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Blog Archives
Stingless Bees
10mm wide entrance | July 6, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
These stingless bees have made their nest inside a termite mound. Earlier in the day, the bees weren’t clustered around the entrance like they are here. Instead they were simply flying in and out occasionally. This was taken late in the day though, and I suspect they are preparing to seal the entrance for the night. In the photo below, you get a better sense of how the nest is situated in the termite mound.
Though these bees are stingless, they aren’t defenseless. Do you see the clump of resin in the upper left? Looks like an ant has been encased there. I wonder if the bees perhaps mobbed it and secreted all that resin.
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
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Battleship-shaped Ootheca
31mm long | July 6, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I saw quite a few of these oddly shaped things. My guess would be that they are the oothecae (egg masses) of a praying mantis. I’ve read that each species of praying mantis has a distinctive looking ootheca. After quite a bit of searching, I’ve been unable to find one that looks quite like this.
This one was on some sort of succulent plant, but I found others on tree trunks and various other plants.
Another view
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Crypsis Challenge #15 Reveal: Moth
Did you find the hidden moth in the last crypsis challenge? If not, here’s where it was hidden.
Moth, Hidden
Moth, Revealed
In natural light it blended in quite well. With a flash though, it really pops out.
40mm wingspan
I thought the eyespot was interesting and I managed to get a closeup before the moth took off.
Eyespot Closeup
I expected this would be an easy challenge. All commenters correctly mentioned the moth. Good job, everyone!
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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.
Posted in Featured Photos
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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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Spider Corpse with Fungus
14mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Can you spot the spider corpse here? Looks like it succumbed to some sort of fungal infection. Fungi are quite diverse and I don’t recall ever seeing one quite like this one. Here’s a closer view.
Closeup of fungus
I suspect that webbing is probably from the spider itself. It probably was hiding inside a silken retreat when it died.
Side view
Would the fungus properly be called an arachnopathogen? I think so but there’s practically no hits when I search for that term.
I did find a photo with a similar looking fungus on BugGuide though. Sadly, no info on the identity of the fungus. It’s neat to see that the photo was taken not too far from where I live though.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Identification Challenge #13 Reveal: Spotted Apatelodes Proleg
Spotted Apatelodes Caterpillar | October 2, 2011 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
Did you guess that the caterpillar above was the critter featured in Identification Challenge #13? Both commenters for this challenge were on the right track, guessing that it was a caterpillar. Here’s the photo again from the challenge.
Proleg closeup
Here’s an even closer look at the proleg so I can point out a few interesting things.
Proleg showing crochets in two different sizes
All those little claws on the proleg are called crochets. This particular species, Apatelodes torrefacta, is one of just a handful of species in my area that belong to the family Bobycidae. The most famous member of that family is the domesticated silkworm moth. One feature of caterpillars in this family is that they have crochets of two different lengths, as shown above.
Posted in Identification Challenges
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Colorful Leafhopper
5mm long | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
It’s a shame I found this attractive little leafhopper on such an ugly leaf.
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Lacewing Eggs Comparison
9mm high | July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I assume these are hatched lacewing eggs, though I think there are other critters that lay stalked eggs as well. What I found interesting was how long the stalks are relative to the eggs. The lacewing eggs I usually find have relatively shorter stalks. Compare the hatched ones above with some unhatched ones below that I found in a park close to home.
5mm high | August 27, 2011 | Twelvestones, Roswell, GA, USA
Searching around the internet I see two common explanations for why eggs are laid on stalks. First, the stalks make it more difficult for predators such as ants to reach the eggs. The stalks are sometimes even coated with a repellent substance. Second, lacewing larvae are cannibalistic and the stalks serve to keep keep newly hatched larvae away from each other.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Scale Insects
July 5, 2011 | Victorio Siqueroli Park, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
I assume these are scale insects. When I saw them I remembered the mysterious sign I spotted earlier in the year in Costa Rica. After seeing this, I think scales were probably responsible for that.
Note how they’re arranged along the central leaf vein. They’re undoubtedly taking plant juices through that midvein.
Click on the photo for a larger version and see if you scan spot a small mite (an “easter egg” I didn’t know about when I took the photo). Then see if you can find its recently cast off skin!
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
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