Costa Rica; where the Americas meet #3. Animals, the tinies and the hairies.

This is the third of a four-part series on Costa Rica. As I explained last time, the planned post to incorporate all the animals except birds got too long, so here is the rest of that one, with the perhaps unlikely pairing of invertebrates (mostly insects) and mammals. If you missed the first post in the series, you may find it helpful with regard to the places mentioned in this post.

Invertebrates often miss out entirely and, while I won't be guilty of that, there's going to be less information here than for the other animal groups, simply because I don't have it, or because it doesn't even seem to exist anywhere accessible. Many I don't even have a name for but hopefully we can enjoy them without that. Here's a small sample of the many 'little animals' that we saw. 

An orbweb spider Argiope submaronica, at Tapirus Lodge. Although it's not very large, one
has been recorded at La Selva Research Station as capturing, wrapping and feeding on,
a Proboscis Bat (see below for some live and healthy ones).

Grasshoppers and katydids are everywhere; here are a couple of unidentified ones we admired. 

In the rain at Tapirus Lodge.

A large striking species that we saw on both visits, this one was in a large group
close to the sea at Tortuguera.

Beetles are a major part of any ecosystem, and here are three ranging from quite small to extremely large!

A beautifully iridescent little chrysomelid (or leaf beetle) on a telescope at the Bougainvillea Hotel.
Perhaps it was trying to look bigger...

Elephant Beetle Megasoma elephas, some 10cm long. Only the males have the extraordinary
'tusk', used for duelling with other males. This beauty and the next had been temporarily relocated
to the garden of the wildlife artist 'Cope' (see the previous post).

Hercules Beetle Dynastes hercules, an equally striking animal, one of the
rhinoceros beetles. A male can be up to 17cm long, though this one was a little less dramatic.
Another remarkable aspect of this beetle is that it can actually fly, one of the largest insects
to do so. Again only the males have the horn. The huge larvae play an important role
in breaking down fallen logs in the forest.

Leafcutter ants are ubiquitous and fascinating (and hard to meaningfully photograph I've found).
This is part of a column, carrying leaves they've cut to the nest where they are used to
cultivate a fungus that the ants eat. Sometimes you can see ants hitching a ride on
the leaves - these are said to be guarding against parasitic wasps.

Part of the above-ground part of a leafcutter ant colony which may cover tens of square
metres which the ants keep clear of vegetation.

Tapirus Lodge maintains a large light trap - a large double-sided screen with lights to attract insects during the night. It's not clear if it's part of a study, or just to showcase the insects, many of which remain on the screen the next day; while there we daily examined this screen carefully, and found some great rewards. This cicada, and a couple of the moths below, are on this background.

We didn't see this lovely cicada anywhere else, but they were probably high above our heads.

A couple of other invertebrates were quite unexpected.

This amazing tailless whip-scorpion (Family Phrynidae) was in someone's room at Tortuguera.
She (the human occupant of the room) was admirably calm about it, and one of our number
was equally admirable in moving it to a tree trunk outside.They are arachnids but not scorpions
(or even true whip scorpions!). They have no sting or venom, but the jaws can puncture skin if
you do something silly (see next photo). They are nocturnal, hiding under bark or living in caves,
found throughout the world's tropics. This one was at least ten centimetres across.
They use the back six legs for walking, and the front two stretch forward as sensory organs.

Closeup of the scary jaws (or pedipalps).

This land crab was encountered while walking on a forest track in the rain at Monteverde,
not what we expected a few hundred metres above sea level and far from the sea.
Unfortunately I can't find out anything about it.

And I know that at least some of you have been waiting somewhat impatiently for the butterflies. Your wait is over. There were of course many, some of them even identifiable, in some cases with some help (thanks Steve!).

Banded Peacock Anartia fatima males duelling - or least the top one was, the bottom one
was just trying to mind his own business. The other was performing aerobatics to
intimidate - while it's not obvious, in the photo he was in the midst of a full reverse
loop in the air! I'm sure there is information on this behaviour available, but
I can't find it. (And it's possible the male was trying to impress a female,
but again I can't find any information to support this.)

 And for the record, here's what the same Banded Peacock looks like from above.

