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Day 6: Not Everything is as it Seems

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What an exciting evening! After collecting our traps, gathering data, and finding seven species of roaches in those traps, we finally had our night-hike through the Maya Trail where we could see the forest activity in the nighttime. So many cockroaches were active at the time, nymphs and adults, large and small, colorful and drab! Most cockroaches that we see in the wild are drab in color, which helps facilitate their ability to hide on trees and in leaf litter. However, today’s hike has shown me BY FAR the strangest roach I had ever seen!

This roach was huge, probably a maximum of 10 cm, and had no wings, giant legs, and 6 orange dots towards the edge of its abdomen. However, it’s last two segments, which would supposedly be covered by exoskeleton was strangely white, soft, and exposed. I thought it was in the process of molting, since molted roaches are indeed white in color, but roaches molt from the head to tail, not the other way around. My only thoughts were that this big buddy had unfortunately been attacked and lost some of its exoskeleton. As I found ants all over the forest floor, I figured this magnificent creature was doomed to be ant food.

A few moments later, I heard a call from my colleagues. A roach of the exact same appearance had been spotted, complete with the strange white butt. It was then, I thought, two roaches, with the exact same body as each other, therefore the white end cannot be an accident. In excitement, I decided to capture a specimen for a closer look. Then the unexpected happened.

The white end exudes a sticky, dry fasting glue when the roach is distressed. Not only that, but when I had gotten the roach into my container, it suddenly hissed. This hiss is not your ordinary cat hiss or your ordinary roach hiss, which is short and sudden. This was a long, loud, sustained, and violent hissing (for a few seconds) on the roach’s part. It was almost as if it were a scream. It definitely scared most of the people with me, and it almost gave me a heart attack! Not only was this specimen not documented in my research, but this behavior of glue defenses and sustained hissing was unheard of, even to my instructors. Perhaps it was this reason, that the roach could sit openly in the field surrounded by ants. It has many defenses up its sleeve for protection.

Afterwards, I released the roach back into the wild, where it slowly waddled away, seemingly exhausted from the stressful ordeal. Definitely one of the coolest specimens I have ever come across and I hope to read more about it when I go back!

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Other than that roach, I found many nymphs as well as a giant black roach spanning 6 or more inches or about the size of my hand!

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Day 6: In the Dark

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This morning we collected our pitfall traps and sorted through all of the samples. In the 16 hours the samples were out, a collective 256 arthropods of over 50 species were caught in our traps. We found ants, beetles, orthopteran, spiders, flies, roaches, and more. Our results showed that there is a greater species abundance and richness on the forest floor than in the canopy. Additionally, in comparing the abundance of arthropods caught in the urine traps versus the abundance of arthropods found in the water traps we found results that suggest a difference in nitrogen needs between the canopy and the floor. The results suggest there is a greater need for nitrogen in the canopy.

By dinner time, I still hadn’t spotted any new Lepidoptera aside from a fuzzy caterpillar that had been close to my pitfall traps. So, once it got dark out I started checking around the building lights for moths. I saw some very interesting looking moths:

  • A 4-5 cm orange moth with feathery antenna
  • A 2-3 cm brown moth with very cryptic coloring- very pretty [pic below]
  • A 2 ish cm orange moth with stripes
  • A 3-4 cm brown moth with pale blue splotches
  • A 2-3 cm moth that looks like a crumpled leaf
  • A 1 cm brown moth with bright yellow markings
  • A 1-2 cm black moth
  • A 2-3 cm brown moth that was folded up like a little roll
  • A 3-4 cm orange/tan moth that had FUZZY LEGS
  • A 3-4 cm white moth with black veining
  • A 3-4 cm fuzzy white moth
  • A 2-3 cm pale green mothDSCN0100

I saw all of these within minutes just by looking by light sources in the dark. Next we went on a night hike. I hadn’t expected to see any Lepidoptera but I actually saw a very large green caterpillar and a white furry(branch-like fuzz) caterpillar. We also saw a huge spider, tarantula, stick bugs larger than my hand, and a hissing cockroach to note a few things. And saw our first venemous snake- a coral snake! It was cool to see the critters of the forest that are usually hiding.

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Day 5: My first and fiftieth mammal

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Today I saw a mammal!  Lucrecia and I went on a hike this morning, hoping to get closer to the howler monkeys we had been hearing.  Although they stopped howling as soon as we entered the forest, we saw several birds, including a flock of parrots and possibly a mot-mot.  I also found a log that appeared to have termite damage, but there were no termites to be found.  As we neared the clearing of the research station, we stopped to listen to a bird.  A few seconds later, a tayra wandered onto the path.  It didn’t seem scared to se us, and it walked towards us for several meters before wandering back into the forest.

