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
Jumping Spider with Hooked Chelicerae
5mm body | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This attractive male jumping spider has some interesting hooks on his chelicerae. Take a closer look at this crop from the image above.
Hooked chelicerae
He really has a lot going on colorwise as well. I imagine those banded front legs might be used in some sort of courtship ritual. One has to wonder if and when those hooks come into play though.
Dorsal view
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
Micromoth
July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Posted in Featured Photos
3 Comments
Micromoth
8mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Side view
Posted in Featured Photos
Leave a comment
Caterpillar
13mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Posted in Featured Photos
Leave a comment
Barklice
9mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Because they are gregarious, one rarely sees a lone barklouse. I was surprised to find this one by itself on a leaf. There might have been a group nearby, but I didn’t find them.
Elsewhere in the park though, I did find an aggregation.
Barklice on the side of a tree
Closer view
Posted in Featured Photos
Leave a comment
Mystery Egg Mass
25mm long | July 12, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
What looks a bit like peanut brittle is presumably an egg mass. I found this on lichen covered bark at the base of a tree. Overall it was about 25mm long, which would make each of the embedded eggs less than 2mm long.
Side view
Each egg appears to be elliptical, with a sort of knob at the exposed end.
Closeup
I don’t have a clue what is responsible for this, so I’d love to see comments from anyone that might have an idea. I’ve been through the “Eggs and Egg Cases” chapter of Tracks & Sign of Insects a few times already, but I haven’t spotted any likely suspects.
Posted in Featured Photos
4 Comments
Leaf-mining Leaf Beetle
8mm long | July 12, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This attractive little beetle was resting when I found it. Looking at it here, it almost appears to be nature’s idea of a gaudy holiday light display. Just imagine each of those elytral punctures as a tiny LED, and then imagine them programmed so that the dorsal patterns shift down the eltytra, one puncture at a time. Jokes aside, it actually blends in pretty well with the browning foliage.
This is a leaf-mining leaf beetle, so called because the larvae feed between the surfaces of leaves, creating mines. Adults feed on foliage, and it may be responsible for some of the leaf damage visible here, though I didn’t actually see it eating.
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
Mystery Eggs
Egg, ~1mm wide | July 12, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
These curiously textured and patterned eggs were placed on a dried leaf tip. I don’t recall ever seeing anything quite like them. I don’t know what they are, but I’d guess moth eggs.
Some of the ones around the edge are a bit crumpled.
Edge shot, showing crumpling
Here’s a wider view, to give you some context for the placement.
Wider shot, showing placement
Posted in Uncategorized
1 Comment
Chalcid Wasp
5mm long | July 12, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This is the first time I can recall encountering one of these wasps in the field. Chalcid wasps are easily recognized by their enlarged hind femora.
If you missed the one that emerged from a chrysalis I collected, check out this earlier post.
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
Parasitic Wasp Cocoon
6mm long | July 8, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
These attractively patterned little cocoons seem to be a common sight no matter where I travel. Each one holds the pupa of a parasitic wasp. I’ll often find what’s left of a caterpillar host nearby. The ones I notice are usually suspended by a thread, as here. That’s not always the case though.
Posted in Featured Photos
3 Comments
