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Author Archives: Troy Bartlett
Poison Ivy Caterpillar / Dimorphic Macalla Moth
For many years I’ve noticed colorful little caterpillars that live individually in silken retreats on the surface of leaves of poison ivy. At a recent BugGuide gathering, a photo of one of these caterpillars was shown and I realized we still didn’t know what these were. I resolved then to rear a few to try and arrive at an identification. There’s plenty of poison ivy near my home, so I didn’t anticipate much trouble finding a few.
Here’s the first one I found. The white area just behind the head is atypical. The caterpillar is smaller than usual, so it might be an early instar. It could also represent some sort of injury.
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Tapinoma Ant Observations
April 13, 2012 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
For several days I had noticed ants racing along the bricks at the base of one of my garage doors. I finally took a closer look to see what could be keeping them so busy for so long. They were streaming between a hole in my house and somewhere out in the front yard. I tried following, but these ants are tiny, only a few millimeters long. I quickly lost them in some pine straw.
Moving out
Turns out they were moving out of my house. The ones heading toward the yard were carrying eggs, larvae, and pupae. As I watched them though, I noticed something else leaving with them that didn’t look quite right.
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Wild Goat
April 23, 2012 | Arikok National Park, Aruba
I took a short trip to Aruba recently. Late in the trip, I spent a half day in Arikok National Park. I saw plenty of wild goats. There are reportedly wild donkeys as well, but I didn’t see any of those.
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Another Unidentified Caterpillar
~30mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Even though I can’t identify it, it’s pretty enough that I had to post it.
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Leafrolling Mystery Caterpillar
20mm | April 5, 2012 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
Earlier this month I was checking for anything interesting in my backyard when I came across this caterpillar in a rolled up leaf on viburnum. I decided to try and rear it to get an identification.
It turns out it was a final instar because it pupated beneath its leaf within a week, sometime around the 9th.
Pupa within leaf shelter
I removed the pupa from its webbing for some cleaner shots.
11mm | Underside of pupa
Dorsolateral view
I checked daily for the adult, but sadly it eclosed while I was away on vacation, sometime around the 20th give or take a few days. When I got back I found a dead and beat up adult. I prefer live images of a fresh adult that I can release later, but I’ll take what I can get here I guess.
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Membracis Treehoppers and Nymphs
~10mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
When I spotted a group of treehoppers like the one above, I settled in for a while. With such a beautiful subject, I was determined to get some good photos. The shot above is probably my favorite out of around 300 or so shots. I struggled to get something in the background to avoid the usual black background that usually happens with macro flash photos. A black background wasn’t going to serve very well for these mostly black treehoppers.
Not only are the adults pretty, but the nymphs are also attractive in their own way. I prefer the black background here.
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Dictyopharid Planthopper with Dryinid Wasp Parasite
~20mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
When I encountered the planthopper above, I had no idea what was going on. While not entirely sure, I assumed that might be a parasite on its abdomen. I had wanted to get a closeup of just the parasite, but when I went to grab the planthopper, it jumped and flew away with little difficulty. The parasite must not have been as much of a hindrance as it would appear.
Here’s a crop of the image above showing the parasite.
Closeup of parasite
It didn’t take much searching on the internet to determine that this must be the larva of a wasp in the family Dryinidae. There are plenty of images of larvae on BugGuide. According to Wikipedia, a larva initially feeds internally on the host. Only later in its development does it protrude the host as shown here.
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Thread-legged Bug with Spider Prey
30mm long | December 30, 2011 | Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil
This thread-legged bug appears to be hanging in mid-air, but in fact it has delicately balanced itself on a spider web. Its beak holds a small spider that it must have just plucked from the center of the web.
Some thread-legged specialize in spiders, and I wonder if this might be one of them. Some are even known to lure the spider by plucking at the web like captured prey might.
Another view
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A Couple of Dictyopharid Planthoppers
10mm long | December 30, 2011 | Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil
These dictyopharid planthoppers are a nice addition to my virtual collection.
It took many attempts before I got this shot where both planthoppers were in the plane of focus. That’s sometimes difficult enough with small subjects, but even more so when they are above your head. I convinced myself the Canon 60D’s flip-out view screen with live view would come in handy for situations like this. Shots like these that I’d otherwise have missed make me feel better about the expenditure.
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Hunting Spider on Grass
18mm long | December 30, 2011 | Quirinópolis, Goiás, Brazil
This attractively marked hunting spider spider was resting on a blade of grass after a rain. I’m being intentionally vague by saying hunting spider here, because I really don’t know how to narrow it down to even a family.
With those racing stripes, one wonders how quickly it moves.
Closer view
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