2 posts tagged “bugs”
Wow - I just checked the dates and it's been almost a month since I posted anything. I'm slacking! (you're all shocked, I know)
On to the pics. I don't actually remember this bunch - according to the date stamp it's from the day after we went to San Lorenzo, but I don't actually remember taking a trip that day. I'm pretty sure they were taken on Pipeline Road, which is an unpaved road that runs through the forest near Lake Gatun - named after the oil pipeline that it runs parallel to. Pipeline is famous among birders as one of the best and most accessible bird-watching spots in Panama, if not Central America. So of course I didn't take a single picture of a bird. A few other cool things though. As usual, I'm completely useless for actually identifying species (at least for the little critters), so if anyone out there knows (I'm looking at you Drude) speak up!
The background is really boring, but I thought this grasshopper was really cool looking - such distinctive coloring!
This moth was very large (probably 2 inches - abt 5 cm - long) and very furry.
But the main highlight of this hike was seeing these guys:
Slightly blurry, but you may recognize them from the banner at the top of this page :)
Actually - blurry AND dark. It's hard to take pictures of stuff up in the canopy because it's inevitably backlit. But oh well - these were some of my very first pictures of monkeys and I like them for the nostalgia if nothing else.
Plus they're so cute!
They're Cariblancas by the way. Officially known as White-throated Capuchins - or Organ-grinder's Monkeys more colloquially.
They're one of five or so common primate species in Panama - easier to spot than Mono Titi's and a bit less intimidating than Howlers.
Didn't capture much more on film (well... flash card) that trip - it may have been raining a lot. Still - have a butterfly:
I'll sign off with my least favorite thing about going out Gamboa way - the one way bridge. Gamboa is on the opposite side of the Chagres river - and this bridge is the only way in. I'm always white knuckeled driving over this thing. And you can't go too slow because it's one way - if you take longer to cross than is normal, the light may change and then people will start over from the other end. Can you imagine having to BACKUP off of this thing? I know people who live in Gamboa and work in the city. I don't know how they can stand driving over that thing every day.
In fact I'm pretty sure that Drude took this picture cause I can't imagine trying to juggle a camera and stay on the asphalt strips at the same time. I'm told that this version of the bridge is actually an improvement because of the asphalt - it used to just be wooden ties sitting on top of the cross-beams.
This was another hike that Drude and I took at the end of April 2006. Camino de Cruces (the Road of Crosses) is the gold road - it's the second of two roads the Spanish built to haul gold and silver from Panamá City to Portobelo where it could be shipped off to Spain to fund the Empire. The hiking trail follows the old road out to the Chagres river - there are parts where you can see some of the old cobbles still in place (though most of the road was never paved). So many pack trains went through there that there's one narrow rock cleft where you can still see mule prints carved into the stone.
Now it runs through Parque Nacional Camino de Cruces - one of the large national parks that forms the Panama Canal watershed. Because of the Canal watershed, large portions of rain forest have been preserved within driving distance of Panama city for our hiking pleasure :)
On to the Critters:
There's a stream that crosses the trail not too far from the road and these mayflies were just swarming all over. I can't tell you what kind they are (even an entomologist would probably need to put their genitalia under a microscope to narrow it to a species - and I'm no entomologist).
Very badly behaved - just FILTHY.
This is a golden ant -they're large solitary foraging ants. Also, they're hard to photograph because the gold color comes from fine hairs all over their body. The iridescence makes them look out of focus.
Can you spot the Mono Tití? Here's a bit of help:
He's a squirrel monkey - a Geoffrey's Tamarin. This little guy ran through the canopy over the trail and I just managed to capture him for a second.
Rain forests are, well, wet. Wet means fungus - these were just some particularly pretty ones that I spotted next to the trail.
I have no idea what kind of plant this is - probably a bryophyte (some sort of moss) - but it kind of looks like a face, doesn't it?
Isn't that tail just the coolest thing? It's a juvenile whiptail lizard - they loose the blue color as they get older. This one is an adult (at least I'm pretty sure it's the same species) that we spotted further down the trail. Usually you hear them before you see them - rustling in the undergrowth. Always pays to hike with your ears open.
We actually saw a couple of these guys. They're Poison Dart frogs (Dendrobates).
The ones in the Canal zone aren't quite as colorful as some of the other species, but I still think they're pretty.
Interesting factoid - these guys do parental care - if you click and look at the full sized pic, you can just see that the one on the left is carrying a tad pole on it's back - it's probably looking for a likely pool to deposit it in.
Drude spotted this harvestman on the same tree as that poison dart frog above on the right. Can't identify the species - you'd need to look right in the horse's mouth, so to speak. But look at those legs!
