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2016, Uncategorized

Change of Plans

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Today was another travel day, and yet again we had mishaps with vans. Our driver and van company were not properly communicated with and were 5 hours late to pick us up from Las Cuevas. Therefore, we did not get to go to the ATM Caves.

The van ride was long and hot, and the fact that we didn’t get to go to the caves made it very hard to be patient. However, we stopped for lunch at the Orange Gallery and got to cool down, eat some lunch, get some refreshing drinks, and buy some souvenirs.

View at the Orange Gallery
View at the Orange Gallery

Tonight we are staying at the Belize Zoo Lodge, and we got a fabulous tour of the zoo after dinner. Scott was very proud of us for being more scared of the leaf cutter ants than the jaguar. We got to touch a black jaguar’s paws. His name is Lucky Boy, and he was rescued from a resort.

We also played with the other jaguar (Junior) and he ran up and down the cage after us. We fed a Tapir, saw a huge American alligator, and heard an ocelot make some weird noises while jumping for treats. The ocelot was making some weird noises that sounded like it saying “nam nam nam”.

Oh, also this morning I saw 4 or 5 golden orb weavers. One of them was huge it was almost two inches in body length!

I’m very excited for our boat trip to the reef tomorrow and getting to see some amazing things there.

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Adios, Las Cuevas

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TFBs on the Monkey Tail Trail of the Chiquibul Forest.

Our final day at Las Cuevas began bright and early as always; we were out the door for our morning hike by 8am. We retraced our steps over 13 miles to collect our camera traps in record time, much more mentally prepared for the trail this time around. Though our picture count was low, we remained optimistic that our cameras had caught some animals (besides us). We also managed to spot what was most likely a Middle American ameiva (Ameiva festiva). I had never come across this lizard species before but was able to identify it using a field guide by its coloration. The lizard was about 12 cm long (which made it too long for an anole) and was a dark brown with white lines on its side broken into spots.

We had to wait until nightfall for the day’s real excitement: our camera trap analysis. The prospects seemed poor as we sifted through endless photos of ourselves or even of leaves flapping in the wind. But our first big find was a giant curassow, casually strolling past our camera in the middle of the road. Soon after, we discovered a picture of a Baird’s tapir, and the group cheered ecstatically at our first mammal sighting. Suspense rose as we tested the final camera; our expectations were low since it was placed in the center of a giant leaf-cutter ant nest. But to our surprise, the very last camera first held a photo of an indistinct rodent, which we guessed was an agouti. As we flipped through the final photos, the characteristic markings of a jungle cat suddenly appeared on the screen. Our final sighting was of an ocelot, one of the elusive large cat species of the Chiquibul.

Though our findings may have been few and far between, just the fact that we were able to capture such diverse species in four short days is incredible. And with that, a week in the Belizean rainforest is already done. Next stop: Glover’s Reef.

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The Trouble With Vans + Belize Zoo Night Tour

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Hello everyone! This was an interesting day schedule wise. Though we were originally supposed to leave Las Cuevas at 7 am and head to the ATM cave, our van did not show up until around 11 am. Unfortunately, this meant that we would have to skip the cave tour, but we did get to hear a really neat talk by one of the workers at Las Cuevas and spend a little extra time being at one with the rainforest.

An agouti from the Belize zoo
An agouti from the Belize zoo

Once the van finally arrived, we ended up heading to a souvenir shop, small café, and supermarket to pass some time before traveling to the Tropical Education Center where we’re staying for the night. After a quick dinner, we got to go on a Night Tour of the Belize Zoo (!!!!) where we saw and interacted with some amazing animals. We got to touch a black jaguar’s paw, watch a spotted jaguar do somersaults and climb a platform, see ocelots, margays, a puma, and feed carrots to a tapir (the national animal of Belize) among other things.

