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Blow Fly

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | CaraÃ§a Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I like the detail in this crop from the first image below. You can even see some pollen grains on and around the foreleg.

I’m pretty sure this is a blow fly, not unlike the common blue bottle fly.

Side View

Dorsolateral View

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Velvet Ant

Posted on November 7, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 27, 2010 | CaraÃ§a Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I like finding velvet ants, but boy are they tough to photograph in the field. They don’t stand still unless they’re hidden. This crop is the best I could do for this one. I saw one other one like this.

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Identification Challenge #3 Reveal

Posted on November 5, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Chris Grinter agrees with me that this photo is of a sawfly in the genus Dimorphopteryx.

June 6, 2010 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I first saw some photos of similar sawflies in this book:

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I then found some images on BugGuide.

It really is an odd looking critter. If I’d instead shown this view, it would have been more obvious, I think, that it’s a sawfly.

Side view

Here you can see the horns just behind the head.

Closeup of head

Marshall reports that the “tubercle behind the head is eversible, and sticks out like a snake’s tongue when the insect is disturbed.” Cool. I wish I’d known that when I encountered it. I would have tried to coax it into displaying that behavior. read more

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Crypsis Challenge #5 Reveal

Posted on November 2, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

At least a few people found the caterpillar outlined below, from the last crypsis challenge.

January 27, 2010 | CaraÃ§a Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I like how effectively it blends in. The dorsal markings match up pretty well with the damaged areas on the leaf.

It has spun a sort of silken lair across the entire leaf as well.

Closer view

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Pelecinid Wasp

Posted on November 1, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | CaraÃ§a Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Wasps in the family Pelecinidae are distinctive and easily recognized by that long thin abdomen. I’ve see them closer to home as well, but I can’t recall if I’ve ever gotten a decent photo. I do remember chasing after quite a few in vain or watching as one teased me from someplace just out of reach. I got lucky with this one.

What I thought was a red marking turns out to be a small mite.

There’s only one genus, Pelecinus, for this family. There appears to be at least two described species in the tropics. read more

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Some Army Ant Observations

Posted on October 31, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 27, 2010 | CaraÃ§a Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

That’s the general scene. I encountered these army ants on the side of the trail towards the end of the afternoon. The odd thing is that I didn’t see much more than what’s shown here. There were a couple of holes in the ground, outside the shot above, but roughly in the upper left and lower right. Despite some searching in the nearby vicinity, I didn’t find any other ant trails. But there were ants streaming in and out of the two holes, forming roughly two paths. The bottom path was moving to the right and the top to the left. read more

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Unexplained Beetle Behavior

Posted on October 30, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 27, 2010

CaraÃ§a Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

This beetle looks like a buprestid to me. The interesting thing is that it’s splitting this leaf lengthwise. In the second photo, you can see where the cut starts in the upper right. That would seem like an odd way to eat, so I suspect there’s some other purpose. Is anyone familiar with this behavior?

There’s also what appears to be a small wasp hanging out on the elytra.