Below are all of the non-Lepidopteran invertebrates I photographed in Costa Rica.
True Bugs:
These two tiny critters are, believe it or not, stink bugs! Why on earth they mimic dung beetles I have no idea. At first I mistook them for dung beetles, but when startled, they let out an awful stench. They also had the idiosyncratic brown diamond where their wings intercept on the tip of their abdomens.
Some variety of leaf footed bug.
A beautiful (yet annoyingly ubiquitous) leafhopper nymph.
Two different varieties of plant bug.
Some type of sharp shooter--species identification is virtually impossible because most good internet identification sites only accept North American submissions. I would need a local dichotomous key to identify most of these insects.
The pattern on the bottom of this poisoned leaf footed bug is beautiful.
An ant-mimic plant bug, probably a nymph. Unfortunately, its natural instinct to hide on the opposite side of a leaf and move around a lot preventing me from getting a good photo. It closely resembles a leafcutter ant.
Freshly hatched nymphs of some true bug, possibly a leaf footed bug or an assassin bug.
This guy looks like an ambush bug, though I am not entirely certain. It could just be a plant bug with over-sized raptorial arms.
Beetles:
A predacious diving beetle found in a pool.
An unknown beetle found in the same pool.
Another completely unknown beetle.
A longhorned beetle of some type.
This is a rather large Cotinis mutabilis, or Fig Beetle, probably the only insect in Costa Rica which I was able to positively identify down to the species level. It wasn't hard: just search "big green beetle" and it's the first result.
An interesting ground beetle with a metallic green band about the thorax and a metallic gold band about the abdomen.
Okay, I also have an idea about with this beetle is. It is definitely a member of the genus Callisthenes, and might be C. calidus, the Fiery Hunter, which I have encountered in Mississippi. It's crazy how large the geographic ranges of insects can be!
A scarab beetle, found in a swimming pool.
Yet another unknown beetle, found dead.
This beetle (which I think should be called the "Antelope Beetle" due to its antennae) was extraordinarily common, and the locals were very familiar with it. I believe it might be a blister beetle of some sort, which might explain the familiarity: blister beetles can release burning chemicals that cause painful rashes.
Three longhorn beetles.
A soldier beetle. These fellers came in droves, at times flying over the villa, at rates of about a score per second, for five minutes or more. They performed this feat regularly. It was quite annoying...
...because they would get poisoned and cluttered the walkways with their carcasses. Above is one in its death throes.
Another Longhorn Beetle.
Ants:
What I really want to know is why these leafcutter ants are carrying dead leaves! To me, that seems awfully counterproductive, simply making the desired fungus more difficult to get at. But whatever. Bugs will be bugs.
A leafcutter ant cutting flower buds for fungal consumption.
Probably the time I got most excited on the trip was when I saw a real live trapjaw ant! I totally was not expecting it. Unfortunately, few (read "none") of my family members shared my enthusiasm.
Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to work they go! Until you blow on them and get their pheromones all mixed up. Then they just run around in circles for a few seconds before continuing.
Leafcutter ants carrying off a dead drone.
Grasshoppers and Katydids:
These were probably the biggest grasshoppers I had ever seen, and they were incredibly common.
A wonderfully odd little katydid.
Praying Mantises and Phasmids:
A large walkingstick of unknown species.
A praying mantis, feasting on the moths the lights attracted at night.
I only photographed on fly, some type of ant or wasp mimic.
The ornate golden thorax of this earwig certainly surprised me! I saw it on the ground, studied it closely, and went back to drawing, only to find it crawling on my leg a minute later. I carefully tossed it into a flower bed, where it was probably much more at home anyway.
Spiders:
Unidentified jumping spiders.
A discarded tarantula skin found on a mountain trail.
A rather cute little jumping spider, also found on a mountain trail.
A spitting spider! I have no idea what species, but the bulbous head and characteristic walk shouted it out to me. Unfortunately, I was unable to goad it into spitting on me.
Solpugids, Scorpions, and Opiliones:
We looked down at dinner to see this little guy on the ground, leading to a family freak out! Fortunately, in the chaos it was crushed under heel by a courageous family member.
Although I never got to see a live Solpugid, I did get to see several dead and dusty ones, like this little guy.
A few of the Opiliones I encountered on a mountain trail. Harvestmen seem to be able to thrive pretty much anywhere!
A millipede.
A jungle centipede. These were ubiquitous on the mountain hike, darting quickly in and out of crevices in the ground and trees.
And that's just a selection! However, I the ones I omitted are not really that good anyway, so I'll limit this post to the above photos. Thanks for reading!
Adios!