White Peacock Anartia jatrophae in the same garden at Turtle Lodge in Tortuguera
as the Banded Peacocks above.

Isabella's Longwing Eueides isabella, Cerro Lodge near the Pacific central coast.
It is found throughout Central America, tropical South America and the Caribbean.

Crimson-patched Longwing Heliconius erato, Caño Negro, far north.

Owl Butterfly Caligo sp., La Fortuna, one of a genus of large slow butterflies
found throughout the Neotropics. The 'eyes' are supposed to resemble those of owls.

The remaining four, all moths, were resting on or near the Tapirus Lodge light traps; I can only put a name on the first of them.

Orizaba Silkmoth Rothschildia orizaba. This magnificent moth is huge, up to 18cm
across. The four transparent 'window panes' in the wing give rise to its Spanish name, Cuatro Ventanas.

The remaining three must remain anonymous, unless you can help me. They were chosen from many I could have used from the photos I took at the light trap.

Peacock Moth Automeris io, which is found across much of North America.
(Thanks Fanny!)

And, with something of a leap, that brings us to some mammals. Costa Rica has a rich mammal fauna - as with all animal groups there it seems - but of course most are nocturnal and many are hard to find, especially with a group. What follows however is a fairly good array of species, especially for a very small country.

Sloths, along with armadillos and anteaters, are the only surviving old South Americans, whose ancestors long predated the coming of the invaders from the north which now dominate in South America. You can read more on this in the first post in this series, but it means that they get top billing here! Moreover Costa Rica sometimes seems awash with sloths - they are a major tourist attraction and there are some unsavoury stories of tourist facilities moving sloths to their property to attract customers. I have read too that there is said to be a greater biomass of three-toed sloths in Costa Rica than of any other (non-human) mammal. There are two species of sloth in Costa Rica, each belonging to an entirely different family - in fact their last common ancestor (a ground-dwelling animal) lived some 28 million years ago, so they are not closely related, despite looking very similar. Their lifestyle has led to an impressive example of parallel evolution.

Brown-throated Three-toed Sloth Bradypus variegatus, at Tapirus Lodge. And they do seem
to spend a lot of time scratching! All sloths have three toes on their hind feet, and this family
is named for its front feet (look at its 'hand' on the branch). Famously they come down
to the foot of the tree to defecate about once a week - and I've still not read a
plausible explanation for this. However a recent publication, which is also
unimpressed by all other explanations, suggests it is merely that this is what
their ground-living ancestors did, and there's not been enough selection pressure
(ie from predation during the process) to change the habit.. Hmm.

Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth Choloepus hoffmanni, La Selva Research Station.
They are supposed to be fairly common but this is the only one we saw,
and at night. Not a great photo but I chose it because it shows the
two front claws quite clearly. It also has no tail, while the three-toeds
have a short one.

And in a somewhat bizarre aside, the mighty Zoonomia Project, coordinated by university laboratories around the world, recently compared the complete genomes (an extraordinary concept) of 240 mammal species around the world. One aspect was comparing the number of olfactory receptor genes, a pretty good indicator of the sensitivity of a mammal's ability to smell. Not many people, I suspect, would have bet on Hoffman's Two-toed Sloth to come in third in this 'competition' (behind only the African Elephant and the Nine-banded Armadillo). Another Costa Rican came in fourth - read on!

Tapirs evolved in North America, but became extinct there after spreading to South America and Asia. There are three species in the Americas, but only one in Central America. This is Baird's Tapir Tapirus bairdii, which is found throughout Central America and just enters South America in north-western Colombia. It is the biggest of the American tapirs and is found from mangroves to cloud forests. At Tapirus Lodge - appropriately - a family has become used to visiting the lodge for kitchen scraps, though they are totally wild animals and come and go unpredictably.

Baird's Tapir on a walking track at Tapirus Lodge. The typical tapir proboscis,
a soft, flexible snout for grasping food and smelling the air, shows well here.
This is a big animal, weighing up to 300kg.

Everyone wants to see monkeys in the Neotropics of course and Costa Rica has plenty, though only four species. Three of these are fairly easy to see, but the Red-backed Squirrel Monkey occurs only in two national parks on the Pacific Coast, and unfortunately we didn't see them.

