More from the Peruvian Amazon
- Tortoise Orb Weavers
- Thorn Orb Weavers
- Roly Poly Orb Weavers
- Jewel Caterpillar
- Spider Faces
- 50 Tiny Creatures
Many tourists, explorers and researchers visit the Amazon’s unspoilt tropical rainforests in hope of spotting exotic mammals and birds. What most visitors miss out, are the most bizarre alien-like life right under their noses.
I took about 4000 photos of tiny critters during my week-long stay in the Amazon. Most were just record shots of some of the most intriguing arthropods that I’ve ever seen. Since I’ve already posted several photo-series on spiders and dumping all the photos in a blog post would take a really long time look through, here’s a little selection of the memorable tiny creatures that I encountered!
Thanks to Rainforest Expeditions for arranging the trip, Jeff Cremer and Vico Moscoso for covering the trails with me.
Good news if you are interested to make trips to Tambopata – readers of this blog can get a 10% discount from bookings to the Peruvian Amazon via Rainforest Expeditions – just mention the discount code SGMACRO when making your reservations!
For those who are interested, BugShot 2016 will also be held in the Peruvian Amazon, probably July 30 – Aug 5 2016!
Alien Katydid (Moncheca sp.)
Some of the katydids here look like aliens. This was no exception.
Rainbow Grasshopper (Caelifera)
Many of the grasshoppers donned colours that might make a rainbow jealous.
Hoverfly larva (Microdon sp.)
Weird little patch of alien grub, suspected to be a hoverfly larva?
Ichneumon wasps (Banchinae)
These stunning group of wasps were some of the prettiest that I’ve ever seen.
Glasswing butterfly (Greta sp.)
Glasswing butterflies were aplenty. Unfortunately this photo doesn’t do the see-through wings any justice.
Bird dung caterpillar
The pile of poop that moves!!
Snake mimic chrysalis (Catonephele orites)
Bizarre chrysalis that appears to mimic a snake’s head. Reminds me of some cartoon shark.
Jewel caterpillar (Dalceridae)
The forest nudibranch. More photos and details about it in my earlier post: Peruvian Amazon’s Jewel Caterpillar: The Forest Nudibranch
Stick insect (Phasmatodea)
Loads of stick insects hanging around. Some, like this one, bore bright orange mini-spines.
Stink bug nymphs (Pentatomidae)
Freshly hatched stink bug nymphs gathering around their egg shells displayed an enchanting fluorescence under ultraviolet.
Bug
Not sure which family this bug nymph belonged to, but the blue metallic body with red eyes and legs are a potent photographic combination!
Assassin bug (Reduviidae)
For some reason, this assassin bug looked like a toy…
Squash bug (Coreidae)
Colourful looking squash bug with “muscular” hind legs. (and a bit of pee)
Treehopper (Membracidae)
One of these membracids visited us at the light trap when we first set it up. I managed to find the host plant where more were spotted. Really amazing combo of lumps and spines!
Fulgorid planthopper (Enchophora nigromaculata – ID by Geert Goemans)
Almost skipped this fulgorid when we were returning to the cabins past midnight. Luckily I had a closer look to see the purplish legs and arched snout!
Humped leafhopper (Proconia sp.)
Found a tree with troops of these impressive looking humped leafhoppers!
Leafhopper nymph (Cicadellidae)
Felt like a kid with a box of crayons did this… There were just too many different cicadellids to show here, view the others in my Flickr albums.
Pleasing fungus beetle (Gibbifer sp. – ID by Ross Piper)
The pleasing fungus beetles sported interesting pastel colours. That ridiculous hump….!
Weevil (Entiminae – ID by Ross Piper)
Golden-yellow weevil with blue legs. Can’t get any brighter!
Click beetle (Semiotus sp. – ID by Ross Piper)
One of the many small click beetles taking off.
Click beetle (Pyrophorus sp.)
This large click beetle has bioluminescent blinking spots on the posterior edge of the thorax, and the eyes fluoresce under ultraviolet too!
Bioluminescent click beetle larva (Pyrearinus sp.)
At Refugio Amazonas, there was an area of mud banks with lots of these glow worms believed to be click beetle larvae. More information reported in the article Mysterious ‘Glow Worm’ Discovered in the Peruvian Rainforest.
Dung beetle (Scarabidae)
Little balls of poop get moved around because of these beetles.