Lucky Boy, the black jaguar at the Belize Zoo
Lucky Boy, the black jaguar at the Belize Zoo

While we were roaming the zoo near the margay cage, I did spy a beetle that had landed on one of my classmates. It was a couple of centimeters long and brown, but other than that I did not get too close of a look at it because it quickly flew away so I am not sure what it was (probably a darkling beetle of some sort). Despite all of the travel adjustments that had to be made today, I would still call today a great day because of the wonderful zoo tour. After all, when else am I going to be able to touch a black jaguar’s paw and feed carrots to a tapir? 🙂

Feeding carrots to the national animal of Belize, the tapir
Feeding carrots to the national animal of Belize, the tapir
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Camera Trap Pickup + Another Long Hike

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Hi everyone! I have some cool news to share about our camera trap results (from the camera traps that we placed our first day here at Las Cuevas)! Captured on film were a couple brown jays, a curassow, a tapir, an agouti, and an ocelot! Though we weren’t able to find a definitive answer to our question of whether there was a difference in species’ composition and richness between man-made or natural sites in the Chiquibul, the fact that we got to see these fascinating species wandering in the same places where we spend our days is amazing.

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Speaking of neat species, I did get to see a couple new beetles today! During the afternoon portion of our trek, I spied a small chestnut brown beetle similar to a june bug (Phyllophaga spp). A large black/brown stag beetle (Lucanus capreolus) was also found flying around seemingly in a slightly distressed manner in the classroom tonight.

The Chiquibul Rainforest: a fascinating place full of undiscovered mysteries
The Chiquibul Rainforest: a fascinating place full of undiscovered mysteries

Sitting here after another 13 mile hike during our last day at Las Cuevas Research Station, it’s hard to believe that our five days here are already at an end. However, I am excited for tomorrow because we are heading to another neat cave as well as to the Belize Zoo! 🙂

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Day 7: Collecting Camera Traps

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Today we spent the day collecting the 12 camera traps that we placed on day 3. We got a much earlier start than we got when we were putting the traps up, which meant that we were able to collect them all before it got dark. We were done at 3:30pm and made it back before dark, unlike last time.

After we got back, we looked through all of the pictures that our cameras had gathered. Unfortunately one of our camera’s battery died soon after we placed it, and seven of our cameras didn’t get any pictures of wildlife (unless you count very tired and dirty humans). As we scrolled through picture after picture of leaves moving and humans crossing the camera, our hopes dwindled. Luckily we were able to catch some animals. Two of our cameras caught what seemed to be the same bird species, and maybe even the same individual. Another camera caught a curassow, which is a very large black bird. But by far our most exciting sights were a tapir, ocelot, and agouti. Knowing that these animals were so close to where we had walked and spent time is almost unreal. It is strange to think about how many animals are roaming the area right by where we are but always just out of sight.

Tree species that I noticed today were the bayleaf palm (Sabal mauritiiformis) and the bay cedar (Guazuma ulmifolia). I also noticed a branch and a seedpod on the ground that were covered in dense brown spines. Each spine was about half an inch long. Based on the resources that I have, my best guess is that the species was Bactris major, but I am not sure that my analysis of the species is correct.

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Day 6: Insects Galore

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Day 6 began by collecting pitfall traps that we set out yesterday. The traps consisted of either water or urine and we’re placed in trees and on the ground. Insects either are attracted to the traps or fall into them and then are stuck. I was pleasantly surprised to see how many of our traps had caught insects in the 16-ish hours that they had been set up. We spent the morning analyzing the number of insects we caught. We looked at where they were caught and what morphospecies they were in order to determine the species richness and abundance of the samples. We then spent some time going over our data. It was difficult to determine exactly how we should summarize the data. We ended up coming up with one conclusion but completely reversing it after we talked to Adrienne and Scott. In the end, we found that insects in the canopy had a greater need for nitrogen and were more attracted to the urine traps.

In the evening we went on our first official night hike. Near the beginning of the hike we found an Acacia tree right on the trail that had two stick insects hanging off of it. The green stick insect was around a foot long and was hanging upside down with its front two legs extended above its head. The other stick insect was smaller and brown. Soon after we began observing them, the brown insect started climbing pretty quickly up the tree and away from our light.

Can you find the green stick insect?
Can you find the green stick insect? What about the long brown spines of the Acacia?

Acacias are special because they have a mutualism with ants, like Cecropia. The ant species is different and more aggressive. The tree that we observed didn’t appear to have an active ant colony, but we didn’t look very hard for it.

We also saw a lot of spiders and roaches.  We saw two tarantulas on a huge tree, which was different because all of the other tarantulas that we’ve seen have been on the ground. There were a lot of other large spiders and roaches that we would be much less likely to see during the day. It was good to be able to experience the forest at night, when so many new creatures can be seen.

