RSS Feeds
Categories
Location Profiles
Places
- North America (155)
- Aruba (5)
- Costa Rica (102)
- Limon Province (101)
- Cahuita to Manzanillo (101)
- Limon Province (101)
- United States (47)
- Florida (7)
- Georgia (40)
- Twelvestones (38)
- South America (171)
- Brazil (171)
- Goiás (5)
- Quirinópolis (5)
- Minas Gerais (165)
- Caraça Natural Park (66)
- Monte Alegre (7)
- Tupaciguara (48)
- Uberlandia (44)
- Goiás (5)
- Brazil (171)
- North America (155)
Subjects
- Amphibians (10)
- Frogs and Toads (10)
- Arachnids (41)
- Amblypygids (1)
- Harvestmen (5)
- Mites and Ticks (2)
- Hard Ticks (1)
- Scorpions (1)
- Spiders (32)
- Cobweb Spiders (2)
- Huntsman Spiders (2)
- Jumping Spiders (7)
- Lynx Spiders (1)
- Orb Weavers (9)
- Spitting Spiders (1)
- Tarantulas (1)
- Wandering Spiders (1)
- Wolf Spiders (1)
- Fungi (3)
- Insects (215)
- Ants, Bees, Wasps and Relatives (44)
- Ants (25)
- Army Ants (4)
- Leafcutter Ants (2)
- Bees (2)
- Stingless Bees (2)
- Sawflies (1)
- Wasps (16)
- Chalcid Wasps (2)
- Dryinid Wasps (1)
- Paper Wasps (2)
- Pelecinid Wasps (1)
- Velvet Ants (2)
- Ants (25)
- Barklice (1)
- Beetles (27)
- Blister Beetles (1)
- Click Beetles (1)
- Ground Beetles (2)
- Tiger Beetles (2)
- Jewel Beetles (2)
- Leaf Beetles (7)
- Flea Beetles (1)
- Leaf-mining Leaf Beetles (1)
- Longhorned Beetles (1)
- Snout Beetles (7)
- Tumbling Flower Beetles (1)
- Butterflies and Moths (55)
- Butterflies (7)
- Caterpillars (27)
- Moths (23)
- Cockroaches (2)
- Dragonflies (1)
- Earwigs (1)
- Flies (20)
- Biting Midges (1)
- Blow Flies (1)
- Dance Flies (1)
- Fruit Flies (1)
- Long-legged Flies (1)
- Mosquitoes (1)
- Phorid Flies (1)
- Richardiid Flies (2)
- Soldier Flies (1)
- Stilt-legged Flies (4)
- Tachinid Flies (1)
- Grasshoppers and Relatives (9)
- Crickets (2)
- Grasshoppers (3)
- Jumping Sticks (3)
- Katydids (4)
- Mantids (3)
- Net-winged Insects (7)
- Mantidflies (3)
- Owlflies (1)
- Termites (5)
- Thrips (1)
- True Bugs (57)
- Assassin Bugs (7)
- Broad-headed Bugs (1)
- Burrowing Bugs (1)
- Leaf-footed Bugs (3)
- Leafhoppers (5)
- Planthoppers (14)
- Delphacids (1)
- Derbids (2)
- Dictyopharids (5)
- Fulgorids (1)
- Nogodinids (2)
- Plataspids (1)
- Scales (2)
- Spittlebugs (2)
- Stink Bugs (4)
- Treehoppers (15)
- Walkingsticks (1)
- Webspinners (1)
- Ants, Bees, Wasps and Relatives (44)
- Mammals (2)
- Millipedes (1)
- Polyxenids (1)
- Plants (3)
- Reptiles (13)
- Velvet Worms (3)
- Amphibians (10)
Blog Archives
Dictyopharid Planthopper
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Posted in Featured Photos
Leave a comment
Golden Silk Orbweaver
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I’ve never quite been happy with any of the photos I’ve taken of this species, Nephila clavipes. This photo is no exception. I do like that it captures the gold color of the web, and that at least a few of the leg tufts are in focus.
It’s a shame the spider lost a leg somewhere along the way. The missing leg distracts me every time I look at her.
