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Blog Archives
Unidentified Nymph
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Remember the recent crypsis challenge where Ted C. MacRae thought he also saw a noctuid moth in addition to the more obvious praying mantis? Well, that wasn’t a moth at all, but what sure looks like the nymph of some sort of homopteran.
I actually saw quite a few of these in the area. Here’s another one.
Another individual
I’ve been puzzling over this for quite awhile now. While I’ve encountered and seen pictures of plenty of homopteran nymphs with waxy appendages extending from their abdomen, I’ve never seen one with anything like the plumose structure shown here.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Freshly Molted Treehopper Nymphs
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
There are a couple of freshly molted treehopper nymphs shown here. Just below them, you can see a shed exoskeleton. Their colors will return as their new skins harden. In the meantime, they inflate themselves so that their new skins harden larger than their previous ones.
Below is an adult that was hanging around a bit farther down the stem. That’s what they’ll eventually look like. You can see how the horn gets bigger with each molt.
Adult
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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
October 8, 2009
Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
I spotted this chrysalis on a tree trunk (looks like some sort of cherry). You can see in the first photo that it blends in pretty well. I took it home to see what would emerge. Something did, late the following April. Any ideas what it was?
This probably won’t help, but I couldn’t resist posting a closeup.
Closeup of spiracles
Posted in Identification Challenges
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Crypsis Challenge #5 Reveal
At least a few people found the caterpillar outlined below, from the last crypsis challenge.
January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I like how effectively it blends in. The dorsal markings match up pretty well with the damaged areas on the leaf.
It has spun a sort of silken lair across the entire leaf as well.
Closer view
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
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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.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Longhorned Beetle Damaging Stem
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This longhorned beetle blends in pretty well with these stems.
Some longhorned beetles are known as girdlers and that name might be aptly applied here. See the damage to the stem in the upper right? I didn’t witness it, but I suspect this beetle is responsible. In fact, given the bending of the stem under its head, it may very well have been chewing away when I took this photo. Further evidence is the frass present, indicating it’s been here awhile.
Why girdle? Some beetles that do it deposit an egg in the stem and then effectively kill the stem by chewing a ring into it. The stem beyond the girdle eventually dies and falls to the ground. The stem provides nourishment for the beetle larva and is then well placed for the grub to later escape into the soil where it completes its development.
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
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Tick Anatomy Lesson
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This tick is one of the largest I’ve ever encountered. I’m happy to say it was the only one I saw.
Ticks often wave around their forelegs while perched like this, hoping to grab on to some passing potential host.
When viewed from the side, there’s an interesting bit of anatomy exposed.
Side view (do you see the smaller mite bringing up the rear?)
I wondered about the purpose of that large hole on the tick’s side so I did some research. It’s called the spiracular plate, and it’s basically a tube into the tick’s breathing system. Calling it breathing might be a stretch though. It’s really more of a passive gas exchange. The shape of spiracular plates are also used by taxonomists as a way of distinguishing various types of ticks.
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
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Glittery Micromoth
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
While less noticed and more difficult to identify, the majority of lepidoptera species are small and are collectively referred to as microlepidoptera or micromoths. Though small, this one’s glittery wing scales caught my eye.
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