Insects

Whilst trekking through the forest to find the capuchins almost everywhere you look something is crawling, flying, buzzing or jumping. The unmissable cicada calls fill the air, their moults litter the base of trees whilst the newly emerged adults launch themselves into the air awkwardly with a rattle as you walk bye.

I'm not the biggest fan of insects but here in the Atlantic forest I can't help but stop to get a closer look. For the observant, every trip to the forest reveals something new. Metallic green flies, an assortment of spiders suspended at head hight waiting to entrap an unsuspecting monkey hunter, not forgetting the pink and black locust gathering on branches in a 'town meeting' style and hopping away franticly as you approach.

The millipede below was headed for the cover of the leaves as I loomed towards it with my lens. We frequently caught these in pitfall traps and can also be found with orange and red stripes.

Late one night I awoke to Fionne shaking Monique awake in the bunk above mine. Mo jumped out of bed and they both ran out the room, next thing I new Jonny was in the room and all three headed for the girls bathroom. This probably meant they had found something cool or dangerous so I peeled myself from my mattress only to find this beaut in the toilet. From this point on I scanned the roof for falling centipedes before entering the bathroom. I only saw one other and it was indeed in the roof but it I needn't panic, it was heading toward Joe's room.

The venom of a live centipede is extremely painful, but since this one had consequently drowned, Jonny couldn't resist and got some pictures with it. 

One day the monkey volunteers took it in turns to sit in a corridor of trees from dawn till dusk to see If the capuchins were using that particular tree line to get from one side of the forest to the other. We saw a total of 0 monkeys on this day, but it turned out to be a great day for insect spotting, As I sat and waited, I soon received far more attention than I had bargained for and at one point I counted over 15 butterflies all probing me for traces of salt with their proboscis .

Many species use mimicry to confuse their predators. Georgia and I came across this cryptic fellow one day on the forest, it was about the same size as my thumb and looked remarkably like a bird poo.

A Black witch moth -  These huge moths have many folk lore stories attached to them that could result in your death or you winning the lottery. I kept an open mind. 

Stick insects are a fairly common sight at Laguna Blanca, this was the largest I saw in 2 months.

Iridescent shells, glowing abdomens, horns and built-in buzzers - an amazing assortment of armoured explorers roam here. The shape and strength of this beetle makes me see them as a sort of mini juggernaut.

Longhorn beetles in South America can reach over 6 inches and are incredibly strong. This individual has been devoured and dismantled by hungry ants. The one below was crawling up the inside of the fly screen in our bedroom and still had a bit more fight in him.

This sorry sight is the result of an attack by a tarantula hawk wasp. On our way to the transitional forest, having previously paralysed it's victim, the wasp was flying off with the tarantula in it's grasp about 1 meter off the ground but it dropped it's prize onto the path.

My favourite sight however was during the night time capuchin sleep sight searches. At first I thought I was looking at dew, but as the ground glittered beneath my feet I soon realised it was in fact the reflection of the eyes of thousands of tiny spiders- beautiful!

The Cerrado

White sands dotted with green patchy islands of razor sharp bromeliads, fire proof trees and cacti as tall as a house - the Cerrado, despite its hot dry aridness, has me entranced.

At a glance it seems empty and devoid of wildlife, almost like the African Savannah without the herds of black and white stripes, but it only takes a few 5am bird mist netting sessions to appreciate that the wildlife is just very good at hiding.

Like a fresh layer of snow, the sand after a heavy rain creates a fresh canvass for all who sneak in the darkness to be recognised. Hoof prints possibly from peccary or deer, mysterious burrows in the sand and termite mounds, and scuttling amongst the dead leaves also indicates the presence of the illusive.

Here is an oscillated whip-tailed lizard, an incredibly fast lizard that enjoys basking on the hot sand beside the undergrowth,ready to dart for cover if disturbed.

Scorpion - It's small pincers indicate it has a powerful sting

A night time trek into the cerrado with a flash light would most likely reveal a pair of small haunting glowing spheres - the eyes of a bird belonging to the night jar family. Stunned by the lights you can get amazingly close before they flutter into the darkness. Bats are also busy in search of fruit and insects overhead. As the sun rises, the dawn chorus begins. Some of the more eager contenders get a tweet or a chirp in whilst the stars are still out. A distant knocking draws your eye to a dead tree protruding through its greener companions. The distinct hammer shaped head of a woodpecker can be seen as creeps up and down the trunk in search of grubs.

Parakeets squawk noisily overhead in pairs in a flash of green, and higher still the turkey vultures wheel up high on thermals. Smaller perching birds flit from bush to bush being heard more than they are being seen. 

At a closer look amongst the green, you can find hidden treasures of vibrant colours.

The cerrado wouldn't be the same place without the endless termite mounds and sandy trails of leaf cutter ants. The snipping can even be heard as the ants dismantle the leaves with their powerful jaws.

Bullet ants are less organised but just as impressive, their size most appreciated when seen crossing the leaf cutter ant trails like a monster truck on a highway.

Yesterday we had a very exciting delivery from a student who had visited Para la Tierra previously who had found a slightly unexpected house guest – a Southern naked tailed armadillo (Cabassous unicinctus). This is the first live specimen found in the country, a really important find for Laguna Blana and for Paraguay.

We jumped into the back of the Hilux and headed to the cerrado for some film making of the release.

The volunteers and interns all got to hold it before we made a video for the Para la Tierra Youtube channel, then released it into the Cerrado.

After everyone got their fill of photos the armadillo was placed on the ground, the pictures show how the rest panned out.

Within seconds the armadillo dug its way into the sand  and out of sight, leaving only a mound of disturbed sand as evidence

As the activities of then day come to an end, the cerrado puts on the most impressive encore.