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Blog Archives
Assassin Bug Mimicking Bee
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Tropical assassin bugs come in an amazing variety of forms. This one reminds me of a bee, though I didn’t see anything on my trip that might serve as a model. Despite extensive searching of the internet, I didn’t turn up any photos of a species resembling this individual.
A couple of my books do mention assassin bugs that mimic bees and wasps, so I think that’s probably what’s going on here.
[book:0962515019]
[book:0520078497]
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Snout Beetle with Orange Bands
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Treehopper with Eggs
January 26, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This treehopper appears to have deposited eggs in this twig. Â I’m not sure if she’s still ovipositing or perhaps just guarding the eggs.
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Colorful Froghopper
January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Another find from my first night at Caraça’s sanctuary.
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Earwig with a Clubbed Abdomen
January 25, 2010 | Caraça Natural Park, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I’ve never seen an earwig quite like this before. In fact, I’m not entirely sure it is an earwig. When I first saw it my initial impression was of a beetle, a rove beetle perhaps. As far as I know though, no beetles have those earwig like pincers.
If this species is described in the literature, I wonder if the scientific name doesn’t somehow reference the clubbed abdomen. The whole insect looks prehistoric somehow.
This wasn’t the only one I saw. I spotted another one near by. It wasn’t quite as nice looking though, with a wing stain and a missing antenna.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Parasitic Wasp Stalking Tumbling Flower Beetle
June 14, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
As usual, I was working in the yard when I got distracted by some sort of dramatic natural scene. This time, I noticed that some magnolia blooms were literally crawling with tumbling flower beetles. Mostly, there was a lot of mating going on amongst the beetles. Then I noticed this little wasp that kept approaching various beetles, usually resulting in the beetle running off. Finally, she found one that was less wary. Above the wasp is closing in. Below, it appears she eventually made contact.
Contact
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Jumping Spider Subdues Carpenter Ant
June 16, 2009 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
I found this pair on a viburnum in my backyard. What looks like a male Phidippus whitmani has subdued what I assume is a winged reproductive carpenter ant.
I didn’t notice while I was taking pictures, but while reviewing them I saw that a little fly arrived to share in the spoils.
Fly arriving
Fly on ant
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
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Tube-tailed Thrips
Tube-tailed thrips larvae | May 17, 2008 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
I spotted this scene on a small stump in my front yard. At the time I didn’t know what they were. After a bit of research, I determined they were tube-tailed thrips from the family Phlaeothripidae.
I assume there are so many because they’ve found a good food source, fungus perhaps. I’m curious as to why the larvae are orange-ish red. Occasionally I’d see a black adult like the one below, which definitely contrasts with the color of the larvae.
Adult
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