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Category Archives: Featured Photos
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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Caterpillar
30mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I might not have noticed this caterpillar during the day, but after dark it stood out in the light of my headlamp.
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Termites at Work
July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Just after dark, termites started emerging from below ground. Here they appear to be excavating. The darker soil has been brought up from below by workers while guards form a defensive perimeter.
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Soldier Fly
11mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
The wing venation, patterned eyes, and even the horns on the scutellum suggest this is a soldier fly in the family Stratiomyidae. Many soldier flies bear a resemblance to wasps. This one kind of reminds me of a yellowjacket.
Reference:
[book:9968927147]
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Green Huntsman Spider
9mm body | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This attractive green huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae (formerly Heteropodidae) was concealed beneath a leaf. With such a striking green color, it must hunt primarily in foliage.
When I found it, it was concealed within a silken retreat on the underside of a leaf. The texture of the silk is interesting.
Concealed within silken retreat
That wouldn’t do for photos though, so I poked at it until it removed itself.
Reluctantly exposed
That did allow for some nice closeup shots though, like this one of the eyes. I always try to get a shot like this to help in the identification.
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Doomed Caterpillar
25mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Despite its defenses, this caterpillars appears to have ended up with some parasite eggs, a tachinid fly perhaps.
Closer look at parasite eggs
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Fruit Fly
8mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I start with low expectations whenever I try to identify a fly. I’m happy if I get to family, but I think I got as far as genus on this one. This female fruit fly in the family Tephritidae might be an Anastrepha species.
Reference:
[book:9968927147]
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Crooked Jaw Termites
5-10mm | July 3, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
As promised in my last post, here are some termites where the soldiers are much larger than the workers. Large is relative though, since although they are twice the size of the workers, these soldiers still only measure one centimeter.
Soldiers are twice the size of workers
Based on Hogue’s Latin American Insects and subsequent web searches, I believe these are termites in the genus Neocapritermes, which he refers to in an illustration as crooked jaw termites. The name certainly fits. My first thoughts after seeing one of these soldiers was that it was deformed.
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Nasutitermes Termites
2-3mm | July 3, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Previously, I showed you some termites where the soldiers and workers were about the same size. Here, the soldier (at top) is actually smaller. Termites in the subfamily Nasutitermitinae, like these, have soldiers called nasutes. Nasutes don’t need to be big because they don’t rely on strength. Instead, they have specialized snouts for spraying a defensive substance.
In some species the substance is sticky and serves to disable or slow down small predators, like ants. In others the substance is noxious and repellent.
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Polyxenid Millipede
3mm | July 3, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I don’t recall ever seeing one of these little millipedes before, but it’s probably just that I never paid attention. These small millipedes in the order Polyxenida never measure more than 4mm based on everything I’ve just read. The only reason I recognized this one was because of a recent appearance in one of Ted C. MacRae’s identification challenges. This one was found crawling around in the soil beneath a log.
Unfortunately I didn’t get as good a photo as I had hoped. Not a single one had the whole critter in focus. The head is to the right, by the way. You can make out the antennae and what look kinda like compound eyes, but are actually just a grouping of ocelli.
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