Hola Chicos,
I have a special post for you this time. Its all about the Bugs of Ixtac....The creepy crawlies that thrive around our little plot of land. There are so many more bugs here than what I was used to seeing in Florida and so Ive started to photograph them.
Click to enlarge
This little guy has something of an alien face on its back...
Here´s a photo of what I think is an Atlas moth. I had the cocoon on a stick hanging for months in our outdoor kitchen. One morning found this.....
Nice orange black and blue fly....
Hey how´d this guy get in here, Not really a bug but hey.....
There are allot of different beetles here. I hope to get more pics of these guys. This one had such a fantastic green color and design...
some weevil thing??....
Found two of these incredible guys one day....the body´s about an 1.5 inch....
Maybe some kind of stinkbug....
Love on a leaf....
Here's a Mini Mantis that was on my arm. I flicked it off onto this piece of cardboard and snapped this photo....about an inch in size......
This is a dreaded papaya fruit fly. These ravish our papayas here by laying eggs via the ovi-depositor. The eggs hatch inside and become worms that eat the fruit from the inside. I caught this girl laying eggs one morning and snapped this picture. I now have been getting good papayas by bagging them in large bags when they're small.....
Found this salamander one morning in the rain. The people here actually kill them because they say that they crawl up inside women at night! I don't believe it & think its awful.
One of the strangest caterpillars found on an agave. Spectacular!
This sticky little dude was walking across the table....
Little torpedo-like bug with big feet....
Another awesome caterpillar.....
An honorary mention, though not a bug.....a young Tlacuache or Opossum was found in one of the wall footers one morning.....
It is now well known that the insects of the world are quickly dying off at alarming rates because of our ridiculous night lights, lawns, chemicals and on going destruction of natural areas.
These photos represent a tiny fraction of the what we've seen here on our small piece of land. We also see beetles, fireflies, snakes, black and brown widows, spiders/tarantulas and different bee species among many other lifeforms unknown.
I plan on keeping this page updated as I get more photos of the remarkable diversity of tiny life crawling, flying and jumping around here.
I hope that these little guys living here will continue to thrive. We will try our best to do our part to protect them. Turning off lights at night, not using chemicals, not planting a lawn and minimizing the destruction of weeds, unknown plants, leaf litter etc.
I hope you´ve enjoyed these photos of some of the small life found on our property here in the Mountains of Veracruz.......Till next time.....
Saludos,
KT
