Insects – Costa Rica
This a collection of photos I made in Costa Rica over the last few years. They were photographed usually in the night, sometimes in the day, with a variety of different light sources, from flashlights to natural light. At times I am kneeling on the ground, leaning the camera on a wall in the rain, or standing on a ladder on the kitchen steps about twelve or fourteen feet up, swatting at the thousands of insects that are swarming around the porch light and my head. These creatures are often moving, which makes it difficult to get a good shot, but I keep trying anyway. You can sort of tell how big they are by the size of the wood grain that they are resting on, but more often than not they are quite small.
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One morning I found a small mantis on the porch. It was about 2 inches long. We had another big one that would have measured 8 or 9 inches, but I couldn’t get close enough for a video. I love how it turns it’s head while it’s looking at me, making sure I don’t get too close, all the while doing that little dance. (I think they are actually trying to imitate a leaf or twig that’s being gently blown around by the wind?)
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Here’s a video of him doing his dance.
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This cicada is about one quarter of an inch long.
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This butterfly I have never seen before or since.
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This tarantula was living in the kitchen when they were doing the construction. It was about 4 inches in diameter, but very well behaved
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Just amazing.
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Yikes!
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Nice gold trim on this one.
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Sometimes they are even beautiful in death. {Click on the photo for a closer look.}
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This is a moth, not a butterfly. I got up in the night to an earthquake and found it on the railing outside the cabin when I ran outside. It was only about an inch and a half across.
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Sooo not what I like to see on the *%$#*^!$* wall in the middle of the night.
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This walking stick was about 10 inches long with great camo.
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Those are big rhinoceros beetles with my friend Céline. She found them in the forest.
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This was quite a large walking stick, maybe eight or so inches in length.
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The moth below was about three quarters of an inch across. It looks like a cross between a stealth bomber and a leaf.
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Don’t ever touch one of these, you will be so sorry.
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This grasshopper was about 6 inches long, the one below was much smaller. I love the holes in it’s knees and it’s green socks.
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I don’t know what this insect is, but he was on the wall of the kitchen in the morning when I went to make coffee. It’s always interesting to see what insects remain on the wall under the porch light in the morning after the sun comes up.
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No clue what these things are, but they’re very small.
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This moth is about three quarters of an inch long and really beautiful. I must have swept hundreds of them out the door of the cabin for years until I realized they are actually insects and not leaves. They are perfectly camouflaged, down to the little holes on the back of the wings, the stem on the top in the front, and I love how the wings overlap in a sort of asymmetrical way.
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I don’t even want to talk about this one. It was on the wall of the cabin in the morning also, but it wasn’t under the porch light – they’re not attracted to light. They come out in the dark usually, to creep around and look for something to eat.
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This insect was on the side of the cabina one night after dinner. I have no idea what it is, but I think it’s supposed to look like a piece of leaf that was chewed off of a plant by a leaf cutter ant. It is exactly the same shape – must have been around one half of an inch long – as those pieces of leaves often are when you see them going across the ground, being carted away by the ants.
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This is a very little bug.
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