Tessera

I'm heading back to Ecuador and one of the species I'm hoping to see again is Hapalopus planetearth, a small tarantula that was only formally described last year and we know very little of. This species is now commonly called Ecuadorian crowned tarantula, a name that does its beauty justice!

Rain Hayes @rainhayes.com · 3w ago

This mysterious beetle showed up at our light trap in the Brazilian Amazon near Manaus. It's a beautiful representative of the shining leaf chafers, the Rutelinae, a group of scarab beetles that are often found feeding on leaves and flower petals. Many species are round and have metallic colors.

My friend's garden across the lake is graced with a Cobaea scandens (cup-and-saucer vine). They're so cool in person - no photo can do justice. They are generally white-to-purple but UV light reveals blue, red and pink in there as well. #flowerphotography

I was excited to find this Odontotaenius bess beetle under bark at our camp in Brazil. These are very friendly and often make cute squeaky sounds when handled by rubbing their abdomen against the hindwings. However, beneath the harmless appearance lies a story of collaboration, effort, and devotion.

Tiger-striped tree frog (Callimedusa tomopterna) from Ecuador. They easily blend in with the plants they are sitting on: The white markings on the frog's back are nearly identical to the lichen splotches on the leaf, and even the frog's bright orange fingers look just like the reddish stem nodes!

Another cool find from the light trap in Brazil. This cute lantern bug (Odontoptera carrenoi) is one of those unique species that look like they're constantly "flipping the bird" 🤣 But wait. ☝ THERE'S MORE Its wing shape and color pattern mimic the head of an anole lizard. can you see it?

invertebrate @crevicedwelling.bsky.social · 4w ago

This common potoo (Nyctibius griseus) made a perch on a post at our site in Ecuador. Because she was right on the trail, we saw her every single day. To be honest, the fact that this bird was just sitting there silently watching and judging us every time we walked past kind of freaks me out...

Panorpa insolens, a scorpionfly, defends her delicious mystery lump from a patient flesh fly (Sarcophagidae). Wing-flagging in Panorpa is used for both intraspecific and interspecific communication, and in some species studied, these displays are often used to guard food from other scavengers

With a stylish look of a black leopard and the mannerisms of a Siamese cat, Phiale guttata jumping spiders are always a treat to observe. Usually their inquisitive nature is what gives them away: These spiders really like to explore their surroundings and often end up finding us before we spot them.

ascalaphid@ascalaphid.com · 5mo ago

If you saw my bug photo from a few days ago, this is exactly what I had in mind

Uh oh here comes brother antioch with another round

Melanophoxus griffinii, a small conehead katydid from the Amazon region, trying to climb on my lens. This is one of the many challenges in shooting wide angle macro: you have to get very close, and for some animals this is an opportunity for them to go and explore your camera and flash system 😅

This frog fooled me. When I dug it out from underneath a fallen log during a night walk in Brazil, I thought I found a poison dart frog. This is a juvenile gold striped frog (Lithodytes lineatus), a mimic of poison dart frogs. Their colors are exceptionally bright at this stage!

A bug carrying the next round of beers? No, actually something way more exciting! This female Antiteuchus sepulcralis is displaying parental care by shielding her eggs. She can't cover them all so she puts her feelers forward, both as an extension of her body and to sense if someone gets too close.

Gil Wizen@wizentrop.bsky.social · last mo.

The collective mind of the internet has stepped in and reached a verdict on this insect's ID. It seems to be a male giant whitefly, a member of subfamily Udamoselinae! I'm happy to learn something new 🙂

Dragons exist! This insect showed up at the light trap in Brazil. I humbled to say that I don't know what this beautiful, 8mm-long insect is. All I can tell you is that it is some kind of sap-sucking hemipteran, and that it's likely a male. Hoping that someone can chime in with more information!

Orchid bees are among the insects I always look for when I visit Latin America. I never get tired of them! This beautiful male Euglossa from Brazil is doing a very good job hiding his long tongue.

That moment when you find a whip spider chewing on rainbow candy in the middle of the Amazon... Heterophrynus batesii, one of the most impressive arachnids in the Amazon area, seems to like feeding on the colorful Hyperphrona gracilis katydids. I see this scene very often on my visits to the region.