Saturday, April 18, 2009

Grasshopper

I've heard of grasshoppers big enough to barbecue. Our friend in the attached image was getting to be that size.

Butterfly

Butterfly on newly forming leaves.

Beetle on leaf

A tiny beetle, but also very colorful.

Tortoise beetle

I discovered a family of these tortoise beetles on a bush close to the Bosque reception center. This one is the most colorful. Click on image for an enlargement.

Wet fungus

Moth on sign

Moth on "Tento" sign at Bosque Santa Lucia.

Leaf fungi

The colors on this leaf reminded me of the colors of a rattlesnake.

Stick insect

Check out the BIG eyes on this stick insect.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Six meters of caiman

A couple of days ago this caiman of 6 meters was killed at Tapará, a neighboring village on the Amazon floodplain. Now, that may not be a record, but I bet it's getting close. One thing for sure, the killing of the beast was an environmental crime. The killers will probably never be questioned about their act because, according to all accounts, the toothy animal was discovered next to the elevated house of a fisherman. His children take their baths in the same waters! Image and story, Blog de Jeso. I've said it before and I'll say it again, wild animals don't stand a chance of survival after man moves into their environment.

Longhorned beetle, continued

Here's another view of the character. The width of its antennas was greater than the length of the body.

Longhorned beetle

What do you think? Same bug? Nope, see Ted MacRae's comment.

Ex-bug

I discovered the remains of this goggle-eyed creature on an old log at Bosque Santa Lucia. Even though deceased, the head of the insect reminded me of an image in my folder of Bosque pictures. Coming up.

another unknown

I don't know what it is, but it nearly went unnoticed while I was getting some pictures of a butterfly. Could it be the larvae of a stick insect?

Green frog

In all the years I've been at Bosque Santa Lucia, this is only the third time that I've seen this species of frog. After posting an image of the second find, a reader (anatohmy) posted the following comment: "I think this frog may be infected with batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, a disease caused by chytrid fungus. this disease is a main cause for the current global decline of amphibians. usually frogs that are infected with it seem depressed, are immobile, and die shortly thereafter. very sad!!" The frog in the attached image seems to be in better physical condition than the others. Search "green frog" on this blog to see pictures of the first two finds. I found this one in a small branch of foliage that had gotten caught in a palm frond.