Now Thats a Seed Pod

This is a gigantic seed pod that I found left on a sidewalk. It is enormously huge! This was from a tree, but we do not know what or where it came from. I got scraped on the nose on the front porch of another house, but my nose is fine now!

Bats

This is a picture of a fruit bat. The way you can tell between a vampire bat and a fruit bat is that vampire bats are very freaky and fruit bats are very cute. Fruit bats are also completely black and vampire bats are kind of tan. We found this next to our house one afternoon. Something cool- it has 5 fingers just like humans. When my mom started taking pictures of this bat, it started crawling. I wasn't really scared, but my mom was!


Field Notes: For an very interesting article on Bats in the Ecuadorian rain forest read HERE

Catepillars

This is a picture of clear-winged butterfly caterpillars. Sometimes the butterflies are yellow. Some of these are caterpillars that have just hatched. The little bits that are in my hand are poop from the caterpillars. I found them in the garden at a neighbors house.
Field Notes:
For More information on Clear- winged butterflies look here.

We have not been able to positivly identify this caterpillar as that of the clear-winged butterfly. The boys around here have named it as such. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated.

Metallic Bug

This is another kind of metallic bug. It is green and if you look very close you can see some yellow shiny sparkling on it. This is a very small bug. This is a kind of beetle and it can fly. When it walks on you it feels very weird.

Coral Snake

This is a picture of a coral snake. Even though this coral snake is smaller and it doesn't look like the kind in the states, it is still a coral snake. The ones in the rainforest have different patterns. This is a picture of a baby.

Toad-O-woad-A

This is a picture of a toad in my hand. The white stuff that is coming out of his skin is actually poison. There is a bump behind its eyes that shoots the poison out when its afraid. The toad may not look like its afraid, but it really is. The toad uses this to protect itself. If you look down in the middle of the toad's backbone. This toad has yellow cat-eyes and little horns above its eyes.

Field notes True toads are widespread and occur natively on every continent except Australia and Antarctica, inhabiting a variety of environments, from arid areas to rainforest. Most lay eggs in paired strings that hatch into tadpoles, although, in the genus Nectophrynoides

Nectophrynoides

Nectophrynoides is a genus of true toads endemic to Tanzania. Some species in it have a most unusual reproductive feature. Species of the group are viviparous: fertilization is internal, and the females give live birth. They are the only toads in the world that do not lay...

the eggs hatch directly into miniature toads. True toads are toothless and generally warty in appearance and have a pair of parotoid gland

Parotoid gland

The parotoid gland is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It secretes a milky alkaloid substance to deter predators...

s on the back of their heads. These glands contain an alkaloid poison which the toads excrete when stressed. The poison in the glands contains a number of toxins causing different effects. Bufotoxin

Bufotoxin

Bufotoxins are a family of toxic substances found in the parotoid glands, skin and venom of many toads ; other amphibians; and other plants and mushrooms. The exact composition varies greatly with the specific source of the toxin. It can contain: 5-MeO-DMT, bufagins, bufotalin, bufotenine,...

is a general term, different animals contain significantly different substances and proportions of substances. Some, like the cane toad Bufo marinus, are more toxic than others.

Bufotoxins are a family of toxic substances found in the parotoid glands, skin and venom of many toads ; other amphibians; and other plants and mushrooms. The exact composition varies greatly with the specific source of the toxin.

Male toads possess a Bidder's organ The Bidder's organ is a spherical, brownish organ in any member of the family Bufonidae, or simply, toads. The organ is located just in front of the kidney, or, mesonephros. It is formed at the cranial tip of the male and female gonad during the larval stage. Normally it is inactive and contains miniature follicle

Follicle

Follicle may refer to:*Follicle , a small spherical group of cells containing a cavity:** Dental follicle** Hair follicle** Lymph follicle** Ovarian follicle** Thyroid follicle*Follicle...

s which have the capability to mature (becoming active). Under the right conditions, the organ becomes an active ovary and the toad, in effect, becomes female. (This is similar to the gender-changing frogs described in Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park is a 1990 science fiction novel written by Michael Crichton. Often considered a cautionary tale on unconsidered biological tinkering in the same spirit as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, it uses the mathematical concept of chaos theory and its philosophical implications to explain the...

, although the dinosaurs in that story hatched female and became male, a process which in nature does not occurr.) Taken from:
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/True_toad

Tarantula in My Bed

This is a scary of a big black tarantula. This one was found on my bed one night. It was on my legs, but I flicked it off. We were all screaming trying to figure out how to get it out of the house. I couldn't calm down because I was too frightened. I can still feel the spot where the tarantula was.

Field Note: This is an Ecuadorian Purple Tarantula. For more information on all types of tarantulas visit: Tarantula Photo Gallery

Amazing Katydid

This Katydid I once found right next to my house. It has spikes on it to protect itself. This katydid is light green and black and this is the first time I have ever found a Katydid like this. At the bottom is a picture of me holding the Katydid.


Field Note: This is a Lichen Katydid. The Lichen Katydid feeds ont eh tangled beard lichen in the dripping American rain forest. You can read more about it at: Rain Forest of the World

Tadpole to Frog

This is a little frog that I raised from a tadpole. This is a picture of the tiny frog in my hands. The frog still has his tail. This frog will get bigger and bigger and maybe it will end up back at my house on my bedroom window. One interesting thing about this frog: when it is a tadpole its body is clear and it cleans the cage like a plecostomus.












Field Note: This is a Santa Cecilia Rocket Frog. To read more about frogs of Ecuador read here: Reptiles and Amphibians of Ecuador

Termites

This is a termite cage I made with my friends. It is made out of plastic containers and two plastic bags. These termites are edible! I have eaten then before. They don't have a taste, but I've eaten them. You can find some nests near my house.



Field Notes: to read more about termites visit: Termitepedia

Blue Feeted Beetle

I found this bug one day at a zoo. Its got blue feet, shiny green back and it can fly, but you usually don't see it fly. This is the first kind of bug I have ever seen with blue feet. This bug is sitting on my finger.