Blog Archives

Unusual Leafhopper

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

13mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

Here’s a somewhat unusual leafhopper. I don’t recall ever seeing one with an upturned snout.

Dorsal view

Posted in Featured Photos | 1 Comment

Mantidfly

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

15mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I was thrilled to find this mantidfly (family Mantispidae) on the underside of a large leaf. I’ve seen plenty of these attracted to lights at night, but I rarely encounter one in a natural setting.

Posted in Featured Photos | Leave a comment

Golden Silk Spiders, Mating

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

When I first spotted this female Nephila clavipes, she was positioned rather low in her web. Her background was cluttered and shaded. I prodded her a few times, and as I’d hoped, she retreated to a higher position in her web where I thought I might be able to get a more pleasing background.

Unexpectedly, her quick movements drew the attention of a male that was also hanging out in her vicinity. I’ve read that males prefer to mate when the female is preoccupied with a meal (so they’re less likely to become a meal themselves). Perhaps he mistook her quick retreat as movement toward prey. At any rate, he wasted no time approaching her and getting into a mating position. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 4 Comments

Rocket Frog: An Atypical Dendrobatid

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

20mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

If like me you associate poison dart frogs with bright colors, then you might be as surprised as I was to learn that this rather drab frog is also a member of that family, Dendrobatidae.

Not surprisingly, this frog and other members of the genus Colostethus lack the skin toxins that some other members of the family have. No wonder they try to blend in, especially given their diurnal lifestyle.

Colostethus species also differ from other dendrobatids in their association with moving water instead of standing water. Their common name, rocket frogs, refers to their habit of quickly leaping into streams and then drifting away. This one was in fact next to a small stream, but obligingly stayed put. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 3 Comments

Eyelash Viper

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

~30cm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica

This eyelash viper, Bothriechis schlegelii, was on the side of a tree. A recent crypsis challenge asked readers to find it, which turned out to be fairly easy.

In the photo above, you can easily see the two scales above the far eye that give this snake its common name. No other Costa Rican snake has this distinctive feature.

I used my Canon 100mm macro combined with my Tamron 1.4x teleconverter to get some closeup shots, without getting too close myself. A handful of people die in Costa Rica every year from bites by this snake. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 2 Comments

Velvet Worm Identification

Posted on March 24, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

30mm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica

As mentioned in my previous posts about the velvet worm above, I researched a bit before traveling to increase my chances of finding one. Only after the trip, when I started thinking about identifying it, did I realize I didn’t know what characters are important in identifying Onychophorans.

Undaunted, I started searching the internet for someone that might be able to help me identify it. I started with Julián Monge-Nájera. Julián explained that he writes about Onychophoran ecology. He put me in touch with a taxonomist coauthor, Bernal Morera Brenes. Both were extremely helpful. Not only did they give me access to some of their relevant articles, they gave me permission to publish those articles here. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 1 Comment

More Velvet Worm Photos

Posted on March 20, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

30mm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica

This post is a follow-up to the last identification challenge. There, I challenged readers to identify what turned out to be the velvet worm shown above. As I explained in the reveal, it was no accident that I encountered one of these onychophorans. I had researched ahead of time to increase my chances of finding one. Even prepared, I only found this one individual.

Attempting to wedge into a hiding spot

This post was delayed in part because I went a bit camera crazy when I found it. It took me awhile to sort through all the photos I took. It was shy at first, remaining frozen where it had been exposed beneath a small piece of wood. That didn’t make for a nice photo at all, so I eventually prodded it and got it moving about. Once moving though, it wouldn’t stop! read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 2 Comments

Webspinners

Posted on March 13, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

10mm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I don’t think I’ve ever photographed webspinners before, so this represents another first from my most recent trip to Costa Rica. That’s notable to me because they have an order all to themselves, Embioptera.

As I walked the coastal trail leaving Manzanillo, I noticed many trees with webbing on their trunks. I stopped to look at a few, but I didn’t see any movement. I suspected webspinners were responsible, but it was only later when I decided to probe one of the webs that the webspinner above emerged. It didn’t seem very happy with the situation, and moved quickly to try and take refuge within the web again. Eventually it chewed a hole through which it disappeared. read more

Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos | 5 Comments

Identification Challenge #9 Reveal

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

Kudos to all commenters on Identification Challenge #9. They all correctly determined that this was a closeup of an Onychophoran, commonly called a velvet worm.

January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica

These strange creatures have their own phylum, Onychophora, the name of which literally means “claw bearers”. You should be able to see those claws above, at the tips of their stubby little legs.

Wikipedia tells us there are only two surviving families, Peripatidae and Peripatopsidae, geographically separate. The range for Peripatidae includes Central America and tropical South America, making this a member of that family. read more

Posted in Identification Challenges | 5 Comments

Crypsis Challenge #9 Reveal

Posted on February 28, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

Looks like all commenters easily spotted the snake in this photo.

January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica

It’s about a third of the way from the top right. Here’s a closer shot from roughly the same angle.

Closeup of eyelash viper on tree trunk

As Andrea J determined, this is an eyelash viper, Bothriechis schlegelii. It’s difficult to pick up an ecotourism brochure in Costa Rica and not see a picture of the yellow variety of this species.

Look out for a separate post on this individual with many more photos.

Oh, and don’t worry, I kept a respectful distance. This encounter reminded me why I always carry around a teleconverter. read more

Posted in Crypsis Challenges | 2 Comments