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Blog Archives
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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Mesmerizing Mantispid
Don’t stare at the eyes too long; you might fall under its spell.
January 7, 2012 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Phorid Fly Attempting to Oviposit on a Leafcutter Ant
Leafcutter ants are a common sight in the Brazilian cerrado. I admit to being apathetic when it comes to photographing them. In order for me to turn my lens on them, something unusual generally has to be happening. In this case, I first noticed something odd occurring around one of the nest entrances. Looking closer, I could see the ants were being attacked by a small fly. I had read about that, but had never seen it personally. Intrigued, I figured I’d spend a few minutes shooting, even though I fully expected to end up with nothing usable. I was pleasantly surprised that one of the images managed to get both an ant and the fly in focus.
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Camouflaged Planthopper
15mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This little planthopper blends in pretty well with the lichen covered bark I found it on.
Side view
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