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Blog Archives
Katydid
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
If not for the long antennae, this large katydid could easily be mistaken for a grasshopper.
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Owlfly
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I rarely find owlflies (family Ascalaphidae, order Neuroptera). Even though this one was in an unphotogenic location, I couldn’t resist a few photos.
Dorsal view
This was a large one. The body was around 4cm long.
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Anole
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Anoles were abundant everywhere I went in Costa Rica. They are difficult to identify though, and I gave up trying to figure out which species this might be.
Anole
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Jumping Spider with Prey
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This little salticid has captured a small fly of some sort.
White scales on the chelicerae almost look like a mustache.
Frontal view
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Identification Challenge #12 Reveal: Emesinae
30mm (body) | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Only one reader commented on the latest identification challenge. Bryan Reynolds found it easy to identify this as a thread-legged bug in the subfamily Emesinae (family Reduviidae). Be sure to check out Bryan’s new non-profit, The Butterflies of the World Foundation.
This thread-legged bug was spotted in some leaf litter, finishing off some sort of nondescript prey.
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Female Yellow-headed Gecko
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Compared to the male, this female Gonatodes albigularis is quite drab.
She looks as if she has suffered some unfortunate incident. Not only does she appear to be regrowing the tip of her tail, but one of her hind feet seems a bit mangled.
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Feeding Derbids
30mm (wingspan) | January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
These planthoppers in the family Derbidae are feeding on the yellow stem.
You can clearly see the left one’s beak (rostrum) inserted in the stem. Next time I’ll have to try and get a good profile shot. They really are odd looking.
Face on
Also odd are those Velcro like hooks along the leading edge of the wing.
What purpose might these hooks server?
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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
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Male Wandering Spider
January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This wandering spider in the family Ctenidae was spotted at the base of a large tree.
The large palps leave no doubt that this is a male.
Palps indicate a male
The eye arrangement was my first clue to the family. They also have a deep groove along the mid-line of the carapace, called a fovea, just barely visible in these photos.
I wasn’t able to identify this one any further than family. It’s quite a large spider though. The body measured 25mm (~1″) and with legs it was around 80mm (~3″).
Some species of Ctenidae have a nasty reputation. Suspecting at the time that this was a Ctenid, I kept a respectful distance.
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Bronze-backed Climbing Skink
January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I thought it would be difficult to identify this skink, but it turns out there are only three skinks in Costa Rica. Only two of those occur in the area I was in. And only one, Mabuya unimarginata, is bronzed like this one.
Chiefly arboreal, this one was nonetheless basking on a log near the ground.
Showing more of the body
See more images of this species here.
Reference:
[book:0970567804]
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