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
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