Invertebrates

They may be the smallest of the animals you may see in the tropical rain forest, but the variety and beauty of invertebrates is staggering.

When I say insect, do you think of ugly creeping monsters attempting to crawl into your clothes?  Do you say, “Gross!”  The first insect I captured on film was this creature.

Before this gorgeous creature gained his spots, what did he look like?

That’s right, a caterpillar!

Not all butterflies have brilliant scales.  What was that?  You thought only reptiles and fish had scales?  The “skin” on a butterfly wing is made up of what entomologists call, scales too.  This one took the camouflage route. (Although I think he is going to have a hard time blending in with that flower.

Butterflies are not the only creature that loves the sweet nectar of flowers.  Check out the bee flying in for a landing on this lovely flower.

The tropical rain forest is crawling with interesting invertebrates.  I began to see them wherever I looked.

On a leaf.

On the water.

On my camera bag.  (That tiny white fuzzball on the right the picture had six legs!)

In the sink.

This scorpion, an arachnid not an insect, was only the size of a quarter. The grey ring to the right is the drain to the sink.

In my hand.

Across my path.

Leaf cutter ants are busy at work.  They use the leaves to grow an edible fungus that the ants eat.  Farmer ants, how cool!

These tasty tiny termites build huge nests in trees.  If you are ever stuck in the jungle without a sandwich, pop a few thousand of these in your mouth for a healthy snack.

Speaking of eating bugs, anyone hungry for a giant roach the size of your hand?

This beautiful tree gem scared the daylights out of me.  I nearly walked straight into her neon yellow sticky web.

A Golden Orb Weaver Spider with a tiny red male spider above her.

I wonder what these guys are talking about.

A beauitful bunch of ripe banana!
(daylight come and me wanna go home)
hide the deadly black tarantula!

Well, Mr. Belafonte I certainly did not want to go home yet.  Especially after finding THIS fantastic black tarantula.  She was nearly as large as my hand!

Stay tuned here for my further adventures in Costa Rica in the weeks to come!

Pura Vida

~RattlerJen

Mexican Blood Leg Tarantula

Aphonopelma bicolouratum

Reptiles Alive Name: “Chewbacca”

Hissstory: Chewie was one of 8 tarantulas, one scorpion, and one savannah monitor lizard that were rescued from a house fire by Fairfax County Animal Control in April of 2006.  Due to zoning laws, the owner was not allowed to have his animals returned to him, so we were given custody of all of the rescued animals.

RA Diet: Chewie’s favorite food are crickets.

Natural Diet: Tarantulas will eat insects, birds, lizards, and even small mammals.

Range: Mexican blood leg tarantulas are native to Mexico and South Texas.

Habitat: Blood leg tarantulas are found in deserts where they spend most of their time hiding in burrows.

Size: Blood legs are a relatively small tarantula, growing to about 3 1/2 to 5 inches

Lifespan: Female tarantulas can live over 30 years – males do not live nearly as long.

Reproduction: Tarantulas construct a golf ball sized egg sac out of silk. The female tarantula will care for her eggs by turning the egg sac on a regular basis. One egg sac may contain over two thousand eggs.

Conservation: Tarantulas form a vital part of the desert’s food web.   They control insect populations by eating them, and then, tarantulas are eaten by other animals such as lizards, birds, and mammals.

Cool Facts: Tarantulas rarely harm humans. They prefer to use the itchy hairs on their abdomen to irritate any animal that bothers them. The venom from tarantulas found in North America is not any more dangerous to people than bee venom.  The best thing to do whenever you see an animal is to just leave it alone.

Madagascar Hissing Cockroach

Gromphadorhina portentosa

Reptiles Alive Name: Too many to name

Hissstory: Our first few hissing roaches were donated to us by Long Branch Nature Center in Arlington, VA.  Within a few months, we had lots, lots more.

RA Diet: Chopped leafy greens, vegetables, monkey chow, dog food, fruit, leftovers. (Hey, they are roaches they like leftovers!)

