Small But Impressive: Beetles, Spiders, Larvae

Peru, 

September-October 2010

We went for birds, but once out in the jungle, you never know what surprises await the observant. Some birders ignore anything without feathers, but we aren't that sort. We are delighted and intrigued by the extraordinary variety of life out there. So I watch the ground, scrutinize the leaves, and look a second time at something odd glimpsed out of the corner of my eye.

There is a famous quote attributed to both Darwin and J. B. S. Haldane. One or the other was asked by a cleric about what he might infer about the Creator, based on his wide ranging study of life. The reply: the creator must have had "an inordinate fondness for beetles." We discovered this magnificent creature on a damp trail in the Manu Biosphere Preserve, Peru.

Cerambycid Beetle, Manu Biosphere Reserve, Peru

Complete metamorphosis is astounding. There's the egg, the larva/caterpillar, the pupa, and the adult - one form doesn't hint at the next--no clues. Since my husband is a knowledgeable Lepidopterist, he can say with some authority "that caterpillar/larvae will/may grow up to be in the XXXidae family. 

Wild Silk Moth. Saturniidae with Stinging Spines
on the Road near Cock of the Rock Lodge, Andes. 

Megalopygidae? -  called a Puss Caterpillar. Found by the road in the pristine Manu cloud forest on the verdant eastern slopes of the Andes

This cutie may grow up to be member of the : Arctiidae, Noctuidae, Eupterotidae, Manu Biosphere, Peru  

Once our guide realized we wanted to see it all, he took time out from looking and listening for birds to lure a fierce predator out of her den.

Tarantula Protecting her den, Manu Biosphere, Peru