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Blog Archives
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.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Flashy Coreid
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Despite their common name of leaf-footed bugs, not all coreids have flattened hind tibiae. Â This flashy specimen instead has rather impressive hind femurs.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Planthopper
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Based on the snout and the wing venation, I’m gonna say this one is a dictyopharid planthopper.
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Identification Challenge #6 Reveal
As I suspected, this challenge was easily met by all commenters.
October 8, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
It is of course Arilus cristatus, commonly known as the wheel bug for the very structure shown above. I didn’t get a full body shot of this specimen, but here’s a wider view.
Facing opposite direction from the previous image
Among the largest assassin bugs in North America, they can deliver a painful stab with that beak. I foolishly held one when I was a kid, and I’ll not be making that mistake twice.
For more info, see the species info page at BugGuide.
Posted in Identification Challenges
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Attractive Caterpillar
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This caterpillar seems fairly distinctive, but I haven’t been able to find anything similar. The white bands are odd. I can’t decide if they are normal or evidence of an injury.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Gonyleptid Harvestman
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This image of a harvestman in the family Gonyleptidae is one of my favorites from my trip to Caraça Natural Park.
As a kid, I cherished my Golden Guide to Spiders and Their Kin. Ever since I saw an illustration therein of a wild looking Gonyleptid, I’ve wanted to find one. I got excited early in the trip when I found a shed skin. On the last night, I was out with my headlamp and I encountered not just one but two!
They were both difficult to photograph. Although slow moving, they just wouldn’t stand still. I had to keep herding them back onto the trail. Eventually, this one stopped in an area that made for a relatively uncluttered background.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Silver Argiope with Wasp Prey
January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This spider was on an exposed ridge overlooking the sanctuary. She appears to have caught a nice sized wasp.
This species often creates an X-shaped design (stabilimentum) in their web, and you can just see a hint of one extending to the lower right.
The common name Silver Argiope is consistent with the scientific name (argentata = silvery). Even the common name in Portuguese, Aranha-de-prata, translates as Silver Spider. It is indeed silvery.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Identification Challenge #4 Reveal
As Ted C. MacRae correctly guessed, the chrysalis in the latest identification challenge yielded a specimen of Papilio glaucus, an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
April 25, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
The blue on the upperside of the hindwings indicates this is a female. Here’s the underside of the wings:
Underside of wings
If I’d had some daylight, I’d have tried to get something other than a black background. I saw she had emerged after arriving home one evening though, so I took these shots in my home office before releasing her.
Being a fresh specimen, I thought I’d try for some closeups of the wing scales.
Posted in Identification Challenges
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Immature Stink Bugs
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
The nymphs of some stinkbug species will stick together, as shown here.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Blow Fly
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I like the detail in this crop from the first image below. You can even see some pollen grains on and around the foreleg.
I’m pretty sure this is a blow fly, not unlike the common blue bottle fly.
Side View
Dorsolateral View
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