Blunthead tree snake (Imantodes cenchoa)
I wasn’t searching for snakes, but saw a couple.
Catesbyi’s snail eater (Dipsas catesbyi)
Only managed to see some of the smaller snakes.
Tree frog (Rhacophorida)
Several tree frogs chilling out as well!
Scorpion (cf. Tityus sp. – ID by Ross Piper)
Some of these scorpions were hanging out on tree trunks at night. Fluoresced brightly under ultraviolet.
Scorpion (cf. Tityus sp. – ID by Ross Piper)
The most handsome one was found on a leaf!
Tailless whip scorpion (Heterophrynus elaphus – ID by Gil Wizen)
Also saw several amblypygids on the mud banks.
Web tower structure
This web tower structure stirred the internet a few years back. The entire structure was only about 5mm wide and difficult to spot. Unfortunately I only managed to photograph two that were already abandoned.
Social spiders (Anelosimus sp.)
Scattered along the trails were these gigantic messy webs with entire communities of spiders within, with a layer of dead leaves at the bottom. The guides called them the social spiders.
Turtle ant mimic crab spider (Bucranium sp.)
Dog-eared spider, couldn’t have a cuter name!
Crab spiders (Thomisidae)
Was trying to shoot the female, when the male approached from behind. Not the correct way yah?
Tortoise orb weaver (Encyosaccus sp.)
One of the best finds of the trip! Possibly mimicking a ladybird? More on this spider in my earlier blog post on Tortoise Orb Weavers.
Turtle back orb weaver (Hypognatha sp.)
A much smaller genus, but found quite a few of them on Collpa Island. The abdomen is round and flat, resembling a turtle shell.
Orb weaver spider (Parawixia sp.)
Many people like to retrieve spiders from their webs to take close ups, but I prefer to shoot them in situ. They simply look more majestic on their web!
Silver cross spider (Argiope argentata)
A number of these cross spiders made their home in front of the cabins, which explains the messy urban-ish background.
Trashline orb weaver (Cyclosa sp.)
Cyclosa was touted as the decoy spider for building stabilimentum that appears to look like a larger spider.
Roly poly orb weaver (Xylethrus scrupeus)
The super cute roly poly orb weaver was spotted twice in this trip. Read more about it: Peruvian Amazon’s Roly Poly Spider and Other Exotic Orb Weavers.
Thorned heart orb weaver (Micrathena clypeata)
I called this the Heart spider. Such a beauty! Check out my earlier series of thorned orb weavers.
Orb weaver spider (Verrucosa sp.)
Verrucosa had such a bizarre shape and a creepy posterior.
Wandering spider (Ctenus sp.)
A large Ctenus resting on a rock, allowing me to take a close up.
Wandering spider (Phoneutria sp.)
Probably the most number of Brazilian wandering spiders in a single photo. A proud new mother!
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
I didn’t get to shoot many sparassids but managed to spot one with a fluorescent orange body. Unfortunately it ran away before I could take more close ups.
Pinktoe tarantula (Avicularia sp.)
This cute pink-toe tarantula made its home in front of our cabins. Such adorable toes!
Tarantula (Theraphosidae)
A weathered tarantula lurking around on a tree trunk at night.
Tarantula (Pamphobeteus sp.)
Also found a group of siblings! How cute!!
Jumping spider (Lyssomanes sp.)
Many Lyssomanes were spotted. The anterior lateral eyes are situated just above the anterior median eyes.
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
Some of the salticids had really angry looking eyebrows…
Long-legged water spider (Syntrechalea sp.)
The trechaleids were commonly seen on tree trunks. Easily spotted with eye shine!
Nicky, Vico, Jeff
Vico and Jeff trudged through the virgin primary forests of Tambopata with me for a week. Thanks guys!
Panoramic view of the Amazonian River
View of the Amazonian River from the terra firma. Wondering… will I be back here soon?
This will be the last blog post on my trip to the Peruvian Amazon. I have uploaded around 1000 photos from this trip – you may explore my full set of Flickr albums from the Peruvian Amazon.
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Feedback on the photo articles are very welcome. Please post your comments below!
Other posts on the Peruvian Amazon
- Tortoise Orb Weavers
- Thorn Orb Weavers
- Roly Poly Orb Weavers
- Jewel Caterpillar
- Spider Faces
- 50 Tiny Creatures
