All posts by cll4

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Banana Smoothies and A Gorgeous View

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May 19, 2019

Today was incredibly busy. We spent the entire morning and afternoon collecting and analyzing data for two different experiments. Lunch included some delicious banana smoothies with the perfect consistency (hopefully I can replicate it when I’m back home).

In the evening, we hiked up to the bird tower. The bird tower doesn’t really have anything to do with spotting birds. This is because the bird tower is so high up, you have a view of the vastness of the Chiquibul Forest, and any bird in view would likely be too tiny to make out.

Beetle highlights from today included a rove beetle (unknown species) and the elusive headlight elater (Pyrophorus noctilucus). In my research before this trip I learned that rove beetles lift their rear ends up in an exaggerated scorpion-like manner when threatened. Sure enough, when I brushed against a rove beetle’s leaf today, the beetle lifted its rear end high into the air so that its tail was literally perpendicular to the rest of its body (pretty wild).

After our night hike back from the bird tower, Kaela described seeing a beetle with two bright lights on its body. Even though I didn’t see it myself, this was pretty exciting to hear because this was undoubtedly a headlight elater. These beetles have two bioluminescent spots on their thorax that are meant to startle predators. Some say the headlight elater is bright enough to read by.

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Our First Completed Experiment

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May 18, 2019

This morning we collected our pitfall traps, which we filled with either urine or water yesterday to answer some research questions. We wanted to know if there was greater arthropod diversity on the forest floor or in the canopy and if the forest floor or the canopy was more nitrogen-limited (urine is a great source of nitrogen in case you were wondering).

Once we got back to the research station, we did inventory on the beetles, ants, ticks, etc. that fell into our traps. The unknown species of large black beetle with the red outline around its thorax and abdomen was in several of our samples. This beetle seems to be a reoccurring theme in these posts, or perhaps he’s the beetle mascot of Las Cuevas. Either way, I’ll have to do some research to identify him once we have internet access.

During our hike to collect these traps, I came across my first net-winged beetle (from the genus Calopteron). The species I have on my taxon ID card is Calopteron discrepans. I think this beetle was a different species that I came across in my research, but I can’t remember the species name at the moment. Calopteron discrepans has multiple thick black bands on orange wings, while this species only had one faint black band.

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Fight of the Century

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May 17, 2019

Today’s morning hike to set up urine traps (long story) was interrupted when we came upon a large black beetle with a metallic red outline – the same species from my last post that has yet to be identified. This time, however, it was in the middle of a ferocious battle with a millipede. We cheered and enjoyed the drama for almost ten minutes until the beetle finally gave up his meal. This millipede was determined the survive another day.

After lunch, we visited the cave near the research station. It has an incredibly vast opening and was actually the location of many Mayan religious ceremonies. The different chambers of the cave likely represented the layers of the Mayan underworld. Sources of water can be found in caves, so it makes sense that Chaac, god of rain, was thought to reside in the underworld.

Our day ended with a fascinating night hike – I finally managed to spot a darkling beetle (from the Hegemona genus)! These beetles secrete smelly chemical compounds from their rear end, and I definitely witnessed this today.

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We Love Time Designated for Tick Removal!

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May 16, 2019

Today was our first full day at Las Cuevas Research Station, and we actually got to explore the trails here, as we set up seven camera traps (cameras strapped to trees that take photos when motion is detected – we’ll be checking the photos on our last day here). The crazy overgrown trails of the Chiquibul revealed some pretty interesting finds, including a group of curious spider monkeys and several blue morphos!

The sightings that really interested me (of course) were the beetles, my assigned taxon. Some of the more flashy beetles included a metallic wood-boring beetle (likely from the genus Euchroma) with a blue-green metallic body, as well as a large black beetle with a distinct red outline around its thorax and abdomen and vertical ridges along its abdomen only.

But there’s nothing like the feeling of finding a beetle that exactly matches a species from your taxon ID card, and I’m talking not just the kind of beetle, but also its exact position and proportions. This beetle was (drumroll please) Eburia pedestris, a longhorn beetle with four symmetrical yellow spots and long orange antennae and legs.

And believe it or not, all this was worth the ticks! After our hike, we spent around 30 minutes laboriously checking for and removing ticks. Many of us had to stop knowing the unfortunate truth that we may have missed one.

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Journey to the Chiquibul

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May 15, 2019

Today, we began our trek to the Chiquibul Forest with interesting narration and several stops along the way. During the drive, our guide Leo pointed out what he referred to as a Mayan village because 85% of the residents speak one of the Mayan languages.  We also passed a new Mayan structure that’s currently in the process of being constructed by a Mayan descendant.

Our first stop was “Rio on Pools,” a collection of small pools along a river. We got to swim, and the leaches were successfully avoided! When we got back on the road, we passed a ghost village. Leo said that this village thrived during the 1930s and 40s because of the forestry industry but was completely abandoned by the mid 90s.

Later in the evening after finally arriving at Las Cuevas Research Station in the Chiquibul, we gathered in the classroom to have student presentations. Scott showed me a Scarab beetle that he found! This is one of my first beetle finds (second to a firefly I saw at Crystal Paradise Ecolodge). It’s possible that this beetle was of the species Enema endymion or a close relative.

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No Beetles In Sight

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May 14, 2019

We have reached the end of our first day in Belize, and I have yet to spot any beetles (order: Coleoptera). This is likely because we haven’t spent much time outdoors yet. Much of our day was spent on a plane or in a van, so I didn’t have much time for beetle-watching.

However, as I was walking around Crystal Paradise Ecolodge this evening, I found a nest of what I believe to be wasps (as opposed to bees). Though these aren’t members of my assigned taxon, I’ll insert a photo, as we don’t have a bee and wasp expert on our trip, and I think these insects deserve some attention, too.

This nest is a pretty incredible work of architecture, and I was surprised to find it in a bush, rather than in a tree or on a building. I had originally been scanning the bushes in hopes of finding a beetle resting on a leaf, but this was a pretty cool find, too.

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GTB (Gone to Belize)

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I honestly don’t know what to expect from this expedition to Belize. Research and being away from civilization are pretty foreign to me, but if anything, I’m anticipating a fascinating (but incredibly busy) two weeks.

My preparations have been consistently interrupted by bouts of procrastination. One of these bouts involved a walk through Hermann Park. Even though it wasted some time, I’m glad I went because I came across the most unusual bird. I walk to Hermann Park all the time and had never seen anything like it before. I walked over to the zoo to show the bird staff my photos, and they told me that it was a purple gallinule.

In Belize, I hope to learn how to actually document findings like this in detail because I don’t consider myself to be the most organized individual. I’m pretty nervous about the presentations because I’m not the best public speaker either, but I’ve done my best to prepare, and hopefully it’ll be ok.

I’m most excited to recognize organisms from the taxa I researched: beetles and hydrozoans, among other cnidarians and ctenophores. My only experience in the tropics was a trip to Peru when I was 11. The expedition spent three days along an Amazon tributary near Iquitos.