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Hypsiboas rufitelus

Posted on February 12, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

18mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I photographed quite a few frogs in Costa Rica, but I’m having a hard time identifying them.

My first thought for this attractive little one was that it might be a glass frog of some type (family Centrolenidae), because it appears to be somewhat transparent. Brian Kubicki of the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Center was nice enough to respond to an email and identify it instead as an immature tree frog (family Hylidae), Hypsiboas rufitelus.

Looking around for online photos (here’s one of Brian’s), it looks like they must lose that bold red dorsal coloring as they mature. read more

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Young Rattlesnake

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I haven’t yet driven MG-223 that leaves Tupaciguara in the direction of Araguari at night without seeing a snake crossing the road. Here’s the most recent one I spotted, which I assume is a young rattlesnake. It’s small, maybe 6 inches or so, and it looks like it has a button at the end of its tail.

My real dilemma when I spot one is whether or not to stop and risk getting hit by another vehicle. At any rate, I’m definitely in a hurry to get a photo and get back up to speed. read more

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Crypsis Challenge #7 Reveal

Posted on December 26, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Commenters had no trouble finding the cryptic critter circled above on a partially eaten leaf. No one figured out that it was a caterpillar though, and a rather bizarre one at that. Here’s a closer look.

It's a caterpillar

It does a pretty good job, I think, of blending in with the damaged areas of the other leaves. I suspect the brown leaf areas were damaged by an earlier instar that chews away at the surface of the leaf rather than eating the entire thing. It looks formidable and I didn’t risk touching it. Those black structures are unlike anything I’ve seen on a caterpillar. read more

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Unidentified Nymph

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

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. read more

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Attractive Caterpillar

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

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.

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Freshly Molted Treehopper Nymphs

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

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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Immature Stink Bugs

Posted on November 15, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The nymphs of some stinkbug species will stick together, as shown here.

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Gold Moth Caterpillar on Wingstem

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

October 8, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I found this caterpillar last fall. It was munching away on the flowers of what I believe to be wingstem. The plant was growing beside a walking trail at a forest edge.

Here are a couple of other views.

Head

Dorsal View

I’m basing the identification on similar photos of Basilodes pepita on BugGuide and in Wagner.

I like the bold colors. Wagner states that the combination of colors, behavior and foodplant suggest it might be unpalatable.

Reference:
[book:0691121443]

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Identification Challenge #3 Reveal

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Chris Grinter agrees with me that this photo is of a sawfly in the genus Dimorphopteryx.

June 6, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I first saw some photos of similar sawflies in this book:

[book:1552979008]

I then found some images on BugGuide.

It really is an odd looking critter. If I’d instead shown this view, it would have been more obvious, I think, that it’s a sawfly.

Side view

Here you can see the horns just behind the head.

Closeup of head

Marshall reports that the “tubercle behind the head is eversible, and sticks out like a snake’s tongue when the insect is disturbed.” Cool. I wish I’d known that when I encountered it. I would have tried to coax it into displaying that behavior. read more

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Crypsis Challenge #5 Reveal

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

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

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