twizzt

twizzt, 1 month ago to colombia

Happy Wednesday! This is a cactus eating weevil. I didn't have a lens that allowed me to zoom out to capture the plant better unfortunately.

#WeevilWednesday #Weevils #Curculionidae #Colombia #Cactophagus #Insects #Arthropods

twizzt, 1 month ago to srilanka

Seems appropriate at the moment.

This Large Oakblue caterpillar being tended by its Weaver ant overlords.

This photo won me my first weaver ant battle scar. ...not my caterpillar clearly

#Arhopala #amantes #Oecophylla #smaragdina #SriLanka #Insects #Arthropods #Lepidoptera #Ants #Formicidae #InsectInteraction

twizzt, 2 months ago to colombia

Here's a cute caterpillar doing its best to disrupt your feed. This is the Shag Carpet Caterpillar Moth (Prothysana sp.). As an adult, it is sorta a drab triangular brown thing, but as a larva, I find it resplendent. Its larval scales are way cooler than the adult ones.

#Colombia #Lepidoptera #Moth #Insects #Arthropods #Apatelodidae

A side view of the same caterpillar. The White scales have a smokey black base and they look like a mohawk going down its back.

twizzt, 2 months ago to srilanka

This male Malabar Pied Hornbill (Anthracoceros coronatus) has a huge casque (beak extension). When vying for females, they do mid-air battle with them. So why do the females have them? You can tell the females apart because they have white skin around their eyes whereas the males are all black.

#Wilpattu #SriLanka #Birds #Aves #Bucerotidae

twizzt, 2 months ago to colombia

Happy #FlyDay

It has been a while so I figured now was as good a time as any to fire it back up. I don't know for sure who this handsome stilt-legged fly is, but I love its face and its coloring.

#Colombia #Diptera #Scipopus #Micropezidae #Insects #Arthropods #Fly

twizzt, 2 months ago to Virginia

Happy #WeevilWednesday

This Granulate Ambrosia Beetle (Xylosandrus crassiusculusis) is out of the archives... Definitely one of the lesser weevils... Sorry about the poor quality. I will try to start processing (and hopefully taking) more photos in the near future. It's been too long.

#Insects #Arthropods #Virginia #Beetles

twizzt, 3 months ago to Birds

Beautiful new backyard friend came to visit. Greater coucal or Crow Pheasant (Centropus sinensis) is pretty massive but apparently primarily eats snails. Admittedly, the snails here are also huge.

#Birds #Aves #SriLanka

twizzt, 5 months ago to colombia

Happy #HumpDay and for those who celebrate, a wacky #WeevilWednesday to you too!

The insect pornographer strikes again. This seems to be one of the really odd couplings that don't seem like they should work yet somehow do. Is it just me or does it seem like they like the camera being there? I have no idea what species or even genus these are.

#Colombia #Weevil #Insects #Curculionidae

More of a 3/4 top down and side view. You can see these weevils have very broad snouts for being as long as they are. Both weevils seem to be looking at the camera.

twizzt, 5 months ago to srilanka

Daily life of the Asian Weaver Ants (Oecophylla smaragdina). First, a couple of cute sisters. These inquisitive ladys had to poke their heads out to see what was approaching their nests. Moments later they were lined up with mandibles wide and abdomens flinging formic acid at me. But it started cute and intimate.

Next, an attentive farmer wondering why I am getting so close to its cattle.

#SriLanka #Ants #Formicidae #InsectInteraction #ShelterBuilding

An orange ant with large sythe like mandibles stands over a cluster of mealy bugs that are huddled at the center of the frame. The have a waxy exudate that covers most of their body.

twizzt, 5 months ago to random

The closest I can get to giving you all a Christmas gift. This is Compsus viridivittatus Its wearing its finest Christmas sweater for you. Several other shots of the same puppy bug can be seen here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194735891

#Coleoptera #Weevil #Mosstodon #Insects

twizzt, 5 months ago to colombia

Here is a tachinid for today. I believe it is Cholomyia sp. but please correct me if you think otherwise.

Happy #FlyDay

#Diptera #Flies #Fly #Insects #Arthropods #Colombia

twizzt, 5 months ago to colombia

Its everyones favorite day of the week again. #WeevilWednesday

Perhaps not as bonkers as last week, but this is a rather large and slightly spiky flower weevil (Pteracanthus smidtii) hailing from the cloud forest in western Colombia

#Weevil #Weevils #Colombia #Insects #Arthropods #Nature

This is a 3/4 top side view of the same insect. It seems more red from the side and the setae on the legs and elytra seem to have a golden hue. The sides of its rostrum are an interesting cream color.

twizzt, 5 months ago to colombia

Here's a head scratcher. I have this unidentified beetle that seems to closely resemble some Vexing Rove Beetles (Atheta sp.)

