Blog Archives

Headlight Beetle

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 3 Comments

Identification Challenge #10 Reveal: Phiale guttata

Posted on May 7, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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. read more

Posted in Identification Challenges | 2 Comments

Identification Challenge #10

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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

Posted on May 3, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 1 Comment

Brown Blunt-headed Vine Snake

Posted on May 2, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

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. read more

Posted in Featured Photos | 5 Comments

Attractive Beetle

Posted on May 1, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

11mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I won’t venture an identification here, but it was too attractive to pass up! Can anyone narrow it down for me?

Posted in Featured Photos | 2 Comments

Micropezid, ovipositing

Posted on April 30, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

8mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

While recently reviewing my shots of this fly in the family Micropezidae, I was surprised to find that I unknowingly got a shot of her laying an egg. Here’s another shot for comparison, where she has concealed her ovipositor beneath her abdomen.

Ovipositor concealed

Here’s a crop from the first photo, showing the ovipositor and the egg.

Ovipositor and egg

Everything I’ve read indicates that most larvae develop in decomposing matter, so it seems strange she would be placing an egg on a leaf surface. Perhaps this is  just a method of random distribution, and the egg just falls where it may on the ground below. read more

Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos | 3 Comments

Another Nogodinid Planthopper

Posted on April 21, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

13mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica


Here’s another one of those planthoppers from the family Nogodinidae, pretty much just like the earlier one I posted.

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True Bug Eggs

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Troy Bartlett

January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica

I found this row of eggs on the underside of a small log that was laying on the ground. They look like they belong to a true bug (order Hemiptera) of some sort. Here’s a closer look.

Closeup look | Each egg measures about 1mm

Posted in Featured Photos | 1 Comment