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Blog Archives
Caterpillar
25mm long | July 6, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I found several of these caterpillars. They all had lighter colored mid-abdominal segments, like this one.
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Another Possible Cyphonia Treehopper
3mm long | July 6, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This might be another Cyphonia species. I’ve seen a few similar ones before, but not one quite like this.
Side view
I believe these photos are all of the same individual, but I can’t be sure. It was skittish, but when spooked it always seemed to land close by.
Another view
These really are very small treehoppers, only around 3mm long.
Dorsal view
Dorsal view
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Mantispid
12mm body | July 6, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I spotted this small mantidfly hanging out on the underside of this leaf. I’m always excited to find one of these.
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Immature Assassin Bug
15mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
It looks somewhat clumsy at this stage, but it’s nonetheless a capable predator.
Closer view
I forgot to turn off one of the flash heads so as to avoid the double eye highlight.
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Geometrid Caterpillar with Enlarged Thorax
23mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
This caterpillar has an interesting profile. I’ve seen caterpillars with enlarged thoracic segments, but I don’t recall ever seeing a geometrid like this. I assume this is a geometrid because it only has two pairs of prolegs.
Closeup of head and thorax
I was just about to publish this and I decided to look through my copy of Caterpillars of Eastern North America to see if I saw anything similar in the section on geometrids. This is not unlike the caterpillar of the Tulip-tree Beauty (Epimecis hortaria). I’ve never actually seen one of those, even though I often see the adults. Wagner says the odd proportions are distinctive for that species for North America. Perhaps this is a Brazilian species in that genus.
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Parasitized Brush-footed Butterfly Chrysalis
17mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Metamorphosis for this butterfly appears to have been interrupted by a parasite, a small wasp perhaps. You can see the hole where the parasite chewed its way out. Oddly, there’s a similar hole on the other side. Maybe it abandoned this other exit since it looks incomplete. Or maybe there were actually multiple parasites.
Another exit hole?
I know this is the chrysalis of a brush-footed butterfly in the family Nymphalidae because other butterfly families use a a small silken thread around the thorax to help secure it. Here’s an example from an earlier post.
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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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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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Crypsis Challenge #13 Reveal: Jumping Stick
82mm | July 9, 2011 | Tupaciguara, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Were you able to find the critter in the photo above? It’s in the lower right corner. Some of you may recognize this as another stick grasshopper in the family Proscopiidae, previously featured in Crypsis Challenge #3. They are so cryptic that I couldn’t resist doing another challenge with this one. Here’s an outline of the grasshopper if you’re still not seeing it.
Grasshopper revealed
Check out how closely the color and texture of the insect matches that of the surrounding vegetation.
Can you distinguish animal from plant here?
Here’s another image where it’s blending in fairly well.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
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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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