Longhorn beetle with mites:
Harvestman under UV light:
Trachyboa boulengeri:
Blue legged, keel-backed centipede (Otostigmus pococki):
Green coralloid fungus:
Camouflaged two-tailed spider (Hersiliidae):
Cochrane's glass frog (Cochranella mache):
Thanks for looking and commenting,
Paul
Ecuador mix V
Moderators: rjlittlefield, ChrisR, Chris S., Pau
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The last one, the frog from below, is especially brilliant.
I just returned from the Tiputini Biological Station "across the street" from you. Old-timer researchers there talked about a staggering loss in numbers and diversity of insects and birds, especially insectivorous birds like antbirds. Do your older friends at Sani (birding before 2005) see anythng like that? Two birds that were once common and are now almost gone at TBS are the Dot-winged Antwren and the Greater Jacamar. Can you ask the old guys if they have declined at Sani? The declines at TBS may be exacerbated by the gas flares from oil wells attracting vast numbers of bugs every night, but the loss of insects seems to be global. I'd be interested in knowing what the old guys say at Sani.
Another bird that's nearly gone in your neighborhood (Sacha, La Selva) is the Rusty belted Tapaculo, once very common everywhere.
That's not to say it isn't rich and diverse there now. The loss is probably only visible to someone who lived there 20-30 years ago.
On the other hand, mammal populations were far more visible than ever before.
I just returned from the Tiputini Biological Station "across the street" from you. Old-timer researchers there talked about a staggering loss in numbers and diversity of insects and birds, especially insectivorous birds like antbirds. Do your older friends at Sani (birding before 2005) see anythng like that? Two birds that were once common and are now almost gone at TBS are the Dot-winged Antwren and the Greater Jacamar. Can you ask the old guys if they have declined at Sani? The declines at TBS may be exacerbated by the gas flares from oil wells attracting vast numbers of bugs every night, but the loss of insects seems to be global. I'd be interested in knowing what the old guys say at Sani.
Another bird that's nearly gone in your neighborhood (Sacha, La Selva) is the Rusty belted Tapaculo, once very common everywhere.
That's not to say it isn't rich and diverse there now. The loss is probably only visible to someone who lived there 20-30 years ago.
On the other hand, mammal populations were far more visible than ever before.
I'll be sure to ask when I'm back there in August. Regarding insects they aren't especially knowledgeable, but I should get a pretty knowledgeable response regarding potential bird declines. It's an interesting question, I don't know if there's been enough baseline studies in Sani to make the comparison, compared to an actual, active research station with ongoing studies. My initial impression was of a pretty staggering diversity, but of course I have no real measuring stick. I'll be sure to let you know when I get an answer though.