Central American (or Geoffroy's) Spider Monkey Ateles geoffroyi in the lodge garden
at Caño Negro in the far north, though we saw them in several places. Though spindly
with seemingly impossibly long slender limbs and tail, it is regarded as one of the
largest American monkeys, weighing up to 9kg (though this is a young one). Small
groups forage for fruit during the day, and come together for the night roost.

This unusual photo of a mother and baby Mantled Howler Monkey Alouatta palliata was
made possible by the series of suspension bridges above deep rainforest gullies on the
walking tracks at Selvatura Park at Monteverde. This big monkey is found throughout
Central America and down the north-west coast of South America to Ecuador, living
in quite large groups and living primarily on leaves. These are a very low energy
food source, though of course there are plenty of them! To me the rushing roar of
the male howler monkey is one of the sounds of the tropical American forests,
and it can be heard kilometres away.

White-faced Capuchin Cebus capucinus, at Cerro Lodge on the middle Pacific Coast, though
it occurs throughout the country. A fairly small monkey, it travels in groups and eats almost
anything, from fruit and flowers to insects and small lizards. Local guides (especially bird guides)
are likely to describe them as 'bad monkeys' as they actively hunt bird nests, and many breeding
attempts fail due to them.

Microbats (ie the small insect-hunters, not the big fruit bats) are rarely easy to see but two Costa Rican species often roost during the day in conspicuous sites, in groups of one male and a 'harem' of females, and in very distinctive postures. Both are less than 5cm long.

Greater White-lined Bats Saccopteryx bilineata in an alcove behind the fridge in
the open-walled restaurant at Esquinas Lodge in the far south rainforests. Their
'normal' site would be a hollow tree or between tree buttresses. This is their
characteristic pose, upside down with raised head and propped on their forearms.

Proboscis Bats Rhynchonycteris naso along a coastal waterway at Tortuguero on the
Caribbean coast. This 'lined-up' roosting formation is characteristic. Their pointy noses
can also be seen here. They are always near water and usually roost on tree trunks
above it. Below is a (somewhat muddy) close-up of the same species.

Carnivores aren't so easy to photograph in general, but you can get lucky. One usually fairly up-front carnivore is a coati - there are four species in the Neotropics, two of which are widespread and pretty conspicuous. They are in the same family as raccoons and some less familiar carnivores such as kinkajous. The South American Coati Nasua nasua is found throughout much of the continent and when fed can be a pest and a dangerous one; the ones at Iguazu Falls are notorious, though it's obviously not their fault. The White-nosed Coati N. narica takes its place in Central America; while I don't doubt that they could also be a bit of a problem around lodges and tourist attractions, we didn't see any evidence of it so presumably most tourists here are better educated and behaved. Unlike many carnivores they are diurnal, so we are more likely to encounter them.

Baby White-nosed Coati, part of a big group at Tapirus Lodge. These groups comprise
females and youngsters. Though I've referred to them as carnivores and they certainly hunt,
both on the ground and in trees for pretty much anything they can catch, they are
really omnivores, with fruit also being an important part of the diet.
Their erect waving tails often give them away!

Males on the other hand are solitary, except during courtship. This one was
typically on his own in the forest at Volcan Arenal.

The next one on the other hand required a lot more luck. We were returning by boat from Tortuguero (the only way to get there) and on rounding a bend came on this lovely Neotropical River Otter which had just emerged from the water with its catfish lunch. This otter has a huge range, from Mexico to Uruguay, but is threatened throughout that range, though for the most part there is insufficient knowledge about it to be sure just how much trouble it's in. It's certainly rare almost everywhere and we were very fortunate indeed. I've only seen three others, in Peru and Brazil, and they were quite fleeting and distant encounters.

Neotropical River Otter Lontra longicaudis on the Rio Suerte (ie 'Lucky River', and it was for us!)
 A rare and special viewing. They can sometimes be up to 1.5m long and weigh up to 15kg,
though that's unusual; still, it's a big animal.

And finally rodents. The most commonly encountered in Costa Rica are agoutis and squirrels, but somehow I failed to get a decent picture of the big, busy Central American Agouti Dasyprocta punctata. However to give you an idea, I'm going to inflict a decidedly below-par photo of one on you,with apologies. 

