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Blog Archives
Identification Challenge #10 Reveal: Phiale guttata
15mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Only Ted C. MacRae ventured a guess for this most recent identification challenge. He was exactly right, though a bit confused by his source which indicated this species might not occur in Costa Rica. This is indeed Phiale guttata.
The World Spider Catalog lists the distribution for this wide ranging species as Costa Rica to Paraguay. The Global Species Database of Salticidae site lists all the species for Costa Rica, and allowed me to eliminate the possibility of similar spiders in the same genus. There are also some good photos and illustrations there.
Posted in Identification Challenges
2 Comments
Micropezid, ovipositing
8mm | January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
While recently reviewing my shots of this fly in the family Micropezidae, I was surprised to find that I unknowingly got a shot of her laying an egg. Here’s another shot for comparison, where she has concealed her ovipositor beneath her abdomen.
Ovipositor concealed
Here’s a crop from the first photo, showing the ovipositor and the egg.
Ovipositor and egg
Everything I’ve read indicates that most larvae develop in decomposing matter, so it seems strange she would be placing an egg on a leaf surface. Perhaps this is  just a method of random distribution, and the egg just falls where it may on the ground below.
Posted in Easter Eggs, Featured Photos
3 Comments
Crypsis Challenge #10 Reveal
I didn’t intend to leave this challenge open for quite so long. Unfortunately, other things in my life sometimes have to take precedence over this blog, even if I’d rather it be the other way around. 🙂
Looks like the challenge was more difficult than I expected. Commenters who suggested a katydid were on the right track, but this looks like a cricket to me. Here’s the original photo and another version where I’ve crudely outlined the cricket.
Cricket, outlined
January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I provided the outline to show the position and to show just how long the antennae are. Here’s a closer photo, sans antennae.
Posted in Crypsis Challenges
3 Comments
Golden Silk Spiders, Mating
January 19, 2011 | Armonia Nature Preserve, Limon Province, Costa Rica
When I first spotted this female Nephila clavipes, she was positioned rather low in her web. Her background was cluttered and shaded. I prodded her a few times, and as I’d hoped, she retreated to a higher position in her web where I thought I might be able to get a more pleasing background.
Unexpectedly, her quick movements drew the attention of a male that was also hanging out in her vicinity. I’ve read that males prefer to mate when the female is preoccupied with a meal (so they’re less likely to become a meal themselves). Perhaps he mistook her quick retreat as movement toward prey. At any rate, he wasted no time approaching her and getting into a mating position.
Posted in Featured Photos
4 Comments
Golden Silk Orbweaver
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I’ve never quite been happy with any of the photos I’ve taken of this species, Nephila clavipes. This photo is no exception. I do like that it captures the gold color of the web, and that at least a few of the leg tufts are in focus.
It’s a shame the spider lost a leg somewhere along the way. The missing leg distracts me every time I look at her.
These spiders really are quite large. This one measured around 30mm, 70mm if you throw in the legs.
See if you can spot the little fly that’s perched on her abdomen.
Posted in Featured Photos
2 Comments
Mystery Beetles
January 18, 2011 | Gandoca-Manzanillo NWR, Limon Province, Costa Rica
The day I spent in Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge, I encountered many beetles like the one above. They were always crawling around on large leaves. I didn’t observe them feeding or see any obvious damage from possible feeding in their vicinity. Rather, I spotted what I assume are both males and females, possibly coming together for mating. I didn’t actually see any mating though.
I suspect the one above is a male, based on those antennae. Here’s what I figure is a female. There’s also a bit of its frass there (confirmed from another image).
Posted in Featured Photos
6 Comments
Leafcutter Ants Nesting Above Ground
January 17, 2011
Cahuita NP, Limon Province, Costa Rica
I was watching some leafcutter ants and I noticed they disappeared inside the trunk of this tree palm(?). I thought perhaps they were just passing through, but another trail ended on the other side.
In the second photo you can see some leaves being carried along one of those stems. One of the nest entrances is about one third from the left and one third from the bottom.
I thought that leafcutter ants always had underground nests. Perhaps that’s the case here as well, with the majority of the nest still being underground. It’s a swampy area though, and the area behind the tree was submerged. It makes me wonder how leafcutter ants nest in areas that are often inundated with water.
Posted in Featured Photos
1 Comment
Trapjaw Ants
10mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
Not great shots, but I wanted to post these shots of some trapjaw ants, Odontomachus erythrocephalus. While taking the first photos of my trip, I knelt down on a log on the side of the trail in order to steady my camera. A few seconds later, I was stung by one of these guys on the inside of my knee. Turns out they had a nest in that log, and they weren’t happy about being disturbed. They don’t seem to like to expose themselves though, and I had a hard time trying to photograph them once they painfully made me aware of their presence.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Ectatomma tuberculatum
12mm | January 17, 2011
Cahuita NP, Limon Province, Costa Rica
These ants, Ectatomma tuberculatum, were easily found on the vegetation shown above. Not sure what the plant is, but it dominated the coastal trail near Puerto Vargas within Cahuita National Park. The white plant parts shown attracted quite a variety of critters. I think the ants above (possibly the same ant) are waiting in ambush. Below, I tried to catch one on the move.
Dorsolateral view
I found an interesting story while reading about this ant. A USDA biologist, O.F. Cook, was convinced this species could help control the impact of boll weevils on cotton production. In the early 1900’s he introduced it to cotton fields In Texas, but it failed to colonize.
Posted in Featured Photos
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Cephalotes basalis
7mm | January 17, 2011 | Cahuita National Park, Limon Province, Costa Rica
If I managed to use this “Key to Cephalotes Species Known from Costa Rica, Based on Minor Workers” correctly, then these images are of Cephalotes basalis.
There were quite a few crawling around on low vegetation.
Dorsal View
One interesting thing about this arboreal genus is that some members (perhaps all) have the ability to glide during free fall. If they fall, they use this ability to attempt to maneuver themselves toward their host tree trunk where they have a much better chance of returning to their nest.
Posted in Featured Photos
6 Comments
