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 moth

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.

In the spirit of a true field course, today we set pit fall traps with our own urine. We are trying to test the differences in needs for nitrogen in Arthropods based on forest layers. We didn’t do too much hiking today, but I guess today was a bit more taxing on our mental strength than our physical.

Wrapping up our herbivory preference trials from yesterday, we found inconclusive results in terms of the presence of chemical defense in young Cecropia trees. This result was fairly expected based upon the small sample size, but in some cases I was a bit shocked. Six of the eight herbivores used(one caterpillar, one beetle, six orthoptera) did not consume any foliage. I had expected to see more bite marks on the leaves I suppose.

While we did not hike much today [so not many Lepidoptera sighting chances], I did still see Lepidoptera. When we went on the trail around the archeological sites at the research station to set our pit fall traps, I saw some butterfly. I mostly saw small brush-footed. I keep seeing one that’s about 6 cm in wingspan and it white with black markings and I am just not completely sure which it is. A classmate who is particularly skilled with the butterfly net managed to catch one of the fast flying teal and black swallowtails. I did not try with the net today but I managed to catch a moth in my room last night. It is  not listed in the additional field guide I have so I am not sure what it was. About 2 cm in wingspan, it was yellow and brown to the point it was almost colorful.

Tomorrow we will have to collect the traps, but we will also get to hear another guest lecture from one of the researchers at the station. We heard a presentation tonight focused on the area that we are staying in. I’m glad we are getting to learn more about the Chiquibul forest and I feel I’m starting to feel a bit more at ease with the constant animal and forest noises I don’t usually hear in the city.

Today was ant day. In the morning we set up some Tupperware boxes with leaves and different herbivores- a caterpillar, an odd beetle (?), and six orthoptera. The leaves are from Cecropia or trumpet trees and are usually filled with Azteca ants-unless they are quite young. So we are trying to see differences in the herbivory on mature Trumpet trees that have ants already and the young that do not, results that could be indicative of some sort of chemical defense in the young trees lacking the defense provided by ants. So of course we went out into the field. We were tasked with collecting the leaves and herbivorous generalists we would use in our set up. Trumpet trees tend to grow in disrupted areas such as roads. We therefore began walking down the road.

While searching for our materials we saw lots of insects, including Lepidoptera. We saw army ant soldiers that have huge mandibles. I also saw a lot of Blue Morpho butterflies. It seemed right when I let my guard down one would fly by quickly, always evading my net. I also saw another heliconia and realized I had misidentified the one I saw yesterday. Along the road side one kept fluttering in and out of the brush. The one yesterday and the one today were both “postman butterflies” or Heliconius melpomene rosina. And the Blue Morpho continued to tease me. A small satyr-looking butterfly landed on someones hand also.

In the afternoon, we excavated leaf-cutter ant nests. The last one was down one of the trails a bit and is over ten years old. There are millions of ants in the single nest and a good deal of them went into a frenzy when we began digging. The ants can pinch through skin and made a couple people bleed. They can also cut through shoe laces…hence why we wear rain boots. Around dusk, walking back to the station, I saw one of the most impressive butterflies. The Owl butterfly can grow over 7 inches in wingspan and one landed in front of me on the trail. I saw the closed wings, so its gorgeous eyespots were visible.

Successful net catches today = 2 butterflies. I have a very low success rate, but I am improving.

After starting the day off right with coconut scrambled eggs we set to the road again. I had two more Lepidoptera moments before we even left the resort. I found another deceased Hermeuptychia sosybius (Carolina Satyr). Aside from that I saw a cocoon that appeared to have a chrysalis inside. We loaded up and headed over to the Caracol archeological site. We climbed the tallest stairs I have seen- more so than the scary Wortham Center top tier. I was chasing butterflies (I haven’t identified any moths so far) and have found I can identify some of the butterflies quite easily, but am having a hard time with fast-flying butterflies. They never sit still long enough for me to get a good look. There’s also been a few that I don’t have on my Identification sheet. So far I have positively identified an East Mexican Banner, White Northern Segregate, and a Banded Peacock butterfly. We have seen a lot of interesting birds like the Oropendula with hanging nests and bright yellow tails. We also saw a coati while driving. After leaving the Caracol site, the van started to struggle even harder.
And it died when we reached the Tapir military checkpoint.
On-the-spot backup plan: load everything [and everyone] into two pickup trucks and make the rest of the drive to Las Cuevas Research station. From the back of the truck we saw more Oropendula and a few toucan. A bit dusty-but in one piece-we arrived at the research station in time for dinner. I am hoping to see a macaw at the research station while we are staying here. I still haven’t seen some of the butterflies I am hoping to either (I want to see a blue morpho).