Central American Agouti foraging in the early morning at Esquinas Lodge.
They never seem to stand still! And it was this agouti which the Zoonomia project
ranked fourth in keenness of smell of the 240 mammals tested.

Agoutis are old South Americans, though not one of the originals like the sloths. Their ancestors, like the monkeys, arrived by rafting across the Atlantic from Africa. In the case of the rodents this happened some 45 million years ago (the monkeys arrived about 10 million years later).

 

Squirrels, which arrived recently from North America, weren't so difficult to find, to say the least. We saw three species, but one predominated - and if you didn't do your homework you'd be likely to think you were seeing several species! It's called the Variegated Squirrel Sciurus variegatoides for good reason. The next four photos were of this lovely big squirrel, which occurs throughout the country.

At Rincon de la Vieja, in the dry forests of the far north-west.

At Arenal Lodge, in the ranges of the central north-west - it's all-black.

 

Also at Arenal Lodge; oddly I can find no mention of the races interbreeding
but, if they're coexisting as the same species, surely they must be.

At artist Cope's garden in the central mountains.

Finally, probably my mammal highlight of the trip (though the otter was a strong competitor!). In 16 visits to South and Central America, always with skilled naturalist guides, I'd never seen a porcupine. This finally changed, within a few metres of our lunch tables at Turtle Lodge by the Caribbean at Tortuguero. It wan't easy to see to start with, but after that there was no trouble relocating it - it seemingly never moved during the three days we were there, though it must have gone foraging at night. Though their ancestors came from Africa (probably the same ancestor as the agoutis'), it wasn't the same as the African porcupines' ancestor, and they are only distantly related.

A very contented-looking Mexican Porcupine Coendou mexicanus in its favourite
bed in a palm tree. Despite its name it occurs throughout Central America.

So, that's it for a tour of some more of Costa Rica's animals. I enjoyed conducting the tour -both that one and this one - and I only hope you've enjoyed it too, otherwise there wouldn't be much point to it! Thanks for reading this far.

 

Some time I'll conclude this series with a post on the wonderful birds of Costa Rica, but next time I'll be back in Australia to introduce a lovely coastal park in my 'state of origin'. See you there.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 23 NOVEMBER

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Costa Rica; where the Americas meet #2. Animals, frogs and scales.

A little while ago, following a visit to this special country, I posted here an introduction to it. You might want to start with that post, though it isn't essential to reading this one; you will however find there more information on most of the localities mentioned here. My original intention was to put up two posts on animals of Costa Rica - one on the birds, the other (this one) on 'the rest'. However, when I was about three quarters of the way through this one I realised that it was just too long and unwieldy, even before I'd got to the mammals! So I've gone back and split this post in two, in the hope that some of you will find your way through both rather than giving up in exhaustion. (Though I confess that I did then take the opportunity too to slip a few more photos in...)

Here then is an introduction to some of the numerous and fascinating frogs and reptiles of the country; the tropics abound in these groups which are fascinating and often very photogenic. It's mostly a 'photo essay', with most of the information in the picture captions. For no good reason - other than 'why not?' - I'm going to start with some frogs, then go on to reptiles.  

The first five frog species belong to the very large and widespread tree frog family Hylidae.

Crowned Tree Frog Anotheca (or Triprion) spinosa, Tapirus Lodge, central mountains.
A spectacular arboreal frog found in scattered locations in Central America, it breeds
in above-ground puddles in tree hollows or bromeliad leaves. The female
provides unfertilised eggs as food for the growing tadpoles!

Golden-eyed Tree Frog (it goes by several different names though) Agalychnis annae,
in the grounds of the Hotel Bougainvillea on the outskirts of the capital, San José.
It is a highly Endangered species, living only in the heavily populated and
cultivated central valley; this population in the hotel grounds is apparently
the only one in the vicinity.

Red-eyed Tree Frogs Agalychnis callidryas on the other hand are very
common in Central American rainforests. The spotlight has messed with
its glorious colours, and the eyes in particular, which are really a glowing bright red.
We were there in the rainy season and, like these two, many frogs were engaged
in producing even more frogs!

