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Blog Archives
Hammerhead Fly
7mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I spotted this little fly on the underside of a large leaf. I was really thrilled to find something so unusual. I probably spent about a half hour chasing it around from one perch to another. Luckily, it always flew just a short distance.
Dorsal view
I had heard of antler flies before, and I figured this was a good candidate to be one. Initial internet searches using that phrase didn’t turn up anything though. On a whim I tried searching for “hammerhead fly” since that seemed like an obvious common name for this fly. That turned out to be a good guess, and I found lots of similar looking images of Richardia telescopica in the family Richardiidae. I’ve been unable to eliminate the possibility of similar looking species. If not for that uncertainty, I’d have made this into an identification challenge.
Posted in Featured Photos
3 Comments
Black and White Weevil
15mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
My SWAG for this weevil is Cholus costaricensis, based only on illustration 16 on this plate from the Electronic Biologia Centrali-Americana. I could find no other information about this species online, but the name fits!
It’s got some fancy feet.
Fancy Foot
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
Cockroach Mating Call
5cm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I found this impressively large two inch long cockroach just like this, sticking out its abdomen from the side of a creek bank after dark. I found the behavior odd, and I suspected that it might be releasing pheromones to attract a mate. I really had no idea if cockroaches did that or not. After some recent reading, that does appear to be part of the courtship ritual. To initiate courtship, a female will call nearby males in this manner. Presumably then, this is a female.
A while later, I managed to catch her in a different pose.
Posted in Featured Photos
3 Comments
Bullet Ant
January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This species, Paraponera clavata, is the infamous bullet ant. In Costa Rica, its common name is “bala,” which also means bullet. If somehow you don’t already know, the name derives from its powerful sting. Getting stung is said to be as painful as getting shot. I’ve also heard it referred to as “hormiga veinticuatro”, or  24 hour ant, for the duration of the pain. I’m happy to say I can’t testify to any of this personally.
I saw plenty of these large ants. It was difficult to get any images though, as they seem to be constantly on the move. These images were taken at night as the ant crawled around on a tree trunk.
Posted in Featured Photos
3 Comments
Headlight Beetle
25mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This click beetle in the family Elateridae was another night find. I’d like to say those light producing organs on the prothorax drew my attention. In reality, its “headlights” were “off” when I found it.
There are many species with these light producing organs spread across many genera, but they are all commonly referred to as headlight beetles.
On a side note, my blacklight flashlight was kind of a bust otherwise I’m afraid to report. I had hoped to find some scorpions at least, but this beetle was the only thing it turned up.
Posted in Featured Photos
3 Comments
Identification Challenge #10 Reveal: Phiale guttata
15mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Only Ted C. MacRae ventured a guess for this most recent identification challenge. He was exactly right, though a bit confused by his source which indicated this species might not occur in Costa Rica. This is indeed Phiale guttata.
The World Spider Catalog lists the distribution for this wide ranging species as Costa Rica to Paraguay. The Global Species Database of Salticidae site lists all the species for Costa Rica, and allowed me to eliminate the possibility of similar spiders in the same genus. There are also some good photos and illustrations there.
Posted in Identification Challenges
2 Comments
Identification Challenge #10
15mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I was able to identify this to species and determine the sex. Can you? Luckily there’s lots of online resources for this family. Comments will be held in moderation and I plan to reveal the answer sometime this weekend.
Posted in Identification Challenges
2 Comments
Another Attractive Beetle
9mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
While I work on some longer posts, here’s another attractive unidentified beetle to ponder. Maybe a pleasing fungus beetle in the family Erotylidae?
Posted in Featured Photos
4 Comments
Yellow-headed Gecko
January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This species, Gonatodes albigularis, can usually be found on surfaces two to three meters above the ground. Not surprisingly then, I spotted this male just above eye-level on the side of a tree, shortly after dark.
Male coloration as shown here is distinctive among Costa Rican lizards. Interestingly though, coloration changes after dark. The head darkens a bit and the body lightens somewhat. Both still remain distinct from each other. What you see above then is the night color phase, or perhaps a transitional phase between the two. Males also have that white-tipped tail.
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
Brown Blunt-headed Vine Snake
January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
As dusk arrived, I spotted this small vine snake, Imantodes cenchoa, descending a large tree. This species is chiefly arboreal, so seeing one near the ground was sheer luck.
A small snake, the head shown here is only 5mm wide. Overall I estimated this one to be less than a meter long, although they can grow to a bit more than that.
The head is much wider than the body. Thin as it may be, it can swallow prey ten times the width of its body. Nocturnal, these snakes hunt sleeping lizards, particularly anoles.
Posted in Featured Photos
5 Comments