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Day 8: what we have here is a classic example of a lack of communication

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So we were supposed to drive to a cave this morning at 7 am. Then the bus didn’t arrive until noon. In our extra time though I got a better chance to stand still and see the blue morphos instead of chasing after them. I saw one pretty close and it just flew right by me.

I also saw a big cat walking in the forest. I think it might have been a puma, but I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll be able to tell from seeing the animals in the zoo tonight. We’ll be taking a night tour and seeing some of the animals we haven’t had a chance to in the wild.

Right now though we are pit stopped at a resteraunt. Tomorrow we go the rest of the way to the reef. FOLLOW UP: We are staying basically at the zoo tonight. We got to feed a tapir and got to see a jaguar, ocelot, puma, margay be fed. Each of the cats (except the margay) made their own very weird sounds. Also we saw crocodiles, owls, pacas, and snakes.

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Ocelots, Orchid bees, Curassows, oh my! Day 7

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Finally I saw a green orchid bee today while we were out collecting all twelve of our traps. We decided to hike the route backwards today, climbing the hardest hills first, which I found was significantly easier today. We also had an early start and it was cool in the morning, so I didn’t think hiking the same 13 miles was as bad as the first time. As we were retrieving our first camera trap, Sam pointed out this beautiful iridescent green bee to me. It was definitely an orchid bee and I can tell you, they are as beautiful as the photos they appear in.

After we collected all the traps, we headed to the classroom after dinner to search through all the photos. Most of the photos were of us and the other group staying at Las Cuevas. We felt pretty sad, until we saw a tapir in one of our photos! We screamed with excitement, and then discovered that we also had a photo of an agouti, curassow, and an ocelot. I had originally just wanted to capture a cat, and so I am happy with the result of our 26 mile hike.

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View from the Bird Tower
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Stumbling through the dark, Day 6

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Today we retrieved our vials and performed our largest experiment yet, which involved sorting through specimens and separating them into morphospecies. After presenting our findings to Adrienne and Scott, we realized that there are a ton of ways to analyze data and that we definitely didn’t use the best methods to present our findings. Another day, another learning experience.

After that, we had quite a few lectures lasting into the afternoon. We heard from Lauren, a graduate student that has been living at Las Cuevas since January. She is here trying to answer the question of why carnivores are present in the Chiquibul and thinks that human made trails and roads act as corridors for these species. She’s also one of those people that you instantly admire.

After our lectures, we went out on a night hike. It was quite entertaining. We were seeing insects and arachnids left and right. I could hear Adrienne and Michael screaming and yelling in the dark. We saw a lot of monkey hoppers, a few tarantulas, the largest spider I have ever seen, leaf cutter ants, massive walking sticks, a green caterpillar, and a coral snake (venomous!). Overall it was an exciting hike.

No bees again today, most likely because we were in the classroom all day. But I did set out some scents in a little cup near the forest edge. Maybe I’ll see something tomorrow.

 

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Day 7: Last Day at Las Cuevas

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It’s strange to think that our first half of the class is already over. We’ve wrapped our camera trap project by seeing some spectacular mammals of the Belize forest like the strange tapir. I think as a team, we’ve come out of these projects as something like buddies, always watching out for each other and informing anyone if an interesting species was ever encountered.

In terms of cockroaches, not many were encountered, due to the fast paced nature of the final wrap up day. However, I must say that being in Belize for this past week and photographing, witnessing, and teaching on the cockroaches of Belize has taught me the importance of studying these misunderstood insects. Belizean roaches are very understudied, and studying these guys has given me novel information on the variety of roach species in the area as well as some insights into their behavior, from nymph behaviors to escape/defense mechanisms. While I doubt that I will be able to contribute something significant to the scientific roach community with my pictures and notes, I do hope that through these posts pique the interests of the readers into realizing the unappreciated beauty of roaches.

It’s certainly been an unforgettable experience, from doing night hikes, walking 13.275 miles, collecting roaches, doing experiments, giving lectures, and just being aspiring TFBs (tropical field biologists). I wonder if things will change as we transition to the ocean portion of this course! Stay tuned for more to come!

Black orchid. Belize's national flower
Black orchid. Belize’s national flower