It really looks to me to be eating this leaf. There was a similar track in the same leaf with two of them in it. I couldn't get my camera in close enough to get pictures though. The problem is, I have never heard of rove beetles being herbivores. What gives? Are they eating mold?

#Insects #Beetles #Entomology #Colombia #Arthropods #Herbivory #InsectInteraction

twizzt, 5 months ago to random

If you like my photos but don't like to read my nonsense, just add /media to the URL of my profile. This works with anyone posting lots of media

#FediTips

twizzt, 5 months ago to colombia

Bite my shiny metal abdomen.

Here's to a happy #FlyDay to those who celebrate. I don't really know who either of these are, but the gold and black one is bristle fly and the one with the huge eyes is a hoverfly that is likely a Bromeliad Fly (Copestylum sp.)

#Diptera #Insects #Flies #Colombia #Nature

A top down view of an orange fly with giant reddish eyes.

twizzt, 5 months ago to nature

For today's #WeevilWednesday may I offer you this crazy thing from the cloud forest in Colombia. I believe its a Poecilogaster brevis. I'm going to call it the clown weevil.

#Weevils #Insects #Nature #Colombia

twizzt, 6 months ago to colombia

I've always enjoyed skippers, but then I went to Colombia... Now I am a bit obsessed with them. This Apyrrothrix hygieia is one of the firetips. I don't photoshop most of my photos, but for this, I did some heavy manipulation to remove a nasty looking piece of debris from under the hind wings. Is this information appreciated?

#Insects #Skippers #Lepidoptera #Colombia #Nature #Photography

twizzt, 6 months ago to colombia

This ant from the cloud forest in Colombia is perhaps having a micro nap or just struggling to deal with the heat and lack of moisture we experiencing. This lady is a tank! She looks as menacing as she does gorgeous. I didn't find any turtle ants while I was there, but I'm happy with seeing these.

#Formicidae #Ants #Insects #Colombia #Attini #Procryptocerus

More of a top down, head on view of the same ant. Its eyes aren't visible from the front. Just a wall of mandible.

twizzt, 6 months ago to random

This Asian Ant Mantis (Odontomantis planiceps) was sitting under a tiny leaf looking just like one of the Slender ants (Tetraponera) that are all around. It just seemed a little too large. I'm glad I took a closer look.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/193286276

#Mantis #Insect #Arthropod #Mimicry

twizzt, 6 months ago to colombia

I can't let #WeevilWednesday die just yet... I'll keep it going with this tiny entry.

#Weevils #Insects #Colombia #Coleoptera

A straight on side shot of the same weevil clearly showing its long weevil snout. It's underside is even more densly packed with the silvery hairs. Unfortunately it isn't the clearest of images.

twizzt, 7 months ago to colombia

Alien Ant!

Ant-mimicking Treehopper (Cyphonia clavata) From the side, this looks just like an ant. From above, it looks like an alien. I could have spent all day with this thing. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

#Insects #Colombia #Heteroptera #Mimicry

twizzt, 8 months ago to spiders

This tiny toddler of a Grayish Jumping Spider (Phidippus princeps) looks like a child be scolded. I don't know what I did to it, but I sure am sorry. Perhaps its ashamed of my lack of diffusion as well... Seen in Manassas National Battlefield Park

#Arachtober #Arachnid #Spider #NationalPark #Salticidae

twizzt, 8 months ago to random

Does this count? I believe this is a Buffalo Treehopper (Stictolobus sp.) which landed on a tarantulas back. It was traversing the spiders knee when I captured this image.

#Arachtober #Arthropod #Insect

twizzt, 8 months ago to random

A portrait of a Gnat Ogre with lunch. This tiny robber fly was enjoying its midge lunch until I decided to shove my camera in it is face. Then it just like a puppy with a toy, it seemed to be showing off its prize.

#FlyDay #Insects #Arthropod #Diptera #Predation #InsectInteraction

twizzt, 8 months ago to colombia

Happy #FlyDay
I haven't posted for a while again. Life is crazy. So here's a fly I know nothing about. My guess is it's a hoverfly in the genus Quichuana (rat tailed maggot fly) but don't really know. I wonder if it is mimicking a Ceoloxys bee. It even has the hairy eyes.

#Insects #Diptera #Colombia