Hourglass Tree Frogs Dendropsophus ebraccatus. The smaller male in this case lacks the
hourglass shape on the back of most of the species; the top of it can be seen on the female's
head. They can be found throughout Central America and as far south as Ecuador.

Masked Tree Frog Smilisca phaeota, Tapirus Lodge. A common (and rather
winsome) tree frog found throughout the moist lowlands and lower mountains,
and from Honduras to Ecuador.

The other well-known tropical American frog family is that of the poison dart frogs, Dendrobatidae, with some 170 species. These are diurnal frogs, often brilliantly coloured, a very few of which were used by Native Americans to extract poison for blowpipe darts. The alkaloid toxins (which are very potent) are produced by the frog from chemicals in their insect diet, and stored in skin glands for use in protection against enemies. Their striking visibility is a warning. Two species are common in Costa Rica, though not found everywhere there.

Green-and-black Poison Dart Frog Dendrobates auratus. It is found in southern
Central America to Colombia, but in Costa Rica only on the southern Pacific coast.
This one was in rainforest in Carara National Park. It really looks like porcelain!

Strawberry Poison Dart Frog (also known as Blue Jeans Frog!) Oophaga pumilio,
until recently included in the larger genus Dendrobates. This frog can be found
in almost any Costa Rican lowland forest or plantation. It has a range of colour
variants, some of which lack the blue legs, and others are not red at all.
Their range is centred on Costa Rica, and extends into Nicaragua and Panama. This one
was at the wonderful La Selva Research Station, in the Caribbean lowlands.

Finally, before I get too carried away with these frogs, a nod to one of the many other families present.

Foam frog Leptodactylus sp. at Esquinas Lodge in the Piedras Blancas NP
in the far south near the Pacific coast. This is a substantial group of mostly large
frogs, and I'm not able to identify this one further, though would welcome
suggestions. Eggs are laid in a protective bed of foam on the water surface
and the tadpoles fall into the pond below when they hatch.

Reptiles are numerous and diverse throughout the tropics, and Costa Rica is no exception. We encountered a good selection of both snakes and lizards, so let's meet some of them.

 

Some of the snakes were non-venomous...

Northern Cat-eyed Snake Leptodeira septentrionalis, Esquinas Lodge.
This little snake (found from the far south of the US to Costa Rica) hangs around
ponds, hunting frogs and their egg masses.

Common Snaileater  Sibon nebulatus, Tapirus Lodge. Another small snake that
lives on slugs and snails, extracting these from the shell with specially adapted jaws.

... others less so.

Hog-nosed Pitviper Porthidium nasutum, Tapirus Lodge. This venomous little snake was
on the concrete by the stopping platform at the top of the 'aerial tram' ride through the rainforest
canopy. The young fellow staffing the platform reckoned it was 'just there'. Well, maybe.
Normally they lie still in leaf litter awaiting a meal of a small mammal, frog or lizard.

Eyelash Pitviper Bothriechis schlegelii, rainforest canopy walk, Monteverde. This is a surprisingly
common snake in Costa Rica, nearly always encountered on branches, which may be nearly
at ground level or high in the canopy (like this one, which is peeping out at us through the
coils). There is also a bright yellow version, which I've not seen. It waits patiently - for
weeks sometimes - for birds, small mammals or lizards. Young ones tend to be close to
the ground, and ascend the trees as they get older and switch prey from mostly frogs.

Here is a closeup of the same species, close to the ground, displaying its 'eyelashes'.

Young Eyelash Pitviper, Tapirus Lodge. The 'eyelashes' are of course no such thing, but
modified scales. Their purpose is unclear but it is suggested by those who've studied them
that they help to break up the outline of the distinctive head to better hide from potential prey.

Fer-de-Lance Bothrops asper, Carara NP. This can be a huge snake, up to 2.5 metres long, and
highly venomous. It was curled up in the dark under a park bench by a well-used walking track.
The park staff had simply put a ribbon barrier up for the duration of its stay to prevent us from
taking a rest there. (The vertical pupils distinguish it from the similar False Fer-de-Lance
Xenodon rabdocephalus which has round pupils.)

Many of the lizards encountered - and they are abundant - belong to a cluster of families that include the iguanas and anoles (and the Australian dragons).

