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Blog Archives
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
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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
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Leaf Beetles and Damaged Leaves
2mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This is almost but not quite the shot I was going for. When I first saw this little beetle it was oriented toward the freshly eaten patch. With the frass strewn around, you can just imagine it chewing away at the surface in a circular pattern. I wasn’t quite stealthy enough in my approach however, and I spooked it into moving away.
Below is a similar beetle, perhaps a different sex of the same species. Note the difference between the freshly eaten patch above and the older ones below.
Showing older leaf damage
Posted in Featured Photos
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Blister Beetles Defoliating
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This plant was being devoured by dozens of these attractive blister beetles. Above I’ve caught one with a leaf fragment in its mouth. Below, you can see how they’ve stripped a branch clean. The frass seems to be exiting just about as fast as the plant goes in (must be a good source of fiber).
Beetles Defoliating
As these pictures show, the plant was literally crawling with these beetles.
Working on another branch
The dark backgrounds here are an effect of the camera flash. This was actually happening in broad daylight. How are they able to risk doing that? Blister beetles are so named because they defend themselves with a caustic compound, cantharidin, found in their blood. Predators soon learn to avoid them.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Dinner at the Cow Patty
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Remember I said in the location profile for Tupaciguara that cattle are abundant? I was driving through one of the many cattle pastures at night when I noticed that some of the fresher cow patties were being visited by moths.
I suppose this shouldn’t be too surprising. I’ve seen plenty of butterflies taking nourishment from bird droppings and other animal scat. Well, at least something is benefiting from those cattle.
Some other random thoughts:
I wondered if anyone has ever done a study on how many and what types of species come to cow patties? That might be worthy of an Ig Noble prize.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Longhorned Beetle Damaging Stem
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This longhorned beetle blends in pretty well with these stems.
Some longhorned beetles are known as girdlers and that name might be aptly applied here. See the damage to the stem in the upper right? I didn’t witness it, but I suspect this beetle is responsible. In fact, given the bending of the stem under its head, it may very well have been chewing away when I took this photo. Further evidence is the frass present, indicating it’s been here awhile.
Why girdle? Some beetles that do it deposit an egg in the stem and then effectively kill the stem by chewing a ring into it. The stem beyond the girdle eventually dies and falls to the ground. The stem provides nourishment for the beetle larva and is then well placed for the grub to later escape into the soil where it completes its development.
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
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Fuzzy Jewel Beetle
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Quick! What is it? From this angle, you might mistake this jewel beetle for a bee.
The beetle was feeding on the purplish flowers. Purple in, purple out.
Side view
Posted in Featured Photos
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Leaf Beetle Feeding Behavior
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This leaf beetle has created an interesting little scene.
There’s the leaf damage caused by feeding. The spots appear to be changing color as they age. I assume the green one to the top right of the beetle is the freshest. The light colored ones near the top must be the oldest.
There’s also some frass spread around.
Looking at this, I wonder if the feeding behavior isn’t offering some measure of camouflage. From a distance, the beetle appears to be just another damaged spot on the leaf.
Posted in Featured Photos
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