I give you Bothriechis lateralis, the Side-striped palm-pitviper
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| Students guard endangered Olive Ridley Sea Turtle hatchlings from birds as they crawl towards the Pacific |
We packed our gear in Santa Rosa and hiked 10 miles through restored tropical dry forest and mangrove swamp to Playa Nancite, one of the few remaining arrebata beaches in the world. Several times a year, thousands of endangered sea turtles lay their eggs in the black sand in the course of several nights.
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| A hatchling sea turtle scrambles toward the surf, Playa Nancite, Costa Rica |
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| Frigate birds eat turtles that hatch during daylight hours |
We picked up turtles that hatched during the day and helped them make their way across the treacherous sand, shooing away dive bombing birds. I carried about 30 in a punch in my shirt. The turtles that make it to the surf still have a low chance of surival, hatching attracts numerous predators that wait just offshore. At one point students wanted to go swimming, but one of the Costa Ricans who works with the turtles advised against it. With my incomplete Spanish I understood that there was something in the water that could bite, and it was not a shark or other fish:
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| 'Toasty' the crocodile doesn't care that his snacks are endangered and cute |
Development of coastal areas has been catastrophic for sea turtles. In developed areas, instead of crawling towards the ocean, hatchlings crawl towards electric lights to their death. Seeing such uncommon and beautiful animals in huge numbers was a surreal experience. Playa Nancite also had some pretty awesome insects, some welcome others not as much:
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| Tropical stink bug (Pentatomidae) |
This stink bug (yes it is related to the brown marmorated stink bug) stands guard over its eggs - kicking its legs at my lens (or any would be predator). Parental care is uncommon in insects and we were really excited to find this species here.
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| Triatoma |
The kissing bug feeds on the blood of sleeping humans, and can transmit Chagas disease. This one was in the student bungalow.
After an uphill hike from Nancite we all had a good night's rest before heading to the beautiful Monteverde cloud forest, which I will post about soon.
I am in Guanacaste National Park, on our second stop in Costa Rica. Today I saw more new insects than my brain could process, a number of neat warblers, many lizards, white faced capuchins, and spider monkeys and howler monkeys eating in the same tree. Tomorrow we hike to the isolated playa nancite where we will spend 2 days that I am sure will be delightful. Here are a few photos:
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| packing and getting excited - I brought too much stuff |
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| Spider monkey - usually they are up higher in the canopy and harder to photograph |
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| one of two really cool Pentatomid bugs from the day |
In the spirit of the holidays and some of my favorite insect and photography blogs I have decided to post my 10 favorite photos from 2011. The past year has been a very busy one, with little time to dedicate to photography or other passions of mine, still 2011 presented some wonderful opportunities and I'm quite happy with some of the resulting photographs:
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| Synchlora aerata |
I got my first macro lens last winter when there were very few insects to point it at. I was thrilled to find this Camouflaged looper on parsley we had brought inside, with pieces of its host plant attached to its back to disguise it from predators.
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| Cedar Waxwing |
A flock of Cedar Waxwings found this Bradford pear tree behind my parents house on a cold January day and I shot out of an open second story window until I couldn't feel my fingers. I took about 300 exposures and this was the best - not bad for a 100 mm lens. The following week the tree did what Pyrus calleryana does best, and split apart in a storm.
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| Peony with water droplets |
Spring came early at Longwood Gardens. When the outside weather was blustery, it was always warm and lush inside.
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| Summer Skimmer |
Summer brought many interesting dragonflies to our native wildflower garden, including this beautiful Libellulid skimmer with shimmering golden wings.
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| Paraphidippus aurantius |
This Copper salticid jumping spider was awesome, and one of my first tries at this style portrait. The spider's abdomen is as shiny as a penny. I am a sucker for shiny things.
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| Gold-dust day gecko |
I previously posted about Phelsuma laticauda. They are an invasive species in Hawaii, but they are rather photogenic.
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| Fiddlehead, Hawaii |
I snapped this without thinking much about it and forgot about the photo until I was putting this list together. I really like how it turned out.
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| Chelonia mydas |
The green sea turtles in Hawaii were fascinating, and Kiri's waterproof point and shoot camera was great fun. Unfortunately, most of the corals in this shot have been killed by people touching them. It makes me think that the turtle is wise to be hiding from human destruction.
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| Mile-a-minute weevil |
Rhinoncomimus latipes is a biological control agent for the introduced mile-a-minute weed. This one got to be my first experiment with off camera flash.
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| Erythrina sandwicensis |
The Wiliwili tree is an endangered Hawaiian native. I saw this one on the roadside and we came back for a sunset photo session. The tree was great but Kiri is my favorite photographic subject. Happy New Year!
This (not-so) Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) was encountered during the Christmas display setup at Longwood Gardens. This bug had been overwintering among decorations in a barn. While the ornaments were being painted silver, it was found crawling away with a new festive look.
For me this photo marks the beginning of a new adventure. In 2012 I will be working with the USDA on biological control of Bown marmorated stink bug. The bug was introduced from Asia to Pennsylvania in 1998, and is well known in much of the United States as a Autumn home invader.
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| Halyomorpha halys finding its way inside |
Many people do not realize that this indoor nuisance is a serious agricultural pest of soybeans, corn, fruit trees, and other crops. In 2010 Pennsylvania stink bugs caused an estimated 25% crop loss in apple orchards. The USDA is evaluating several species of wasps that attack stink bugs to determine if they are effective against the pest but safe for other organisms. More on that to follow in the coming year.
Incidentally, silver spray paint works as a feeding preventative but does not quickly kill stink bugs, leaving me ample time to take photographs. It did eventually die, prompting the declaration that it was 'the ghost of Christmas pest.'
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