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Blog Archives
Fruit Fly
8mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I start with low expectations whenever I try to identify a fly. I’m happy if I get to family, but I think I got as far as genus on this one. This female fruit fly in the family Tephritidae might be an Anastrepha species.
Reference:
[book:9968927147]
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Chrysalis Surprise
10mm | July 4, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I collected this little chrysalis while I was in the field the day before I took this photo. I didn’t think I’d be able to get a good photo at the time, and I was curious to see what might emerge. Strangely, looking at this with my own eye, it appears opaque with a silvery and gold surface. With the camera and flash, it appears as above, somewhat transparent and showing what looks like a wing inside. I figured it would only be a short time to see the butterfly that might emerge. Well, I was half right.
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Concealed Pupa
23mm | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I noticed a plant whose large leaves had been eaten right down to the leaf ribs. Curiously, portions near the tips had been folded over. I couldn’t resist opening one of those up.
The pupa shown above is what I found inside. The caterpillar’s last head capsule is still attached. The pupa is flipped in the photo above because I opened up the leaf. Normally it would be suspended inside by that thread.
For some reason, the head end of the pupa reminds me of a walrus’s head.
There were quite a few other folded-over leaves, but I was too late to find a caterpillar still fattening itself up.
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Gold-spotted Orb Weaver
18mm | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This large orb weaver was hanging out in the understory. I believe this might be Eriophora nephiloides. Most online photos for the species show a brighter yellower abdomen. It appears to be quite variable. Here’s a photo of one similar to mine (along with what’s pictured at wikipedia).
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Another Nogodinid Planthopper
13mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Here’s another one of those planthoppers from the family Nogodinidae, pretty much just like the earlier one I posted.
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Golden Silk Orbweaver
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I’ve never quite been happy with any of the photos I’ve taken of this species, Nephila clavipes. This photo is no exception. I do like that it captures the gold color of the web, and that at least a few of the leg tufts are in focus.
It’s a shame the spider lost a leg somewhere along the way. The missing leg distracts me every time I look at her.
These spiders really are quite large. This one measured around 30mm, 70mm if you throw in the legs.
See if you can spot the little fly that’s perched on her abdomen.
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Velvety Yellow Snout Beetle
January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I resisted the urge to touch this one. It just looks so soft.
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Mottled Tortoise Beetle
October 10, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
A few weeks ago I found this tortoise beetle, Deloyala guttata, on the underside of a sycamore leaf in a nearby park. Most of the time you only see tortoise beetles safely tucked away inside their “shell” (hence their name). I waited for this one to start moving around so I could get this shot.
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Target Tortoise Beetle
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I’ve seen variations on this pattern for tortoise beetles throughout Central and South America. I often see the species referred to as target tortoise beetles, though a quick google search seems to confirm my suspicion that that common name applies to many different species across several genera.
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Pendant Cocoon
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I really have no idea what’s responsible for this odd sweptback cocoon.
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