Natural Diet: Roaches are scavengers – they will eat dead and decaying plants and animals laying on the forest floor.

Range: Madagascar

Habitat: Hissing roaches live in the tropical rain forests of Madagascar.

Size: Hissing roaches are a relatively a large roach, growing to about 3 inches.

Lifespan: Hissing roaches live for about two years.

Reproduction: Male hissing roaches have two large bumps on the tops of their heads. They use them to battle for females just like goats do. After mating, females will keep the eggs inside her body until they hatch. Gestation is 60-70 days. Females have about 30 young

Conservation: Cockroaches are one of the most important species on our planet!  As decomposers, they create soil by eating decaying plants and animals.  Without decomposers like cockroaches, plants and trees could not grow.  Without plants and trees, animals and humans could not survive.  So, you might not want to live with, hug, or kiss a cockroach, but cockroaches are a super important animal.

Cool Facts: Hissing roaches produce a hissing noise by pushing air through holes in their abdomen. There are at least five different hisses.  Different hisses are used in courtship, to defend territory, and warn of danger.

Haitian Roach or Death’s Head Roach

Blaberus craniifer

Reptiles Alive Name: We have too many to name!

Hissstory: Our colony came from a few roaches given to us by a zoo.   They multiplied quickly!

RA Diet: Greens, monkey food, vegetables, dog food, fruit, leftovers. (Hey, they are roaches they like leftovers!)

Natural Diet: Just about ANYTHING! Roaches are scavengers living off of dead and decaying plants and animals. Hungry?

Range: Florida, the Caribbean,  and Central America

Habitat: Roaches can survive pretty much anywhere within their range.

Size: Haitian  roaches are relatively large as roaches go – they can grow to about 3 inches.

Lifespan: Haitian roaches can live for about two years.

Reproduction: Roaches breed constantly. Females will lay an egg sac which looks like stacks of CD’s.   She will then suck them back up into her body in order to incubate them.  Totally weird!

Conservation: Roaches play an important role in the natural world.  As scavengers, they work as a kind of “clean up crew.”  They are also an extremely important food source for tons of other animals, including birds, frogs, and even baby crocodiles!

Cool Facts: Roaches are sometimes used by engineers  building robots.  The engineers study how the roaches move and try to build robots and computers that can imitate the roaches’ behavior.

Haitian Brown Tarantula

Phormictopus cancerides

Reptiles Alive Name: “Charlotte”

Hissstory: Charlotte was transferred to us from another wildlife education organization in 2004.

RA Diet: Charlotte eats 1 or 2 crickets every couple of days.

Natural Diet: Tarantulas will eat insects, birds, lizards, and even small mammals.


Range: Haitian brown tarantulas naturally occur in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and other parts of the Caribbean .

Habitat: Haitian brown tarantulas enjoy hiding under rocks, in burrows,  and under debris.

Size: Haitian brown tarantulas are big spiders – they sometimes grow 7 to 9 inches in diameter!

Lifespan: Male tarantulas may only live 18-24 months, but females can live much longer,  sometimes, over 20 years.

Reproduction: Tarantulas construct a golf ball sized egg sac out of silk. The female tarantula will care for her eggs by turning the egg sac on a regular basis. One egg sac may contain over two thousand eggs.

Conservation: Tarantulas biggest threat is habitat destruction.  Human fear is also a danger to tarantulas, however, tarantulas rarely harm humans.  Like most wild animals, tarantulas actually fear humans, and will only bite as a defense.  Most species of tarantulas have venom that is no worse than bee venom, so, most tarantulas are harmless to people.

Cool Facts: Spider silk (the stuff spiders make into webs) is stronger than steel.  No, really, it’s true!  Scientists have been trying for years to manufacture enough spider silk to manufacture items such diverse items as clothing and cable to make bridges out of.    So far, no one has figured out how make enough spider silk to make anything other than a really expensive scarf.  But maybe someday you could be wearing spider clothes while driving over a spider bridge!