These spiders really are quite large. This one measured around 30mm, 70mm if you throw in the legs.
See if you can spot the little fly that’s perched on her abdomen.
Posted in Featured Photos
2 Comments
Eyelash Viper
~30cm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This eyelash viper, Bothriechis schlegelii, was on the side of a tree. A recent crypsis challenge asked readers to find it, which turned out to be fairly easy.
In the photo above, you can easily see the two scales above the far eye that give this snake its common name. No other Costa Rican snake has this distinctive feature.
I used my Canon 100mm macro combined with my Tamron 1.4x teleconverter to get some closeup shots, without getting too close myself. A handful of people die in Costa Rica every year from bites by this snake.
Posted in Featured Photos
2 Comments
Velvet Worm Identification
30mm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
As mentioned in my previous posts about the velvet worm above, I researched a bit before traveling to increase my chances of finding one. Only after the trip, when I started thinking about identifying it, did I realize I didn’t know what characters are important in identifying Onychophorans.
Undaunted, I started searching the internet for someone that might be able to help me identify it. I started with Julián Monge-Nájera. Julián explained that he writes about Onychophoran ecology. He put me in touch with a taxonomist coauthor, Bernal Morera Brenes. Both were extremely helpful. Not only did they give me access to some of their relevant articles, they gave me permission to publish those articles here.
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
More Velvet Worm Photos
30mm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This post is a follow-up to the last identification challenge. There, I challenged readers to identify what turned out to be the velvet worm shown above. As I explained in the reveal, it was no accident that I encountered one of these onychophorans. I had researched ahead of time to increase my chances of finding one. Even prepared, I only found this one individual.
Attempting to wedge into a hiding spot
This post was delayed in part because I went a bit camera crazy when I found it. It took me awhile to sort through all the photos I took. It was shy at first, remaining frozen where it had been exposed beneath a small piece of wood. That didn’t make for a nice photo at all, so I eventually prodded it and got it moving about. Once moving though, it wouldn’t stop!
Posted in Featured Photos
2 Comments
Shingling
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I spotted quite a few trees with leaves like these plastered to their trunks. After some searching, I believe this is probably a plant in the Monstera genus. This adhesive climbing behavior is known as shingling. Interestingly, the leaves of the grown plant take on a very different form (follow the wikipedia link above).
Posted in Featured Photos
Leave a comment
Webspinners
10mm | January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I don’t think I’ve ever photographed webspinners before, so this represents another first from my most recent trip to Costa Rica. That’s notable to me because they have an order all to themselves, Embioptera.
As I walked the coastal trail leaving Manzanillo, I noticed many trees with webbing on their trunks. I stopped to look at a few, but I didn’t see any movement. I suspected webspinners were responsible, but it was only later when I decided to probe one of the webs that the webspinner above emerged. It didn’t seem very happy with the situation, and moved quickly to try and take refuge within the web again. Eventually it chewed a hole through which it disappeared.
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
5 Comments
Mystery Beetles
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
The day I spent in Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, I encountered many beetles like the one above. They were always crawling around on large leaves. I didn’t observe them feeding or see any obvious damage from possible feeding in their vicinity. Rather, I spotted what I assume are both males and females, possibly coming together for mating. I didn’t actually see any mating though.
I suspect the one above is a male, based on those antennae. Here’s what I figure is a female. There’s also a bit of its frass there (confirmed from another image).
Posted in Featured Photos
6 Comments
Immature Argiope
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Closeup crop
Argiope spiders are easy to recognize. They sit head down in the center of their webs with their legs paired up. They don’t even bother to hide themselves during the day. They are among a relatively small number of orb weavers that add a decoration to their web, called a stabilimentum.
The form of the stabilimentum may change as the spider grows. Young spiders like this one may create a dense circular pattern as shown here. Older spiders are more likely to create sparser designs in various shapes.
Posted in Featured Photos
Leave a comment
Small Moth
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I’ve been struggling to find time to prepare some longer posts. Here’s a quick post in the meantime. I like the way this little moth is holding its hind legs up flush with its abdomen.
Posted in Featured Photos
Leave a comment