Green Iguana Iguana iguana, San Isidro. This is a common big lizard (to more than
1.5 metre long) found naturally from Mexico to southern Brazil. It comes in a range
of colours in addition to green, and is a adept at climbing, swimming and burrowing.
Fortunately for small animals it is mostly vegetarian.

Spiny-tailed Iguana Ctenosaura similis, Carara NP - a group of these big iguanas
was running the carpark when we first visited. They also climb trees well, but have an
affinity for rocky areas...

... as evidenced by this young one in the north at Rincon de la Vieja, displaying
the bright green colouration typical of juveniles.

There are three common species of the extraordinary basilisks in Costa Rica, and throughout most of Central America (plus another in north-western South America). The aspect of them which is most often remarked upon is their ability - especially of smaller individuals - to run several metres on the surface of water, flailing their hind legs very fast and spreading their long toes to distribute the weight.

Green Basilisk Basiliscus plumifrons, Tortuguera on the Caribbean coast. This is a spectacular
animal and quite common, especially along waterways.

Brown Basilisk Basiliscus vittatus in the grounds of Esquinas Lodge.
This one is only found (but very commonly) on the Pacific side of Costa Rica.

Green Spiny Lizard Sceloporus malachiticus, Savegre Valley on the Pacific slopes.
This a common lizard in the mountains; indeed we first saw it basking at some 3400 metres
above sea level, above the tree line in conditions that we reckoned were uncomfortably cold.

The anoles, in the same general grouping, are abudant, mostly small quick lizards found on tree trunks and branches.

Slender Anole Anolis limifrons, in the rain at Esquinas Lodge. This little fellow was
very agile, leaping between leaves.

Bridled Anole Anolis frenatus, seen at night at Tapirus Lodge. My impression is that
most anoles are active in the daytime; this is also large for an anole, at around 15cm long.

Another commonly seen Costa Rican lizard group is the whiptails (or ameivas, from a former genus name), in the family Teidae. They are very common along forest tracks, on logs and in the litter. They are long-tailed and quick and some are brightly coloured. This one however was in our cabin, living on and in the totally superfluous bed doona that was on the floor.

Central American Whiptail Holcosus festivus, La Selva Research Station.

Geckoes were less obvious than I might have expected, but maybe that was just me. Here is a rather lovely daytime species which was dining out too, on one of the wooden supports of an outdoor restaurant.

Yellow-headed Gecko Gonatodes albogularis, a widespread species of drier
tropical forests, here at Caño Negro in the northeast.

I find it surprising that there are only four species of freshwater turtle in Costa Rica (though I have no real reason to be surprised, I must admit). This appears to be the commonest one, but is only found on the Caribbean side.

Black River Turtles Rhinoclemmys funerea, beneath the pedestrian bridge across the
Puerto Viejo River at La Selva Research Centre.

Finally there are two species of crocodilians, one quite common, the other definitely not.

Spectacled Caiman Caiman crocodilus, in the wetlands of Caño Negro.
This smallish caiman (generally less that two metres long) is found thoughout Central
America and the north of South America. It keeps to itself in the rivers and
wetlands, mostly being active at night, and hunting fish.

American Crocodile Crocodylus acutus, Tarcoles River on the central Pacific coast. This is about
the only place in Costa Rica that this magnificent animal - up to six metres long and weighing almost
 a tonne for very large males - is still relatively common. Here there is a thriving
business in running crocodile tours (very reminiscent of the Daintree River in Queensland).
There is also a constant stream of  tourists disgorged at the end of the highway bridge over the river
to walk on the narrow footpath, with heavy traffic seemingly only centimetres away,
to gaze down at the crocodiles which are usually lying below, facing the current to harvest
unwary fish. Overall there are probably no more than 3000 in the wild, from Florida
to northern South America.

And you may well be relieved that that's all for today (though not too relieved I hope....). Back soon to complete this series with some invertebrates and mammals. The birds can then wait for a slightly later date, while I post on something a bit closer to home. Thanks for accompanying me!

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER

I love to receive your comments and in future will be notifying you personally by email when a new posting appears, if you'd like me to. All current subscribers have been added to this mailing list and have already been contacted. This will mean one email every three weeks at the current rate of posting. I promise never to use the list for any other purpose and will never share it.
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