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Blog Archives
Harvestman
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Could this be the harvestman equivalent of an ostrich burying its head in the sand? Or maybe it was just trying to get at something to eat.
Hiding? Eating?
After a few shots as I found it, I prodded it into a better position.
Prodded into a better position
It has some interesting “combs” on a few of its rearmost legs.
Comb-like structures on rearmost legs
Dorsolateral view
It’s actually quite small, the body measuring only about 5mm front to back. The longest leg, however, was about 3cm long. I’m not sure what purpose those horns might serve.
Small body, 5mm long
4mm wide
"Comb" on the right
I have to admit I’m drawn to these strange creatures. I think in part it’s simply because they are so alien looking.
Posted in Featured Photos, Uncategorized
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Two Flies Sharing a Meal
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
These two flies are sharing a meal.
I can easily identify the larger one as a micropezid.
Micropezid
I’m not sure about the smaller one though.
Smaller fly
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Leafhoppers, displaying
4mm | January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Some leafhoppers (family Cicadellidae) spread their wings in the manner shown above, perhaps as part of some mating ritual.
Reference:
[book:1554073456]
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Strawberry Poison Dart Frogs
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
The botanical garden is home to many of these colorful little strawberry poison dart frogs, Oophaga pumilio. Unfortunately, they seem to prefer hanging about in the plastic planters. Above, you can see some of the little fertilizer beads. Below, one was just inside the container.
Inside a plastic plant containerI would have been preferred a more natural setting.
Although they were easy to spot amongst the plantings, I would have preferred a more natural setting.
One more
As you might expect, the bright coloration is a warning to not touch these little frogs.
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Another Micropezid
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This one looks a lot like the one I found ovipositing.
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Heliconia Bug
20mm | January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This true bug in the family Coreidae is probably Leptoscelis tricolor. It’s #5 on this plate from the electronic Biologia Centrali-Americana. It also matches these photos from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Bocas del Toro Species Database (Bocas del Toro is only 30 miles or so from where I took this photo). Finally, the Costa Rica Biodiversity Portal only shows two species for this genus. These photos from STRI eliminate the other species, Leptoscelis quadrisignata.
This coreid is commonly known as the heliconia bug simply because it’s often found feeding on heliconias.
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Stingless Bee Nest
January 20, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This stingless bee nest was nestled in the hollow of a tree. The nest entrance is only about a centimeter wide, making the bees themselves only 5 or 6mm long.
As their common name suggests, these bees have no sting to defend themselves. Knowing that, I got quite close. Harmless though they may be, they certainly look mean.
Looking mean
New arrival below
In that last photo, you can see a new arrival hanging below the nest, with pollen visible in the basket on its hind tibia.
According to Hogue, there are three genera of stingless bees. Lestrimelitta can be eliminated here because it doesn’t have a pollen basket. Of the other two, Melipona is larger, hairier and the wings don’t extend beyond the tip of the abdomen as they do here. These must then be a Trigona species.
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Colorful Jumping Spider
4mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
It’s hard to resist jumping spiders. This little one sort of has the colors of the Costa Rican flag!
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Better view of abdomen
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Apterostigma collare
4mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I spotted the structure below on the underside of a large leaf. I really didn’t know what it was, and I gently poked at it. It was quite fragile as it turns out, and it fell open to reveal an ant nest. I then immediately regretted not having taken a photo beforehand. The next day I was lucky enough to find another one, also pictured.
6cm x 4cm | Unexpected ant nest
4cm x 2cm | Nest with an ant entering
These nests are the work of an ant in the genus Apterostigma. Ants of Costa Rica has an info page for this genus in Costa Rica. I tried to use the key there to identify these, but it was a bit technical for me. I’m basing the species identification on the statements from the site that seem to indicate that only Apterostigma collare builds these nests under leaves. There are some more photos of nests at that same site.
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Hammerhead Fly
7mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I spotted this little fly on the underside of a large leaf. I was really thrilled to find something so unusual. I probably spent about a half hour chasing it around from one perch to another. Luckily, it always flew just a short distance.
Dorsal view
I had heard of antler flies before, and I figured this was a good candidate to be one. Initial internet searches using that phrase didn’t turn up anything though. On a whim I tried searching for “hammerhead fly” since that seemed like an obvious common name for this fly. That turned out to be a good guess, and I found lots of similar looking images of Richardia telescopica in the family Richardiidae. I’ve been unable to eliminate the possibility of similar looking species. If not for that uncertainty, I’d have made this into an identification challenge.
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