Discover Costa Rica

14/08/2024

Close up with nature
Evergreen tropical rainforest
Costa Rica
Sky Adventure

06/08/2024

24/03/2024

Tarantula hawk
Pepsis
The female tarantula hawk wasp stings a tarantula between the legs, paralyzing it, and then drags the prey to a specially prepared burrow, where a single egg is laid on the tarantula's abdomen, and the burrow entrance is covered. S*x of offspring is determined by fertilization; fertilized eggs produce females, while unfertilized eggs produce males. When the wasp larva hatches, it creates a small hole in the spider's abdomen, then enters and feeds voraciously, avoiding vital organs for as long as possible to keep the tarantula alive. After several weeks, the larva pupates. Finally, the wasp becomes an adult and emerges from the tarantula's abdomen to continue the life cycle.

Adult tarantula hawks are nectarivorous. While the wasps tend to be most active in the daytime in summer, they tend to avoid high temperatures. The male tarantula hawk does not hunt. Both males and females feed on the flowers. Male tarantula hawks have been observed practicing a behavior called hill-topping, in which they sit atop tall plants and watch for passing females ready to reproduce. The males can become resident defenders of the favorable reproduction spots for hours into the afternoon. Females are not very aggressive, in that they are hesitant to sting, but the sting is extraordinarily painful.

26/12/2023

Turquoise banded shoemaker
Archaeoprepona amphimachus
These are extremely fast fliers that have rapid wing beats; they feed mostly on rotting fruits and plant sap. Males often rest on foliage or tree trunks, with head down and wings half open; they periodically chase other males and then return to their original perch.
Caterpillars feed on plants in the avocado family (Lauraceae). They are light brown with some light green (especially when younger),
with two horns on the head, a prominent hump on the thorax, and a pair of eyespots just behind the hump.

27/10/2023

YELLOW-EARED TOUCANET
Selenidera spectabilis
Tucancillo Orejiamarillo
Info by Alexander F Skutch
DESCRIPTION. 14½" (36cm); 220g. The only sexually dimorphic Costa Rican toucan, and the only one with solid black breast and belly.
Adult : head and most of underparts glossy black, except long yellow ear-tufts; large tufts of yellow-orange on flanks; crissum red; thighs chestnut; upperparts olive-green; primaries blackish; tail bluish-slate. Iris deep red; facial skin bright yellow-green, shading to turquoise above eye and to yellow-orange on malar area; upper mandible mostly pale, dull greenish-yellow, a broad stripe along tomia and entire lower mandible dusky-horn, shading to blackish near tip; inside of bill vermilion; legs blue-gray. f: similar except forehead, crown, and hindneck deep chestnut; no ear-tufts. Young: duller, below more sooty-black; belly tinged with olive; little or no orange on flanks or (male) yellow on head; crissum paler red; crown and nape of female dark sooty-brown.
HABITS. Prefers canopy of tall wet forest, descending lower in adjacent old second growth or shady semi-open; during most of year in pairs or small groups of 3 or 4, sometimes alone; following breeding sometimes in groups of 4-8; eats fleshy and arillate fruits (Hampea, Protium, Dendropanax, Guat-teria, aroids), occasional large insects or small lizards, possibly nestling birds.

VOICE. Calling male throws head back to 1 side, flashing vermilion bill lining, and flops tail up and to other side with each croak, as though to disassemble himself; in aggressive encounters, a hoarse sputter; song a hoarse, low croak, lower and rougher than that of Keel-billed Toucan and with an initial click:
K'Krrruk K'Krrruk K'Krrruk..
NEST. Unknown (?).
STATUs. Resident in foothills of Caribbean slope the length of the country, reaching Pacific slope locally in Cordillera de Guana-caste; breeds mainly 1000-4000ft 300-1200m). In mid to late wet season, from September through January, occasionally into March, many descend to adjacent lowlands.
RANGE. SE Honduras to NW Colombia.

12/08/2023

polychromatic species where you can find colors of this species in our forests
Eyelash Palm pitviper

12/08/2023

Eyelash Palm pitviper
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15/04/2023

Kinkajou,
Potos flavus
La fortuna …
Often hangs upside down suspended by tail alone. Feeds on fruit, nectar, insects, and small vertebrates. Known to capture bats from mid-air. Forages mostly solitarily but congregates and dens in stable social groups that forage together at large fruiting trees, often in Malay Apple (Syzygium malaccense), mango, figs, ice-cream bean (Inga sp.), and wild passion fruit vines. Also frequents flowering trees such as Balsa (Ochroma pyramidale), Ceibo (Pseudobombax septenatum), and Ylang-Ylang (Cananga odorata). Kinkajous are important seed dispersers and pollinators. Dens in tree holes or in palm fronds during the day. Very agile; moves quickly and noisily through treetops. Often scent marks branches using mandibular, throat, and abdominal scent glands. which can be heard from quite a distance.
Commonly vocalizes with loud, high-pitched wick-a-wick-a-wick-a,

15/04/2023

Sylvan Leaf Katydid (Mimetica mortufolia)

Species in this genus have front wings that resemble dead or partially dead leaves, complete with wing venation that simulates leaf veins. The hind wings are reduced.
Natural history:
As the name Mimetica suggests, these katydids are incredibly good leaf mimics. What's more, even within a given species, nearly all individuals differ- some resemble a green leat, others a damaged leaf, still others a dead leaf. This is to prevent monkeys, one of their main predators, from easily learning what they look like. At night they feed on foliage and males make short buzzing calls to attract females.

11/04/2023

Bothriechis schlegeli
(Eyelash Palm Pit viper)
some colors of this species of viper.
Arboreal snake