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Blog Archives
Identification Challenge #7 Reveal
All commenters correctly determined that this was a moth:
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
At the time I took the picture, I assumed this was a butterfly. It acted like a butterfly, being active during the day and the way it held its wings (not folded over the back like many moths).
It was only when reviewing the photo later that I noticed it looked a bit odd for a butterfly. Like many commenters, I noted the lack of clubbed antennae. I didn’t try to identify it, but I remembered it when I read an interesting short article in a recent issue of Natural History magazine. The article was all about day flying moths in the subfamily Dioptinae (family Notodontidae). I emailed the author, James S. Miller, asking if he thought this might be one. Here’s his response:
Posted in Identification Challenges
2 Comments
Identification Challenge #7
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This challenge will be straightforward. Is this a butterfly or a moth? Why?
Here’s a habitat shot, showing the shot above was taken during the day. The subject above is the yellow speck near the bottom, center right.
Subject above is just barely visible here
Posted in Identification Challenges
8 Comments
Mass Pupation
January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I found one other grouping of exuviae in the area where I found the one above. I’ve never seen anything like this locally. I believe these are from lepidopterans. There is a slight layer of silk on the bark. Up close, I saw some cast off head capsules. Look closely above, and you’ll notice a leg that must have broken off while struggling free.
I know some caterpillars are gregarious as early instars, but I thought they generally went their separate ways as final instars. I thought this was interesting evidence that in at least one species, they pupate and perhaps eclose together.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Crypsis Challenge #7 Reveal
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.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
2 Comments
Crypsis Challenge #7
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Can you find and identify the order of the critter hiding in plain sight above?
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
2 Comments
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
2 Comments
Identification Challenge #5 Reveal
As usual, Ted C. MacRae was right on all counts for this challenge:
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I thought perhaps the swept-back antenna across the bottom third of the photo might throw people off. Not so.
Here’s a better shot of the katydid which was cooperative enough to allow some good closeups. This should put all the body parts shown above in context.
Katydid
My sister guessed a dragonfly via a Facebook comment. I can see the resemblance so not a bad guess.
Posted in Identification Challenges
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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
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
4 Comments
Identification Challenge #5
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Here’s a closeup of an unidentified insect. Can you identify the family to which it belongs and the body parts shown?
Posted in Identification Challenges
2 Comments
