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Sign Challenge #1 Reveal: Spinybacked Spider Egg sac

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Troy Bartlett

This reveal for Sign Challenge #1 is long overdue. Here’s the challenge photo again:

~15mm long | August 23, 2012 | Sebring, FL, USA

~15mm long | August 23, 2012 | Sebring, FL, USA

Commenter Daniel Heald correct guessed it was a spider egg sac. Here’s another angle:

Dorsal view

Dorsal view

When I took the photos, I assumed it was a cocoon. I was curious to see what moth would emerge, so I took it home with me.

After looking through Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates, I realized it was actually an egg sac for a Spinybacked spider (Gasteracantha cancriformis). In fact, I had seen many of those spiders in the area. The egg sac’s yellow silk, dark longitudinal line, and placement on the underside of a leaf all point to this species. read more

Posted in Sign Challenges | 2 Comments

Female Amanda’s Pennant

Posted on October 8, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

~30mm long | August 22, 2012 | Allen David Broussard Catfish Creek Preserve, Haines City, Fl, USA

A female Amanda’s Pennant, Celithemis amanda, perches along a sandy trail in a relatively unvisited state park.

Posted in Featured Photos | 3 Comments

Sign Challenge #1

Posted on September 18, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

This’ll be the first in a new series of challenges focused on sign. What is “sign”, you might be asking? Generally, it’s something whose presence indicates the presence of something else. Here on this blog, of course, I’m referring to sign in nature. That could be tracks an animal left behind, scat or other droppings, a shed skin, feeding damage, and so on.

So, with that in mind, what is this sign and what critter does it reveal?

~15mm long | August 23, 2012 | Sebring, FL, USA

I highly recommend Tracks & Sign of Insects and Other Invertebrates. I find that it’s one of my most used references of late. If you already have it, you’ll find the answer to this challenge in it. read more

Posted in Sign Challenges | 5 Comments

2012 International Rock Flipping Day

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

Yesterday was International Rock Flipping Day. I’ve read about it in the past, but this is the first year I’m participating.

I don’t really need an excuse to flip a rock and explore what’s beneath, but the whole event certainly motivated me to get my blog posts going again. I have been busy outside of blogging, so there’s plenty of good stuff coming up, so don’t give up on me.

Yesterday was beautiful here in my area, so I already had plans to go bug hunting. Knowing I’d be looking for a rock to flip, I chose a nearby park where I knew there were lots of good candidates. Here’s the rock I settled on after being distracted by lots of other interesting critters along the way. read more

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Striped Anole, Displaying

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

April 23, 2012 | Arikok National Park, Aruba

The Striped Anole, Anolis lineatus, was probably the species of lizard I most encountered in Aruba. I assume the common and scientific names refer to those dark broken lateral stripes, but it’s known locally as Waltaka.

Here’s another one, a female perhaps.

Female? Or a young male?

My earlier post of the lizard on a tree is also one.

After a good bit of googling, I came across a good free resource on the reptiles and amphibians of Aruba, link below.

Reference:

Amphibians and Reptiles of Aruba
by R. Andrew Odum
PDF hosted at WildAruba read more

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Yellow/Black Treehoppers with Ants

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

~5mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Here’s yet a different species of colorful treehopper. These too were found in association with ants.

A busy photo, but packed with natural history.

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Poison Ivy Caterpillar / Dimorphic Macalla Moth

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

For many years I’ve noticed colorful little caterpillars that live individually in silken retreats on the surface of leaves of poison ivy. At a recent BugGuide gathering, a photo of one of these caterpillars was shown and I realized we still didn’t know what these were. I resolved then to rear a few to try and arrive at an identification. There’s plenty of poison ivy near my home, so I didn’t anticipate much trouble finding a few.

Here’s the first one I found. The white area just behind the head is atypical. The caterpillar is smaller than usual, so it might be an early instar. It could also represent some sort of injury. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 3 Comments

Another Unidentified Caterpillar

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

~30mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Even though I can’t identify it, it’s pretty enough that I had to post it.

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Jumping Spider with Hooked Chelicerae

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

5mm body | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This attractive male jumping spider has some interesting hooks on his chelicerae. Take a closer look at this crop from the image above.

Hooked chelicerae

He really has a lot going on colorwise as well. I imagine those banded front legs might be used in some sort of courtship ritual. One has to wonder if and when those hooks come into play though.

Dorsal view

Posted in Featured Photos | 1 Comment

Barklice

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Troy Bartlett

9mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Because they are gregarious, one rarely sees a lone barklouse. I was surprised to find this one by itself on a leaf. There might have been a group nearby, but I didn’t find them.

Elsewhere in the park though, I did find an aggregation.

Barklice on the side of a tree

Closer view

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