Peruvian Amazon 7 -- Santa Cruz Frogs

[moloch05]

Frogs were not overly abundant at Santa Cruz but we ended up seeing a fair number of species. For me, the Bromeliad Frogs (Osteocephalus sp.) were particularly interesting. Some of these were nicely marked animals. We heard one really comical call in the forest not far from the headquarters that sounded much like the clucking chatter of a chicken. Dick Bartlett of Margarita Tours imitated this well and my friends and I had good laugh as we walked off with this "conversation" underway. I don't believe that the "chicken frog" was ever sighted but Dick suggested that it was one of the Bromeliad Frogs.

As usual, I have Dick to thank for help with these identifications. If I have introduced errors, let me know and I will correct the post.

This post will cover the frogs and invertebrates encountered at Santa Cruz.

Spotted-thighed Poison Frog (Epipedobates or Allobates femoralis): I only saw these a few times. All sightings were in forested areas along the "River Trail" that extended from the Rio Napo to the headquarters.

Sharp-nosed Toad (Rhinella or Bufo dapsilis): I only encountered it a couple of times in the forest.

Crested Forest Toad (Rhinella or Bufo margaritifer): We saw a few of these bizarre creatures.

juvenile Crested Forest Toad?

Hypsiboas or Hyla cinarescens:

Map Treefrog (Hypsiboas or Hyla geographica): These frogs varied greatly in colour and pattern. I believe that the first photo below was a juvenile.

Rocket Treefrog (Hypsiboas or Hyla lanciformes): These were a common species. I saw several along a small creek near then headquarters.

frog 1:

frog 2:

Hypsiboas or Hyla nympha:

Chocolate Treefrog (Nyctimantis rugiceps):

Forest Bromeliad Treefrog (Osteocephalus cabrerai): We saw these lovely treefrogs within forest along the River Trail.

Osteocephalus mutabor: According to Dick, we were lucky to find this frog. It is not often seen on the trips.

Osteocephalus fuscifacies? Dick suggested that the following frogs were possibly this species. These were nicely coloured animals with patches of orange.

Giant Broad-headed Treefrog (Osteocephalus taurinus)?:

Osteocephalus sp.:

White-lined Monkey Frog (Phyllomedusa vaillanti)?: These were interesting frogs to watch as they moved. They did not jump but walked along, hand-over-hand.

Rain Frog (Eleutherodactylus acuminatus): We found this pair on a leaf after an evening shower.

Smokey Jungle Frog (Leptodactylus pentadactylus): I saw these frogs at times along a creek near the headquarters.

... a real monster:

Dwarf Jungle Frog (Leptodactylus wagneri complex):

We saw a number of flowering Heliconias at Santa Cruz. These were spectacular flowers and years ago, I saw many species of hummers feeding from these in Costa Rica. On this trip, however, we only encountered a few White-tailed Hermits attending the flowers.

Gingeraceae?

Melastomaceae:

Unusual fungus:

Santa Cruz was an excellent place for invertebrates. The forest was young, secondary growth and there was lots of "edge" with plenty of light. These areas were productive for quite a variety of animals. Carl Olson of the University of Arizona has kindly helped Young and I with the insect identifications. I also tracked down other insect identifications on the net.


Stink Bugs (Pentamonidae):

Edessa sp. (Pentatomidae)

I really like the flared hind legs of this Hemipteran, Anisoscelis foliacea (Coreidae)

another Coreidae:

Rhaphirrhinus phosphoreus (Cicadellidae): I wish that I had changed lenses to use my macro on this amazing homopteran. It had a rhino-like horn.

Lantern Fly (Fulgoridae): I only saw one of these at night about 2m up a small sapling.

Jumping Stick Insects (Apioscelis sp., Proscopiidae): These insects have the most unusual heads and faces. Another name for these orthopterans is Horse-headed Grasshopper.