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After breakfast, we finished up our Cecropia studies from yesterday.  After 24 hours, the masses of the juvenile leaves were still identical to those of the adult trees. 2 adult leaves and no juvenile leaves had visible damage from the herbivores, but this could be due to random chance or a physical difference in the leaves, so we can’t conclude that a chemical deterrent is preventing hervbivory in juvenile trees.  Also, we’re trying to have a conversation right now, but we can’t because the birds are too loud.  It’s awesome.

Belize limestone forms many caves, and we visited one this afternoon.  The Maya believed that caves were entrances to the underworld, and we saw Mayan artifacts throughout the cave.  I can only imagine how terrifying and magical it would have been to travel through the cave without a flashlight and little understanding of why or how the cave formed.  We also saw lots of bats living deep within the cave, and slid through the mud on our stomachs through the mud to see the skeleton of a peccary that had gotten lost in the cave.

Next, we set up an experiment to study nitrogen deficiencies in the rainforest canopy.  Urine is very high in nitrogen, so we put vials of urine and water in trees and buried in the ground.  If arthropods are deficient in nitrogen, and thus attracted to it, they will be more likely to fall into the nitrogen traps than the water traps.  Tomorrow, we’ll look and see what we caught.

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Pitfall Trap Analysis + Night Hike

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Happy Sunday everyone! Today’s schedule was a bit different than those of our other days here. The morning began with a short hike along the Maya trail to pick up the pitfall traps that we had set up yesterday and analyzing our data. Specifically, we examined species’ richness and abundance on the forest floor and compared those values to the canopy’s. We also investigated whether there would be greater species’ richness and abundance in the urine vials relative to the water vials in the canopy as opposed to the vials in the forest floor. Interestingly, we found that both richness and abundance were higher in the forest floor than in the canopy and that the abundance in urine was greater than in water in both locations.

A female pinching beetle (Lucanus capreolus) from one of our pitfall traps
A female pinching beetle (Lucanus capreolus) from one of our pitfall traps

Many beetle specimens were collected today (10 species and 18 specimens to be exact) from our pitfall traps! A few of the most interesting were a fairly large beetle of about 3.5 cm long with a shiny black body rimmed with red that I believe may be a female pinching beetle (Lucanus capreolus), a very small slightly shimmery dark brown or olive green color leaf beetle (perhaps either a Dogbane Beetle with scientific name Chrysochus auratus or a type of flea beetle), and a black darkling beetle with a segmented body (species possibly Alobates pennysylvanicus).

Some of the beetle specimens brought to me from our pitfall trap experiment!
Some of the beetle specimens brought to me from our pitfall trap experiment

As you can see, today was a fairly light day in terms of physical activity, but I am sure we will make up for it with the night hike tonight and especially with collecting all of the camera traps tomorrow. I am excited to see what animals are in the images we’ve captured (hopefully a picture of a jaguar?!?)! Thanks for reading! 🙂

A giant spider that we found along the path
A giant spider that we found along the path during our night hike

Update: We got to hear from a Ph.D. student named Lauren tonight! She’s currently a little more than halfway through an eight month study here and is using 52 pairs of camera traps to conduct research on carnivorous forest creatures. Also, the night hike along the Maya trail was super cool! We saw tarantulas and other spiders the size of our palms, a cockroach the size of a large mouse, and a coral snake among many other species!

And I must end this post with a picture of a cool beetle from the night hike :)
And I must end this post with a picture of a cool beetle from the night hike 🙂
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“SNAAAKE!”

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For our second to last day at Las Cuevas, we wrapped up our arthropod experiment by collecting all the pitfall traps set along the Maya trail yesterday. The majority of the day was dedicated to data analysis and the presentation of our results; there’s nothing quite like having a poster session in the middle of the rainforest.

We also spent a good part of the day discussing illegal extraction from the Chiquibul and the problems with conservation in Belize. I never fully appreciated the intricacies of conservation biology until today. The Chiquibul’s greatest threat is illegal extraction of plants and animals by Guatemalans from villages along the nearby border. Yet the issue of conservation is much greater than that of sustaining the area’s ecology and incorporates complex economic and political landscapes, as well. 

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Central American coral snake (Micrurus nigrocinctus).
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Central American coral snake (Micrurus nigrocinctus).

