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Blog Archives
Colorful Froghopper
January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Another find from my first night at Caraça’s sanctuary.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Acrobatic Harvestman
This harvestman was climbing amongst some leaves, no doubt searching for prey.
January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Wandering in search of prey
Here’s some other interesting shots of this individual. If you look carefully, you can see some white mites.
Mouthparts closeup
Abdomen closeup
Posted in Featured Photos
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Earwig with a Clubbed Abdomen
January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I’ve never seen an earwig quite like this before. In fact, I’m not entirely sure it is an earwig. When I first saw it my initial impression was of a beetle, a rove beetle perhaps. As far as I know though, no beetles have those earwig like pincers.
If this species is described in the literature, I wonder if the scientific name doesn’t somehow reference the clubbed abdomen. The whole insect looks prehistoric somehow.
This wasn’t the only one I saw. I spotted another one near by. It wasn’t quite as nice looking though, with a wing stain and a missing antenna.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Moth Face
January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I like the beard.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Trechaleid Spider with Young
The first thing I photographed after arriving in Caraça Natural Park was this hunting spider, found wandering in an unpaved parking area.
Trechaleid Spider with Young | January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Up until I started preparing to write this post, I figured this was a wolf spider. After reading to learn more about the parenting behavior shown here, I’m now convinced it is instead a species in the family Trechaleidae. What first tipped me off was a similar photograph in this little book:
[book:0060849746]
Several identifying characteristics are mentioned for the particular species pictured. After some online searching, most appear to be shared by other species of the family.
Posted in Featured Creatures
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Caraça Natural Park
Caraça Panorama
The Trip
This past January I visited Caraça (pronounced kah-RAH-suh) Natural Park in Brazil. This was a side-trip for me, part of a larger trip to visit my wife’s family in Brazil.
Caraça Natural Park, Brazil
Getting There
From our hometown Uberlândia I flew to Belo Horizonte (BH), capital of our state, Minas Gerais. I drove four hours or so from the BH airport to the park. The crappy rental car combined with the Monday morning traffic didn’t add up to a pleasurable drive. But once I was out of the city, I was able to relax a bit more and take in the scenery.
Posted in Location Profiles
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