The TFBs wanted to set up an experiment to record and assess if the relative difference and abundance in change in arthropods on the canopy and the forest is influenced by nutrients. Our nutrients were… DUN DUN DUNNNN… our own pee.
We set up arthropod pitfall traps all along the Mayan Trail of Las Cuevas. We spotted a jumping viper and eyelash viper in the middle of the trail! Both are venomous and the eyelash viper is so elusive that the manager of Las Cuevas who has been here for years hasn’t even seen one!
I spotted a zombie moth (moth taken over by fungus) and several beetles. I saw two types of longhorn beetles! You can tell these beetles are long horn beetles because they have long antennas.
After lunch we learned so much about ant hills and excavated a 1 year old leaf cutter ant nest we got to see the queen ant and her wing scars!
We also got to witness major and soldier ants as they tried to protect the fungus! Their mandible were so sharp that they can slice skin! One grabbed onto my finger nail and I could feel it’s strength.
On our second escalation with a more mature ant hill, Michael plunged the shovel into the mud and found… MEXICAN BURROWING TOAD! (it was unharmed by the shovel of course).
It was absolutely adorable and it’s very rare to see them in nature this time of year (they come out later in the wet season)! It had very strong back legs for burrowing and it peed on Elena.
For our night hike, I spotted a tree frog which is hard to see during the day and it jumped onto Rusty’s face- I guess it knows that who studied the amphibian taxa!
We also got to see a snake eating tree frog eggs!!!
It’s was absolutely incredible and reminds we that we are watching and learning about how animals behave in the wild and it’s such a different experience than learning in a text book! Loving the TFB life.
Peace and love <3
~ Maegan