Since our activities were primarily indoors, the day offered few opportunities for reptile sightings. However, I was excited at the prospect of our first night hike—the evening brings out a number of nocturnal species, transforming the Chiquibul into a completely different habitat than it is during the day. We managed to spot all kinds of creepy crawlies, including spiders the size of your face and a giant roach that emitted a sticky white substance. By the end of the hike, I had nearly given up on searching for reptiles in the leaf-litter and under fallen logs. But at the very end of the trail, we approached a sinkhole; as I peered down I heard a shout of “snaaaake!” I looked down to find the distinctive tri-color banded pattern of the Central American coral snake (Micrurus nigrocinctus) all but a foot away from my boot. The snake was small but could clearly be identified as one of the most venomous snakes found in Central America. Just goes to show that you can never stop looking.

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Cave Las Cuevas, Day 5

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Today was interesting. I woke up early to the sounds of the other group that is here. I also did not fall asleep as early as I would have liked because the other group was being loud past 11 pm and I am a light sleeper. So I am kind of grumpy.

Today we wrapped up our trumpet tree projects and then we all peed into two vials. I am impressed by how clear everyone’s urine is. We are a healthy crew. After lunch, we took our helmets and headlamps to the Las Cuevas cave! I’ve been caving before in Idaho as well as Belize. I’ve also been cave diving, which is something I think I much prefer. The added level of danger is quite exciting. Anyway, we met a few bats in the cave and saw a few scorpions. We also encountered a chamber with low oxygen levels, which I definitely felt.

After exiting the caves, we went out onto a trail right near the station and used our urine for an experiment by placing vials of urine and water in trees and on the forest floor. If I haven’t already mentioned, an ancient Mayan site lies right outside the clearing of Las Cuevas. It is believed that the site had been used for ceremonial purposes.

We had a guest lecturer named Boris from FCD, a non-governmental organization that works in this area of Belize. His talk centered on the illegal extraction of resources from the Chiquibul, the research he does, and the social and political conflicts that have arisen from border disputes with Guatemala.

I didn’t see any bees today, probably due to the fact that we spent a large part of the day in the classroom. Tomorrow I will try to attract some bees, if time allows.

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Cave Las Cuevas
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Cave Las Cuevas
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Ant digging, Day 4

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I woke up today to the sound of my alarm and immediately fell back asleep. Instant coffee and sausages helped revive me this morning. We immediately went to the classroom and tried to design experiments that could answer the question as to how young trumpet trees against herbivores because they do not form a symbiosis with Azteca ants until they’re older. We then hit the trails again, though not as intensely as yesterday. We found a line of army ants, discovered a young queen inside a young trumpet tree, and recovered many leaf samples.

After lunch, we stayed in the proximity of Las Cuevas and dug up leaf cutter ant hills. We did so in a way to not kill the queen and allow the colony to recover. We dug vertically down into the soil on the side of the opening of the ant nests until we discovered a chamber containing the fungi and pupae. What’s incredibly neat is that these ants are farmers of the forest. They cut leaves and drag them back to the nest in order to farm this fungus, which can only survive by the aid of these ants. The soldier ants bit Michael, which was pretty funny.

We could hear howling monkeys today. I knew they were farther away than they sounded but I loved listening to them and am hoping we get the chance to see them. The other highlight of my day included seeing the scarlet macaws again. I was inside the building when they flew over and landed in the gutters. I ran over to the bridge between the kitchen and main building to take photos. One of them decided to fly over and pay me a visit. It was AWESOME. I slowly took out my camera and snapped a great photo, which I won’t include here. Find me later in person if you know me and would like to see.

I saw what I believe to be a large bumblebee today, as well as the same little black Euglossini bee. Tomorrow I am setting up my contraption to attract some orchid bees. Right now it is 9:30 pm and I am hitting the hay. I have a 5:30 am wake up call and no desire to get under 8 hours of sleep.

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Fungus that the leaf cutter ants cultivate
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Day 5

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Caving was just as exciting (and tiring) as I thought it would be. The first half was not that bad in terms of the amount of mud that I got on myself. Prematurely, I thought that I would come out unscathed. But no, it was the last part of the cave walk that really got me. After going through the main chambers in the system, there was an optional offshoot where they had previously found a peccary skeleton. The first crawl through was narrow, but the second was so narrow that you absolutely had to get down on the ground (flat on your belly) and army crawl through. My clothing was obliterated. But completely and totally worth it. I hope that I get to continue caving after this trip.

