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Blog Archives
Beetle with Red and Black Elytra
25mm body | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I spotted two of these beetles, both on tree bark at the base of trees. I don’t have any of my references with me, so I can only speculate about the family. Tenebrionidae, perhaps?
Posted in Featured Photos
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Huntsman Spider
13mm body | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I’m pretty sure this is a huntsman spider in the family Sparassidae.
Frontal view
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Cockroaches
30mm | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I saw quite a variety of cockroaches in my relatively short outing to Monte Alegre. The first one, above, was the largest and was not altogether unattractive. It blended in well with the leaf litter.
The second one was a bit smaller, and was spotted in some low foliage.
25mm | Dorsolateral view
This last one was the smallest, but the most robust.
20mm | Dorsal view
It was moving slowly about until it encountered something tasty (rodent dropping?).
Lateral view | Feeding
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Ants Tending Leafhoppers
July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
These ants are tending to some treehopper nymphs. Most of the ants are busy collecting honeydew, but the one on the bottom has noticed me and is on alert. I accidentally bumped the branch after this shot and all of the ants started running around looking for something to attack. I held up a leaf for a background here so that the ants would stand out.
In this next shot, I’m assuming the white areas are either treehopper eggs or a protective covering for the eggs. One of the adult treehoppers is also visible here, a darker shade of red than the nymphs.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Odd Spider
7mm (body) | July 2, 2011 | Monte Alegre, Minas Gerais, Brazil
One of my brother-in-laws offered to drop me off for a few hours in a forested area on one of his farms. I was thrilled, but perhaps a bit anxious when he offered me a revolver in case I encountered a jaguar. I turned down the gun and if there was a jaguar in the area I never saw it.
The first critter I found was this odd looking spider. I spotted it while breaking up a rotting log. It’s quite flat, evolved no doubt for squeezing into tight spaces. I wanted to grab it for a closer look, but it managed to fall into the leaf litter and escape.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Harvestman
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Could this be the harvestman equivalent of an ostrich burying its head in the sand? Or maybe it was just trying to get at something to eat.
Hiding? Eating?
After a few shots as I found it, I prodded it into a better position.
Prodded into a better position
It has some interesting “combs” on a few of its rearmost legs.
Comb-like structures on rearmost legs
Dorsolateral view
It’s actually quite small, the body measuring only about 5mm front to back. The longest leg, however, was about 3cm long. I’m not sure what purpose those horns might serve.
Small body, 5mm long
4mm wide
"Comb" on the right
I have to admit I’m drawn to these strange creatures. I think in part it’s simply because they are so alien looking.
Posted in Featured Photos, Uncategorized
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Two Flies Sharing a Meal
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
These two flies are sharing a meal.
I can easily identify the larger one as a micropezid.
Micropezid
I’m not sure about the smaller one though.
Smaller fly
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Jumping Spider with Prey
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
This little salticid has captured a small fly of some sort.
White scales on the chelicerae almost look like a mustache.
Frontal view
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Another Micropezid
13mm (body) | January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Here’s another micropezid, waving its front legs like they are apt to do.
Frontal view
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Green and Black Poison Dart Frog
January 21, 2011 | Finca La Isla, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I spotted another of these relatively large frogs, Dendrobates auratus, in the botanical gardens. Unlike the one I spotted a few days before, this one wasn’t carrying a tadpole.
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