Black-and-White Monkey Hopper (Eumastacidae): These were really odd hoppers that we saw a number of times near the headquarters.

Aeroplane Grasshopper (Paramastax sp., Eumastacidae)

Leaf-mimic Katydid (Typophyllum erosum): This animal was a huge and resembled a leaf. It even had brown "damaged" areas.

One of the beautifully disguised Dead-leaf Katydids:

This hopper had interesting eyes:

... looked much like a dead leaf:

Bark Mantis (Liturgusa sp.): This mantis blended well with bark on the tree. It was a real speedster and was too fast to catch.

Helicopter Damselfly (family Pseudostigmatidae): I read about these on the net. Most Dragonflies/damselflies usually will eat about anything that they can catch. This family, however, is unusual and it has a specialized diet. These eat mostly spiders that they pluck from webs. The insects apparently learn the location of the the spider webs in their territories and then visit these at times to "harvest" the spiders. This family is only found in the neotropics.

Pink Millipede: This millipede was quite colourful.

A large milliped on the trail:

Net-casting Spider: We saw more of these amazing animals at Santa Cruz.

Micrathena sp.

... cryptic pose:

... nest?

Banana Spider (Phoneutria sp.): I asked about these spiders on Arachnoboard. One response was:

"The South American banana spider's venom is neurotoxic, or acts on the nervous system, and is similar to the venom produced by redback spiders, also known as black widows. A phoneutria banana spider's bite will cause immediate pain, a cold sweat and irregular heartbeat. Antivenin does exist and the bite can be deadly so immediate medical attention is necessary."

Another response was probably less factual but more worrying:

banana spiders are very deadly and rumor has it the venom from that spider will give you a really painful erection and if you live, you will not be able to have erections afterward.

... hmmm, I don't think that I like Banana Spiders any more!

Avicularia sp.

Regards,
David

 

[grimbeny]

Its a tough life hey. I especially love the camouflage used by some of those insects.

 

[DanTheMan]

Fantastic photo's, such great diversity in that place!
Haha, don't think I'd be getting too close to those spiders, that last one is awesome though!

 

[HOM3L3SS]

hahahaha banana spiders

 

[-Matt-]

All I can say David is AMAZING, simply AMAZING!

 

[moloch05]

Thanks, guys.

Also, I made a correction to the post. The monkey frog was Phyllomedusa bicolor, not P. vaillanti. (thanks, Dick Bartlett!).

 

[Blueys123]

photos

absouloutly brilliant photos well done

 

[moloch05]

Thanks, Blueys123.

Here are photos of the lizards observed at Santa Cruz.


Bridled Forest Gecko (Gonatodes humeralis):
male

female

Amazon Bark Anole (Anolis ortoni?):

Common Forest Anole (Anolis trachyderma?):

Blue-lipped Forest Anole (Anolis bombiceps):

Common Monkey Lizard (Polychrus marmoratuseps): I think that only two Monkey Lizards were found on the trip. The first shot below illustrates the behaviour that makes them hard to see. The lizards would slowly slide to the opposite side of a branch where they were difficult to spot.

Amazon Whiptail (Ameiva ameiva): These big lizards were common around the forest edge at the headquarters. Some were very brightly coloured with a body of brilliant green and turquoise.

Cocha Whiptail (Kentropyx altamazonica): These lizards were most frequent in banana plantations along the trail to the Rio Napo. I also saw others basking on branches along the forest edge at the headquarters.

Forest Whiptail (Kentropyx pelviceps): We saw these pretty lizards occasionally in lightgaps within the forest.

Gold Tegu (Tupinambis teguixin): I was lucky to get a quick shot of this lizard. We found it when the Nenita was moved close to the bank of the Rio Napo so that we could photograph the orange flowers of a vine. The tegu suddenly appeared, then sprinted to cover. My friends and I also saw one briefly near the headquarters.

Amazon Forest Dragon (Enyaloides laticeps): a colourful little juvenile.

Regards,
David