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Another Bizarre Treehopper

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

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 | 4 Comments

Lacewing under Leaf

Posted on December 23, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

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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Planthopper

Posted on December 18, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Based on the snout and the wing venation, I’m gonna say this one is a dictyopharid planthopper.

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Crypsis Challenge #6 Reveal

Posted on December 12, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

What was hidden here?

January 31, 2010 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Ted was on the right track with his comments about the mantid-like head. It is in fact a mantid of some type. Here’s a close crop from the image above.

It's a mantid

Posted in Crypsis Challenges | 1 Comment

Identification Challenge #5 Reveal

Posted on November 28, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

As usual, Ted C. MacRae was right on all counts for this challenge:

January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I thought perhaps the swept-back antenna across the bottom third of the photo might throw people off. Not so.

Here’s a better shot of the katydid which was cooperative enough to allow some good closeups. This should put all the body parts shown above in context.

Katydid

My sister guessed a dragonfly via a Facebook comment. I can see the resemblance so not a bad guess.

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Identification Challenge #5

Posted on November 21, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

Here’s a closeup of an unidentified insect. Can you identify the family to which it belongs and the body parts shown?

Posted in Identification Challenges | 2 Comments

Identification Challenge #4

Posted on November 13, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

October 8, 2009

Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA

I spotted this chrysalis on a tree trunk (looks like some sort of cherry). You can see in the first photo that it blends in pretty well. I took it home to see what would emerge. Something did, late the following April. Any ideas what it was?

This probably won’t help, but I couldn’t resist posting a closeup.

Closeup of spiracles

Posted in Identification Challenges | 2 Comments

Blow Fly

Posted on November 8, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | Caraça 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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Crypsis Challenge #4 Reveal

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

Hopefully it didn’t take more than a few seconds to spot the katydid in this image.

January 27, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

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A Caterpillar to Avoid

Posted on October 22, 2010 by Troy Bartlett

January 28, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil

I found a couple of these large caterpillars very near to each other. First the one above and then the one below. I believe they are a species of Automeris.

With those spines and colors, it’s pretty obvious they are to be avoided. Each one of those spines is like a little hypodermic needle bearing venom.

Here are some closeups.

Head

Spiny cluster

And here’s a particularly intimidating display.

Back off!

So what would mess with this spiny critter? I discovered while reviewing photos of the latter caterpillar that there was a small fly up to no good. Sorry for the photo quality. These are extreme crops. read more

Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos | 3 Comments