Cool caterpillar of the day

Hello, poisonous spines. You look like you would hurt. This caterpillar is from the moth genus Automeris. They are called bullseye moths because of the big colorful bullseyes on their wings.

Shiny bugs

I found this pretty iridescent beetle on a sea grape tree. I'm trying to figure out what it is.

 And this little guy is a Junonia evarete caterpillar. They specialize on black mangrove seedlings (Avicennia germinans). Check out their cool blue shiny spots.

Caterpillars

First of all, I had a caterpillar today INSIDE my apartment. It basically devoured my entire mint plant! Considering that I have screens on the windows, how the heck did it get in? Maybe it came in as an egg on a leaf, or crawled in when it was really small. I was shocked that it had escaped my attention until now, because it was more than an inch long and bright green.

Speaking of caterpillars, word on the street (well in the forest actually) is that mangrove skippers (a type of butterfly caterpillar found in mangroves) are eating the seedlings I planted in Panama a few months ago! This is interesting because no one has ever known this type of caterpillar to eat this particular species, AND it means I might have some differential survival between the places I planted seedlings. And that means I'll have results. Yay!

Wildlife spottings

I have seen a bunch of cool animals in Panama, including a jaguarundi, coatis, lots of crabs, birds, insects, spiders and sloths. Here are some photos:

This is one of my favorite animals, a three-toed sloth. They are easiest to see in Cecropia trees, though they eat many other types of leaves.

This is a green kingfisher that flew into a glass door. It was a little confused for awhile and may have had a minor concussion, but Loes nursed it back to consciousness and it was fine.

This is a Junonia evarete caterpillar. It specializes on black mangrove (Avicennia germinans) leaves during the rainy season (this photo was taken in January).

This is a hummingbird in a cashew tree. The fruit of the cashew tree is edible, but the nut must be roasted because it is toxic if eaten raw.

This is a new friend I made. =) He was wearing a collar, so I didn't take him home.
Special thanks to Sierra Flynn for taking some of these photos!