hours before sunset. At the time there was probably a few feet of the trunk left. I marked the location and returned after dark. I found no trace of the trunk or the caterpillars. They apparently ate the whole tree.
I know there are defoliating caterpillars. I know there are wood boring caterpillars. I never imagined there are caterpillars that consume an entire tree though. That’s assuming they eat leaves, which I didn’t observe.
Posted in Featured Photos
2 Comments
Sign Challenge #1 Reveal: Spinybacked Spider Egg sac
This reveal for Sign Challenge #1 is long overdue. Here’s the challenge photo again:
~15mm long | August 23, 2012 | Sebring, FL, USA
Commenter Daniel Heald correct guessed it was a spider egg sac. Here’s another angle:
Dorsal view
When I took the photos, I assumed it was a cocoon. I was curious to see what moth would emerge, so I took it home with me.
After looking through Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates, I realized it was actually an egg sac for a Spinybacked spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis). In fact, I had seen many of those spiders in the area. The egg sac’s yellow silk, dark longitudinal line, and placement on the underside of a leaf all point to this species.
Posted in Sign Challenges
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Long-legged Fly with Prey
~7mm | August 23, 2012 | Sebring, Fl, USA
It wasn’t until I reviewed this shot on my camera and saw the prey, that I realized long-legged flies (family Dolichopodidae) are predatory.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Abandoned Hornet Nest over the Chattahoochee River in Fall
October 13, 2012 | Roswell, GA, USA
In Fall, bald-faced hornets enter the autumn of their lives. Surviving adults, no longer responsible for providing masticated prey for the colony’s growing young, enter into a retirement of sorts. They abandon their nest and spend their last days, up until the first frost, feeding on nectar. Only mated queens survive to found new colonies the following year.
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Highlands Tiger Beetle
~7mm | August 21, 2012 | Lake Wales Ridge, Polk County, Fl, USA
I wasn’t properly excited when I photographed this tiger beetle. I now know this species, Cicindela highlandensis, is a somewhat rare endemic species. There were no shortage of them at this particular spot though.
Honestly, I ignored them at first, not being sure I wanted to invest the effort required to get some good shots. Eventually, I had already prostrated myself for some shots of other subjects, so I figured what the heck. I’ll admit I was also somewhat motivated by a desire to share some tiger beetle shots here for frequent commenter Ted C. MacRae to see. 🙂
Posted in Featured Photos
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Female Amanda’s Pennant
~30mm long | August 22, 2012 | Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve, Haines City, Fl, USA
A female Amanda’s Pennant, Celithemis amanda, perches along a sandy trail in a relatively unvisited state park.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Mating Treehoppers
~4mm body | September 29, 2012 | Roswell, Ga, USA
These mating treehoppers (Acutalis brunnea) picked a good place to get together, at least from a photographer’s perspective. I like the composition of this full frame image, but there’s so many different ways I could crop it.
Here’s a closer look at the pair.
Cropped view
I’ve stared at the full size image, but I can’t decide which one is male and which one is female.
Posted in Featured Photos
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BugShot 2012: Wolf Spiders
I enjoyed BugShot 2012, but didn’t take as much advantage of the setting as I’d hoped. By the time I got to Archbold Biological Station, I was coming down with what turned out to be an upper respiratory infection that would last for several weeks. At the end of each day I mostly just wanted to sleep. Not wanting to totally waste the opportunity, I did venture out for several hours on the final night.
Wolf spiders were everywhere and were easily found by the reflections of their eyes from my headlamp. This lighter colored one was my favorite.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Red Widow with Egg Sac
~15mm long | August 21, 2012 | Tiger Creek Preserve, Babson Park, Fl, USA
While on my way to BugShot 2012, I spent several days exploring parks along the way. My favorite spot was the Nature Conservancy’s Tiger Creek Preserve for the variety of habitats its trails pass through.
Here, I was curious about some some palmetto leaves that had been sealed up. Peeling a layer of leaves away, I found a red widow guarding her egg sac.
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Sign Challenge #1
This’ll be the first in a new series of challenges focused on sign. What is “sign”, you might be asking? Generally, it’s something whose presence indicates the presence of something else. Here on this blog, of course, I’m referring to sign in nature. That could be tracks an animal left behind, scat or other droppings, a shed skin, feeding damage, and so on.
So, with that in mind, what is this sign and what critter does it reveal?
~15mm long | August 23, 2012 | Sebring, FL, USA
I highly recommend Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates. I find that it’s one of my most used references of late. If you already have it, you’ll find the answer to this challenge in it.
Posted in Sign Challenges
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