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Blog Archives
Tree Sharpening Caterpillars
~30mm long | January 5, 2013 | Panga Ecological Reserve, Minas Gerais, Brazil
What appears to be a flower here is actually a group of caterpillars working their way down a sapling trunk.
They look like they could do a decent job sharpening a pencil, about the same width as this tree(?) trunk.
Side view | Trunk ~5mm wide
Despite the black background, this was taken a few hours before sunset. At the time there was probably a few feet of the trunk left. I marked the location and returned after dark. I found no trace of the trunk or the caterpillars. They apparently ate the whole tree.
I know there are defoliating caterpillars. I know there are wood boring caterpillars. I never imagined there are caterpillars that consume an entire tree though. That’s assuming they eat leaves, which I didn’t observe.
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Yellow/Black Treehoppers with Ants
~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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Ants Tending Treehoppers, Poorly Perhaps
~3mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I had planned to post just a single photo of this scene with ants tending treehoppers. Here we see at least two different colorful treehopper instars, with one actively molting. Ants like the one shown above tended to this small grouping of treehoppers. As I was choosing a photo to post, I noticed something strange about the treehoppers though. Do you see it too?
Look closely and you’ll see that a few nymphs have parasites. I wasn’t sure at first, so I started looking through my other photos. Sure enough, almost every one had one or more parasites. The parasites seem to prefer hiding under the wing pads and below the thorax.
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Lynx Spider Guarding Egg Sac
~10mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
On the underside of a leaf, an attractive lynx spider guards her egg sac.
Dorsal view
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Another Unidentified Caterpillar
~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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Membracis Treehoppers and Nymphs
~10mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
When I spotted a group of treehoppers like the one above, I settled in for a while. With such a beautiful subject, I was determined to get some good photos. The shot above is probably my favorite out of around 300 or so shots. I struggled to get something in the background to avoid the usual black background that usually happens with macro flash photos. A black background wasn’t going to serve very well for these mostly black treehoppers.
Not only are the adults pretty, but the nymphs are also attractive in their own way. I prefer the black background here.
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Dictyopharid Planthopper with Dryinid Wasp Parasite
~20mm | January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
When I encountered the planthopper above, I had no idea what was going on. While not entirely sure, I assumed that might be a parasite on its abdomen. I had wanted to get a closeup of just the parasite, but when I went to grab the planthopper, it jumped and flew away with little difficulty. The parasite must not have been as much of a hindrance as it would appear.
Here’s a crop of the image above showing the parasite.
Closeup of parasite
It didn’t take much searching on the internet to determine that this must be the larva of a wasp in the family Dryinidae. There are plenty of images of larvae on BugGuide. According to Wikipedia, a larva initially feeds internally on the host. Only later in its development does it protrude the host as shown here.
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Cobra-cega (Blind Snake)
~12cm | January 8, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I came across this small blind snake as it slowly wormed its way along a clear patch of ground next to a corn field. I thought it first it might be a worm, but something just looked a little odd about it. I picked it up and through my hand lens I could see it had scales. I also spotted its tongue darting in and out of its tiny mouth.
I didn’t know it then, but I was in the initial stages of chicken pox. All I knew was that I was feeling poorly and wasn’t motivated to take pictures in the field. I stuffed it in a small container for pictures later. The next day I took a few photos as I held it in my hand. I released it later that day in a field much like the one where I found it.
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Lichen Moth Caterpillar
10mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This cryptically colored little caterpillar reminds me of lichen moth larvae I’ve seen closer to home (Family Arctiidae, subfamily Lithosiinae). If so, it’s in the right place!
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Tortricid Moth
8mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Whenever I see a moth shaped like this, I assume it’s a tortricid. Probably not a bad guess, considering Tortricidae is one of the largest familes of Lepidoptera.
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