Otherwise, the day consisted of us finishing up the analysis of our Cecropia hypotheses and making posters. Our data, though it seemed to indicate higher investment in leaves and juveniles (consistent with the herbivore satiation hypothesis) was limited by our small samples size and estimation techniques. In the end, none of the groups has conclusive evidence, keeping the question of how young Cecropia defend themselves against herbivory prior to Azteca ant colonization open for future study.

Lastly, we set up our pitfall traps (using our own urine and water) to compare biodiversity in the canopy and forest floor settings. Specifically, we hope to learn about the differing needs in nitrogen in both. Tomorrow, one of the things that we will be doing is collecting the traps and analyzing the subsequent data.

 

 

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Day 4

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The tiredness continues. Today’s two tasks were to test our four hypotheses related to Cecropia herbivory defense and explore ant nests of different ages.

The Cecropia tree is normally in symbiosis with several species of ant. Their function is to be a defense mechanism against any threat to the integrity of the tree. This mostly means herbivory from various types of organism. However, there is a period when the tree is young prior to the colonization event of the ant population. We explored different ways in which the tree could potentially protect itself in this vulnerable period. After discussing the issue as a group for a while, covering many different possible solutions, we settled on four distinct hypotheses. Briefly, they focused on mimicry, chemical defense, leaf quality, and the predator/herbivore satiation hypothesis.

In long form these were our ideas. Maybe the young Cecropia trees are in some way similar to another species that has it’s own process for herbivory deterrence. Through mimicry, young Cecropia may benefit from the association made by herbivores. Secondly, there could be a chemical defense mechanism that is then replaced by the ants later in life. Thirdly, leaves on juveniles could be of poorer quality so as to deter herbivores, who would be better off selecting other species. Lastly (and the hypothesis I worked on), was herbivore satiation hypothesis. Under this assumption, we would expect to see high numbers of seed and juveniles, with the high number of individuals “flooding the market” and ensuring both sufficient herbivory and a proportion of individuals surviving into maturity (and therefore protection via ants).

After collecting and analyzing our data, we moved on to the ant colony structure. Scott showed us the different stages of nest. We spent the rest of the day looking for the fungus chamber and evading the (amazingly strong) bites of soldier ants.

Tomorrow, we go caving. I’m excited, as I have never done anything of the sort before.

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Day 5: Cave Mysteries

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Today was a bit low on cockroaches, mostly because our group was out busily setting up our pitfall traps. We wanted to analyze differences in nitrogen limitations (AKA organisms desire for nitrogen compounds) between creatures that live high in the forest canopy and those that live on the ground since distribution of nutrients is different in those locations. These traps held nitrogen bait (human urine!) and served to trap insects within. One trap was set onto a tree and another on the ground. Maybe this will be a good chance to see a few roaches!

Most of the roaches that I have found in Belize were often under a pile of leaves, feeding on decaying matter. The advantages of such a bottom-dweller lifestyle is double edged. Dead materials are not usually heavily competed for due to abundance of microbes and leaf litter provides excellent protection from predators and aspiring entomologists like myself. Perhaps in light of this, I can predict that if the traps can fit roaches, then I should find more roaches in the ground traps than in the tree traps. But whether their contribution to our question on differences in nitrogen limitations of the canopy and the ground will matter is up in the air until tomorrow when we retrieve our traps. Before then, I can only guess.

A roach was sighted during a noon leisure excursion to one of the Las Cuevas trails. It was tiny, wingless and fast moving. I tried to snap a photo, but it managed to hide a part of its body behind one of the spines of a give and take palm. Better than nothing I guess! I could improve my roach findings by perhaps searching during one of our night hikes!

Other than trap setups, our team visited a cave near where we lived, learning about the caves history and use by the ancient Mayan societies as a ceremonial ritual between their chief and the nine realms of the underworld that each section of the cave represented. In spite of the uneven terrain and low oxygen levels, I was captured by the mystery surrounding the cave structures and biological life! We spotted bats, tiny insects like diplurans, isopods, crickets, and even large millipedes, and learned how these creatures were sustained by cave nutrition. This may come in the form of droppings by bats or by nutrients entering the cave. No roaches, so bummer for me, but exciting nevertheless to explore one of the mysterious habitats of the earth!

Into the cave we go!
Into the cave we go!

P.S: speaking of mysteries, we found a peccary skeleton in a tiny chamber of a cave. I wonder how it got there? Did it wander through the pitch-black cave and get lost, or was it brought in as sacrifice by an ancient tribe.