This morning we went on a long and speedy hike to pick up all the camera traps we laid out on our first day in the Chiquibul! I had a great time using the GPS to help find the location of our camera traps, although it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out how to zoom in and out on the GPS map!

On our hike, I was able to confidently identified a butterfly! I saw an orange striped butterfly in the genus Heliconius. It looked just like the tiger-striped long wing, with orange striped wings and white spots on the ends of the front wings. However, as this butterfly has several mimics it could have been one of them instead. This genus of butterflies has been used in many studies about mimicry, so this was especially exciting for me!

I also saw a really cool massive wasp (?) while hiking this morning. It had long orange legs and a black body with yellow markings. It was giant, about the size of a ping pong ball, and just resting on a leaf. Hopefully I can look it up when we get back to civilization and figure out what kind of wasp it is! ( Or ask Scott!)

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In the afternoon there was a heavy rain, and the previously dry frog pond filled up a bit. This was very exciting as it meant that the frogs began to loudly call from this area. We hiked out to see them, and although we didn’t have any spottings it was very cool to be surrounded by their loud strange calls. According to one of the staff members at Las Cuevas Research Station, it was likely a bunch of Mexican Burrowing Toads.

We drove out of the Chiquibul this afternoon, and although it was a long and bumpy car ride, I am happy to have warm water again!

– Ava

Today we opened leaf cutter ant colonies and laid out pitfall traps for Arthropoda in the canopy and on the forest floor. While laying out our pitfall traps, we were able to see two moths which had been infected with ophiocorticeps fungi! This fungi infects the host, hijacks its nervous system and causes it to move to a preferable location, then kills it and sprouts out of its body to release its spores!

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Near the research station, we opened up two leaf cutter ant colonies and were able to see the fungus farms on the inside! The first colony we opened was only about a year old, and we were able to take out the queen. She had a massive swollen body and was around 2 inches long. I learned how to pick up the soldier ants in the second colony and was able to capture a few. I let one bite my nail and a callus on my hand to see its biting power. I also let it bit a small hole in my shirt for a souvenir!

Between the two ant colonies, while digging, Michael came across a Mexican Burrowing Toad. This toad is quite difficult to spot, as it is generally burrowed underground. Its body is wide and flat, with red spots. It had pretty short appendages and basically no neck – making it look both incredibly goofy and cute.

After dinner, we went on a night hike to the dried up frog pond. This was the coolest experience I have had in Belize so far! We were able to see 2 endangered Morrelets Tree Frogs, one of which hopped onto my shoulder! We also saw a snake climb a bush and find and eat a clump of tree frog eggs! Elena spotted a second snake behind this one while we were watching it, which led to us finding an additional 5 snakes in the canopy above us!!

Enjoying every second here in the rainforest!

– Ava

We had our first full day in the Chiquibul today, and it was action packed! I started off the day birdwatching at 5 am. I saw a group of 3 wild ocellated turkeys, a pair of plumbious kites (predatory birds), many black vultures, and several toucans! The morning chorus is nearly deafening and occasionally accented by the black howler monkeys.

We spent the rest of the day laying out camera traps to try and see some mammals, and got to hike many of the surrounding trails in the process. On one of the trails, we ran into a large termite colony. After advice from Scott, several of use ate a few termites, which shockingly taste just like carrots!

This afternoon, I got some practice catching butterflies and was able to successfully capture 3! The most common butterflies around were sulfur butterflies, but I also found some other more rare and interesting ones! At the bird watching tower nearby the station, I caught a moth/butterfly that had a black body with iridescent blue spots, and wings that had orange borders and clear centers! Maybe related to the glasswing butterfly (due to the shared clear wings), although this is very vague speculation on my part!

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At the end of our day, we visited a seasonal frog pond (fills up with water through the rainy season) that was currently muddy but not yet pond-like. Hanging from a branch above the center of the ‘pond’ was several clusters of red-eyed tree frog eggs! These eggs slowly develop, and when the pond is full of water they will hatch and the tadpoles will drop into the pond.

– Ava

Today we traveled from the Tropical Education Center into the Chiquibul! I saw a ton of butterflies and moths today, starting on the road to the Caracol Mayan ruins in the Chiquibul. There were a ton of light yellow butterflies (which our guide said were called ‘sulfur butterflies’) as well as bright yellow ones, white ones, and many others! Once we got to the Caracol ruins, I was constantly distracted by every new butterfly that passed me (and there were a lot). Another cool one I saw was light green with black bands on its wings! Although I saw a bunch of butterflies, I haven’t been able to identify any yet, as there are so many species! I only got a picture of one small brown moths on the steps of one of the Caracol ruins:

(I will insert my pics when I have better WiFi!)

The Caracol ruins were also very cool. We saw several large pyramidal temples, as well as a court where the Mayans used to play a ball game. This area is massive, yet only about 1% has been excavated so far. One of the buildings we climbed to the top of is currently the tallest building in Belize!

In the car today, we saw two Scarlet Macaws! We also saw lots of other cool birds today, including Montezuma Oropendolas and the Blue Crowned Mot Mot.

After leaving the Caracol ruins, we drove to the Las Cuevas Research Station in the heart of the Chiquibul. At night at the research station, I saw an overwhelming number of moths (none being very distinctive) of all shapes and sizes. I can’t wait for our first full rainforest day tomorrow! Excited to hopefully see some snakes and confidently identify my first Lepidoptera (butterfly/moth).

– Ava