We have a new contributor today, Christian Allesandro Perez, who takes terrific photos and videos that you can see only on his flickr site and his website, alephrocco. He’s lately been in Costa Rica, but today gives us photos from Australia. Please give him a warm welcome to inspire him to keep contributing here! Christian’s notes and IDs are indented:
Unless you have a preference for organisms for the neotropics, I think I’ll start with some arthropods from my first weeks in Australia.
Green lacewing (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) ovipositing. Lacewing eggs are like no other. They look like small elliptical neon green pellets (~1.5 mm long) attached to a stem by long wire-like filaments for protection against scavenging insects. Although I see them frequently, this night was the first time I watched a lacewing oviposit. Both the lacewing and her eggs shone brilliantly from the light of my head torch, not to mention the classic galaxy-like neuropteran eyeshine.
Aquatic spiders such as the Giant Water Spider (Pisauridae: Megadolomedes australianus) are covered in hydrophobic hairs, allowing them to sit on top of and move along the water’s surface. In Peru, I found my first Pisaurid in a stream, and when I approached the spider, it hopped along the water’s surface to safety with a fast jellyfish-like motion. I have not observed that behavior again in any aquatic spiders. Megadolomedes can attain a legspan of more than 18 cm, but this individual had a legspan of around 13 to 15 cm (5-6 inches).
An elephant weevil (Curculionidae: Orthorhinus cylindrirostris) during take-off in a superman pose. This weevil feeds on a variety of woody plants including grapevine, and they are major pests for wine companies.
Centipedes are often hard to photograph, especially during the day. As soon as I flip a rock they usually bolt immediately. This centipede (Scolopendridae: Cormocephalus cf. aurantiipes, ~15 cm long) scurried on top of a rock, and I cupped my hands over it. Sensing that it was now in a dark safe space, the centipede let me snap a few quick photos.
Lifting a rock and finding gold… well golden abdomens; a colony of Dolichoderus cf. doriae, a mimic of the bull ant Myrmecia fulvipes. [JAC: the species below is also an ant]
Hangingfly (Mecoptera: Bittacidae: Harpobittacus australis) with its beak ready to pierce the exoskeleton of an unsuspecting prey and inject a tissue-dissolving enzyme to liquify its interior.
This red and gray Hercules robber fly (Asilidae: Neoaratus hercules) landed on a tree a few meters in front of me, happily cannibalizing a more regular-sized robber fly.
I spotted this large wasp flying around a bush, constantly entering from different angles. After waiting for several minutes, the wasp finally emerged with a huntsman spider, scurrying across the ground in search of its burrow. It was an orange spider wasp (Pompilidae: Cryptocheilus bicolor) parasitizing a Huntsman spider (Sparassidae). Below is a short video:
Re D.N. Wilson
Relative to the claim of Wilson’s that Darwin’s work led to Hitler, it should be pointed out that, in Mein Kampf, Hitler specifically rejected common descent.
This essay by my colleague Bob Richards should put the “Darwin influenced Hitler” claim to rest:
“Was Hitler a Darwinian?”
His answer is “definitely not!”
Wonderful work Chr*st*an!! Hope we get to see more from you. Informative behavioral shots of arthropods are hard to come by.
Great pictures and commentary!
Wow, beautiful shots. Especially the lacewing.
Fabulous! I really hope to see more of your stuff. I would have a hard time choosing between Costa Rica and Australia, and here you have done both.
Lovely, lovely photos. I especially like the Giant Water Spider. A beauty of a spider-
Beautiful photos!
Quite impressive photos! My vote goes to the lacewing.
Great imaging Christian. The tracking of the wasp in the video is smooth as silk.
Thanks for the terrific photos and commentary! Love the elephant weevil “posing” for you!
Nice photos. Insects can be a real challenge.
These are superb photos (and video), all of them. The composition of the photo of the giant waters spider made me feel as if I were sinking into a corner of a Hieronymus Bosch painting.
Beautiful pics
Great pics! The lacewing was my favourite too. I gazed at that for ages!
Whoa! These are immensely incredible! I was only familiar with a couple of these arthopods. The golden-abdomen ants were something else. I love insect metallics.
Whoa! is right, nice photographs for sure. Really liked the superman pose elephant weevil,
thanks Christian.
Great spider image. Just a note in regard to the water spider observed in Peru. Those are most likely members of the genus Trechalea, belonging to the family Trechaleidae. The water hunting spiders of different families have often a similar habitus and color pattern, but those similarities evolved independently (are convergent).
Wonderful! You must have a lot of courage, knowledge, or both to cup your hand over a centipede. I’d be afraid it might take offense.
I didn’t even know these existed. Thanks for the awesome pics!
Hope to see more when you get to the Northern Territory. Keep away from crocs and water buffaloes
Beautiful photos. Thanks!
Wow! Gorgeous photos!