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Category Archives: Featured Photos
Hypsiboas rufitelus
18mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I photographed quite a few frogs in Costa Rica, but I’m having a hard time identifying them.
My first thought for this attractive little one was that it might be a glass frog of some type (family Centrolenidae), because it appears to be somewhat transparent. Brian Kubicki of the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center was nice enough to respond to an email and identify it instead as an immature tree frog (family Hylidae), Hypsiboas rufitelus.
Looking around for online photos (here’s one of Brian’s), it looks like they must lose that bold red dorsal coloring as they mature.
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Army Ant Week Post #3
January 23, 2003 | Rincón de la Vieja National Park, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica
OK, I admit it’s not a great photo. What I was trying to show here though was how thoroughly the army ants at the raid front carpet an area, looking for prey. They go in, under and over everything. I usually just step over the raid trails when I encounter them. In this case though, they were very thoroughly blocking the trail I was on. I eventually tip-toed through them, followed by some vigorous foot stomping.
Seeing a raid front really is quite a spectacle though. There are often antbirds flitting around, and it’s amazing to see all the stuff that the ants scare from the leaf litter. I’ve been surprised by just how many hidden critters are suddenly forced into revealing themselves. As potential prey flees the ants, you can’t help but notice how some are immediately set upon by parasitic flies.
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Army Ant Week Post #2
July 20, 2006 | Ilhabela, Sao Paulo State, Brazil
These two photos are from my first trip to Brazil. I spent a week on the island of Ilhabela, a few hours drive from Sao Paulo.
I probably wouldn’t even have noticed these ants if not for the calling of antbirds. The birds were making quite a fuss so I moved in to investigate. That’s when I started to hear a light rustling noise and then noticed the ants carpeting the leaf litter. The rustling is not just the ants, but all of their potential prey trying to escape.
Below, they’ve managed to overwhelm a spider, er, well, actually just a shed spider skin. Honestly, I always believed this was a captured spider until reviewing it yesterday when I noticed something was off.
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Army Ant Week Post #1
In honor of Army Ant Week, I’m going to take a short break from my recent Costa Rica photos to post a few army ant photos.
June 7, 2004 | Barro Colorado Island, Panama
The only time I’ve ever seen an army ant bivouac was on a trip to Panama. I don’t recall if the photo above was of part of the bivouac or just an ant bridge somewhere along a foraging trail. My field notes were unfortunately lost in a house fire several years ago.
This could be Eciton hamatum, based on Alex Wild’s post today on that species. They are definitely orange, and I don’t recall being bitten or stung. If they are some other species, I’m sure I’ll be set straight in short order.
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Ant, Victimized by Fungus
Ant, 10mm | Fungal stalk, 5mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This unfortunate ant fell victim to a fungus, Cordyceps perhaps.
This short sequence from an episode of the Planet Earth series gives a nice introduction to the phenomenon.
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Colorful Snout Beetle
12mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I really love the colors on this snout  beetle. Check out the detail. The image is not quite as sharp as I’d like, but just look at all those little colorful scales.
Detail
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Bridal Veil Stinkhorn
20cm | January 17, 2011
Cahuita NP, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I was thrilled to find this stinkhorn, Phallus indusiatus, growing right on the side of the trail. I’m not sure how long they last, but with frequent foot traffic through the area, I might have been lucky to be the first in the area.
There’s lots of interesting information on the wikipedia page for this species, including a surprising physiological effect on women.
One of my photography resolutions for the year is to use my wide angle lens more. I thought this was a good subject for it, particularly in the first photo, showing the trail in the background. Using the wide angle lens required getting quite close for these photos. Being male, and consistent with what’s reported on the wikipedia page I linked to above, I found the smell disgusting.
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Colorful Micromoth
11mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This was the first subject I found after starting along the coastal trail in Cahuita National Park. There were dozens of these little moths on some sort of plant that was prevalent along the coastal trail. When I spotted the first one, I thought perhaps it was a leafhopper. It was only after seeing one up close that I realized it was a moth, and a spectacularly colored one at that.
I’m amazed at how well the forewing and hindwing patterns line up. While clearly two wings toward the tail end, you can barely make out the division between them elsewhere. As for what purpose this pattern serves, I’m stumped. They stand out well on the foliage, so it’s hard to imagine it provides camouflage. Perhaps these are warning colors, but why then the intricate pattern towards the rear? It might be a false eye sort of thing to distract attention away from the important end. And the two red bands do look kind of like legs, if the thing were facing the opposite direction.
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Mass Pupation
January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I found one other grouping of exuviae in the area where I found the one above. I’ve never seen anything like this locally. I believe these are from lepidopterans. There is a slight layer of silk on the bark. Up close, I saw some cast off head capsules. Look closely above, and you’ll notice a leg that must have broken off while struggling free.
I know some caterpillars are gregarious as early instars, but I thought they generally went their separate ways as final instars. I thought this was interesting evidence that in at least one species, they pupate and perhaps eclose together.
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Young Rattlesnake
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I haven’t yet driven MG-223 that leaves Tupaciguara in the direction of Araguari at night without seeing a snake crossing the road. Here’s the most recent one I spotted, which I assume is a young rattlesnake. It’s small, maybe 6 inches or so, and it looks like it has a button at the end of its tail.
My real dilemma when I spot one is whether or not to stop and risk getting hit by another vehicle. At any rate, I’m definitely in a hurry to get a photo and get back up to speed.
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