Category Archives: Arthropoda

Arthropods – insects, arachnids, crustaceans, myriapods, & relatives

Bichos Argentinos #9 – Membracido

This treehopper that I photographed at La Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur strongly resembles our North American species of Campylenchia due to the brown elytra and lack of any yellow markings on the pronotal crest.  However, the rounded lower margin of the frons (more apparent in … Continue reading

Posted in Hemiptera, Membracidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Agelia lordi (Walker)

This pretty little beetle is Agelia lordi (Walker), a member of the jewel beetle family Buprestidae. I received this meticulously curated specimen – collected in Kenya – in a recent exchange with Stanislav Prepsl (Czech Republic). The species is found … Continue reading

Posted in Buprestidae, Coleoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Bichos Argentinos #8 – “Mosca de la Carne”

Here is the full-sized photo from which the “super-crop” featured in Super Crop Challenge #4 was taken.  As many of you guessed, this is a higher fly (order Diptera, suborder Brachycera) in the family Sarcophagidae, with the photo crop showing frontal portion of … Continue reading

Posted in Diptera, Sarcophagidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Bichos Argentinos #7 – Naupactus xanthographus

This weevil (family Curculionidae) was one of just a few beetle species that I encountered earlier this month in Buenos Aires, Argentina at La Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur.  Weevils are, of course, one of the most taxonomically diverse and difficult groups of … Continue reading

Posted in Coleoptera, Curculionidae | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Bichos Argentinos #6 – Jumping Spider

I photographed this jumping spider (family Salticidae) two weeks ago in Buenos Aires, Argentina at La Reserva Ecológica Costanera Sur. In gestalt it is very similar to our North American species of the genus Phidippus, but I can’t say for … Continue reading

Posted in Arachnida, Araneae | Tagged , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Bichos Argentinos #5 – Cyrtocoris egeris

Despite its obvious membership in the order Hemiptera, I knew the insect featured in ID Challenge #7 would be a difficult subject to identify.  This bizarre bug is Cyrtocoris egeris, a member of the small pentatmoid family Cytocoridae (congratulations to HBG Dave, who was … Continue reading

Posted in Cytocoridae, Hemiptera | Tagged , , , , , , | 14 Comments

A thrips is a thrips…

The critter in ID Challenge #6 is, as most surmised, a thrips¹, and although the black-and-white banding of the elytra make the predaceous “banded thrips” (Aeolothrips sp. of the family Aeolothripidae) a logical ID choice, the species in the photograph is actually … Continue reading

Posted in Thripidae, Thysanoptera | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Brazil Bugs #16 – Outro Percevejo

Another stink bug (family Pentatomidae) from my recent travels to South America, but this one from southeastern Brazil rather than Argentina.  Although the white spot at the apex of the scutellum is a common theme across the family, the jet … Continue reading

Posted in Hemiptera, Pentatomidae | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments