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Blog Archives
Colorful Snout Beetle
12mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I really love the colors on this snout  beetle. Check out the detail. The image is not quite as sharp as I’d like, but just look at all those little colorful scales.
Detail
Posted in Featured Photos
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Colorful Micromoth
11mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This was the first subject I found after starting along the coastal trail in Cahuita National Park. There were dozens of these little moths on some sort of plant that was prevalent along the coastal trail. When I spotted the first one, I thought perhaps it was a leafhopper. It was only after seeing one up close that I realized it was a moth, and a spectacularly colored one at that.
I’m amazed at how well the forewing and hindwing patterns line up. While clearly two wings toward the tail end, you can barely make out the division between them elsewhere. As for what purpose this pattern serves, I’m stumped. They stand out well on the foliage, so it’s hard to imagine it provides camouflage. Perhaps these are warning colors, but why then the intricate pattern towards the rear? It might be a false eye sort of thing to distract attention away from the important end. And the two red bands do look kind of like legs, if the thing were facing the opposite direction.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Identification Challenge #7 Reveal
All commenters correctly determined that this was a moth:
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
At the time I took the picture, I assumed this was a butterfly. It acted like a butterfly, being active during the day and the way it held its wings (not folded over the back like many moths).
It was only when reviewing the photo later that I noticed it looked a bit odd for a butterfly. Like many commenters, I noted the lack of clubbed antennae. I didn’t try to identify it, but I remembered it when I read an interesting short article in a recent issue of Natural History magazine. The article was all about day flying moths in the subfamily Dioptinae (family Notodontidae). I emailed the author, James S. Miller, asking if he thought this might be one. Here’s his response:
Posted in Identification Challenges
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Mass Pupation
January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I found one other grouping of exuviae in the area where I found the one above. I’ve never seen anything like this locally. I believe these are from lepidopterans. There is a slight layer of silk on the bark. Up close, I saw some cast off head capsules. Look closely above, and you’ll notice a leg that must have broken off while struggling free.
I know some caterpillars are gregarious as early instars, but I thought they generally went their separate ways as final instars. I thought this was interesting evidence that in at least one species, they pupate and perhaps eclose together.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Flashy Coreid
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Despite their common name of leaf-footed bugs, not all coreids have flattened hind tibiae. Â This flashy specimen instead has rather impressive hind femurs.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Another Bizarre Treehopper
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I’ve shown a couple of odd treehoppers already, but here’s yet another variation on that theme. This time, I do kinda see a resemblance to an ant.
Dorsal view
Marshall’s 500 Insects includes a very similar looking treehopper identified as a Cyphonia species.
[book:1554073456]
Posted in Featured Photos
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Crypsis Challenge #7 Reveal
January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Commenters had no trouble finding the cryptic critter circled above on a partially eaten leaf. No one figured out that it was a caterpillar though, and a rather bizarre one at that. Here’s a closer look.
It's a caterpillar
It does a pretty good job, I think, of blending in with the damaged areas of the other leaves. I suspect the brown leaf areas were damaged by an earlier instar that chews away at the surface of the leaf rather than eating the entire thing. It looks formidable and I didn’t risk touching it. Those black structures are unlike anything I’ve seen on a caterpillar.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
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Lacewing under Leaf
January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Most lacewings are nondescript. So when I spotted this one on the underside of a leaf, I couldn’t pass it up. The markings are not unlike some Leucochrysa species here in the US.
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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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