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Blog Archives
Identification Challenge #12
30mm (body) | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Can you identify this critter as far as subfamily?
Posted in Identification Challenges
2 Comments
Prominent Caterpillar
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.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Richardiid Fly
6mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I’m pretty sure this fly is a species in the family Richardiidae.
Dorsolateral view
It was really concentrating on mopping up whatever that blob is, allowing me to get several shots from various angles.
Dorsal view
Reference:
[book:9968927147]
Posted in Featured Photos
2 Comments
Ant-mimicking Broad-headed Bug Nymphs
14mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
At first glance you’d think that’s an ant rather than a true bug. Look closely though and the beak gives it away. These broad-headed bug nymphs (Family Alydidae) were easily found on the same foliage where I saw some Ectatomma ants. Perhaps those ants are the model for this mimic. The caption for this photo certainly suggests that’s the case.
Here’s a side by side comparison.
Mimic, feeding
Model?, waiting in ambush
Notice how the antenna tips are darker in the photo below. I wonder if that makes them appear shorter and closer in length to the model?
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
Possible Hecale Longwings
January 17, 2011
Cahuita NP, Limon Province, Costa Rica
These butterflies were attracted to these white flowers. These might be Heliconius hecale zuleika, but I suspect there are probably lots of species that are difficult to tell apart.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Leaf Beetles and Damaged Leaves
2mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This is almost but not quite the shot I was going for. When I first saw this little beetle it was oriented toward the freshly eaten patch. With the frass strewn around, you can just imagine it chewing away at the surface in a circular pattern. I wasn’t quite stealthy enough in my approach however, and I spooked it into moving away.
Below is a similar beetle, perhaps a different sex of the same species. Note the difference between the freshly eaten patch above and the older ones below.
Showing older leaf damage
Posted in Featured Photos
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Reddish Tortoise Beetles
4mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
There were quite a few of these reddish tortoise beetles feeding on this banana plant.
Banana plant
They feed on the large leaves, scarring them in a distinctive way.
Sign from feeding
Here you can see one munching its way forward, carefully feeding only between the leaf veins.
Machinelike feeding precision
Did you notice the little hitchhiker above? Looks like some sort of parasitic wasp to me. I suspect this is probably a female beetle, and the wasp is just hanging out until she lays eggs, which the wasp will then parasitize. Here’s a closer look.
Parasitic wasp closeup
They’d often fly away from me once I started taking pictures, but it was no trouble to find another one.
Posted in Featured Photos
5 Comments
Crypsis Challenge #7 Reveal
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Commenters had no trouble finding the cryptic critter circled above on a partially eaten leaf. No one figured out that it was a caterpillar though, and a rather bizarre one at that. Here’s a closer look.
It's a caterpillar
It does a pretty good job, I think, of blending in with the damaged areas of the other leaves. I suspect the brown leaf areas were damaged by an earlier instar that chews away at the surface of the leaf rather than eating the entire thing. It looks formidable and I didn’t risk touching it. Those black structures are unlike anything I’ve seen on a caterpillar.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
2 Comments
Blister Beetles Defoliating
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This plant was being devoured by dozens of these attractive blister beetles. Above I’ve caught one with a leaf fragment in its mouth. Below, you can see how they’ve stripped a branch clean. The frass seems to be exiting just about as fast as the plant goes in (must be a good source of fiber).
Beetles Defoliating
As these pictures show, the plant was literally crawling with these beetles.
Working on another branch
The dark backgrounds here are an effect of the camera flash. This was actually happening in broad daylight. How are they able to risk doing that? Blister beetles are so named because they defend themselves with a caustic compound, cantharidin, found in their blood. Predators soon learn to avoid them.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Dinner at the Cow Patty
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Remember I said in the location profile for Tupaciguara that cattle are abundant? I was driving through one of the many cattle pastures at night when I noticed that some of the fresher cow patties were being visited by moths.
I suppose this shouldn’t be too surprising. I’ve seen plenty of butterflies taking nourishment from bird droppings and other animal scat. Well, at least something is benefiting from those cattle.
Some other random thoughts:
I wondered if anyone has ever done a study on how many and what types of species come to cow patties? That might be worthy of an Ig Noble prize.
Posted in Featured Photos
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