# Four months worth in Panama



## Snipes

I went to Panama for four months to study. Lets begin with my research subjects: Amblypygids. They are Phrynus gervaisii and Parphrynus laevifrons
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3 As an interesting note on this one, examples of predation upon amblys in the the wild are rare. That I know of, only one other by a scorpion, and one other by a uakari have been seen and these might be the first pictures. The scorpion was identified to Diomedes Quintero as a Tityus pachyurus. The ambly is a P. gervaisii.





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## Snipes

*Arachnids*

Start with tarantulas and then go into other arachnids
Sericopelma sp.





Ami bladsei











Other arachnids
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Opisthacanthus elatus





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## Snipes

Please make comments, I will add more pics when on a second page so I don't kill your scroll down. Remaining Categories include Insects and misc, reptiles, amphibians, bats, birds, flora, monkeys, sloths, other mammals, and scenery.


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## Snipes

aww, i'll give one more, Bats


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## moose35

awesome pics of some very cool stuff that i've never seen before.

that black scorpion 2 pics below the 1 of the pseudoscorpion...is awesome





    moose


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## ErikWestblom

Wow! That's some awesome looking animals! I especially like the true spiders  Could spot one Phoneutria sp. and one female Cupiennius salei there (number 3 and 4 below Opisthacanthus elatus), but the rest I couldn't really identify...

Oh, number 6 from the bottom seems to be a Cupiennius sp. aswell, but not one of the species that are common in the hobby (salei, getazi and coccineus).
And the one directly above Opisthacanthus elatus looks like a juvenile Cupiennius sp.


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## barabootom

I love the pics.  Thanks.  I'm considering a trip to Panama soon with my wife.  I visited the far western side many years ago and I'd like to take a trip to the eastern side.  What area were you in?  I'm looking forward to more of your pics.


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## Satellite Rob

That must have been 1 great trip.Your pictures look like thay were taken by 
a professional.


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## Loudog760

Great pictures, I happen to be panamanian


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## cacoseraph

holy smokes!


i'll comment on other pics later but what i really want to know is in your first post, the two pics that are 3rd and 4th from the bottom... is that an opiliones harvestman!?   that thing is HUGE if it is... and wicked looking whatever it is


awesome stuff, man!




(and also, i have to comment on a slightly more personal nature... don't you find long fingernails really handy for collecting?  i can pick up small bugs with them, scoop up even smaller, i can dig through fairly hard dirt with 'em, etc)


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## Snipes

Most of my pictures were taken on Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro. Other places visited were Panama City, the Darien, San Blas, a small town near the Quetzal train in the mountains, a desert near Santiago, and San Isidro, Costa Rica. Besides Colon, most pics from other places came from Panama City. There are really cool nearby places like Ancon Hill which I believe is in city limits, and in Gamboa there is the Pipeline trail.

The camera I used is a Nikon Coolpix 4800 ED. I was very frustrated at times because it does not have a manual option. I eventually figured out I could adjust white balance so later pictures aren't as washed out.

Loudog, where do you live?

I would love people trying to figure out these species if you want 

cacoseraph- Yes, those are opilione harvestmen. I was told they were not common, but I found them to be quite a common sight. I was doing my work at night and so I had a lot of exposure to crawlies at that time. I saw one or two pretty much every night. Really cool guys. They are HUGE. Scoopability is only one great feature of long fingernails. Also scratching yourself. mmm.

I should note that i found the pseudoscorp when I was marking trees and I looked at my forearm and thought I had cleft a very small scorpion in two. Then it moved and I was happy to see it was a pseudo and not a bloody murder.


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## jbm150

Your pictures are unreal, I can't get over that opilione harvestman  

So very cool, thank you for sharing those!


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## arrowhd

:worship:  GREAT photos! :worship:


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## syndicate

:clap: Amazing photos!You found some crazy stuff there it seems!


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## Loudog760

Snipes said:


> Most of my pictures were taken on Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro. Other places visited were Panama City, the Darien, San Blas, a small town near the Quetzal train in the mountains, a desert near Santiago, and San Isidro, Costa Rica. Besides Colon, most pics from other places came from Panama City. There are really cool nearby places like Ancon Hill which I believe is in city limits, and in Gamboa there is the Pipeline trail.
> 
> The camera I used is a Nikon Coolpix 4800 ED. I was very frustrated at times because it does not have a manual option. I eventually figured out I could adjust white balance so later pictures aren't as washed out.
> 
> Loudog, where do you live?
> 
> I would love people trying to figure out these species if you want
> 
> cacoseraph- Yes, those are opilione harvestmen. I was told they were not common, but I found them to be quite a common sight. I was doing my work at night and so I had a lot of exposure to crawlies at that time. I saw one or two pretty much every night. Really cool guys. They are HUGE. Scoopability is only one great feature of long fingernails. Also scratching yourself. mmm.
> 
> I should note that i found the pseudoscorp when I was marking trees and I looked at my forearm and thought I had cleft a very small scorpion in two. Then it moved and I was happy to see it was a pseudo and not a bloody murder.


I live in California but almost all my family lives there and mom goes down to visit every few years. She went with my sister this past summer. I missed out to lol.


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## Snipes

All right, enough post so I'm gonna put up the next Set! 
Invertebrates and Misc animals. There are lots in this one, so it will be the only one til the next page.

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17 This is a caterpillar!





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20 An example of trails leafcutters carve





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22 Live crabs being sold





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24 Lotsa leafcutter sizes





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27 Not sure what this is: it is like a caterpillar with a slug head










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30 Crab eye





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40 This isn't a B. giganteus subadult is it, but it was almost as huge!





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73 Bullet Ants!





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81 Now THIS is a B. giganteus. A male. He fell from the ceiling and I thought it was a bat or something before I saw it





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84 Now this is kinda funny. This guy had his eyes up and then when i picked him up the eyes went more horizontal into "angry" eyes. When I put him back down the eyes stalks popped vertical again.





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## lukatsi

#27 is a velvet worm (Onychophoran)! I find them very interesting. But what are those on #33?
I'm mainly a beetle fan, but these katydids, leafhoppers and crabs are awesome! Not to mention whip scorpions.


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## Snipes

#33 is some sort of millipede, I think a Platydesmus sp.
Thanks for the  velvet worm id.


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## Ritzman

Incredible pics and thanks for sharing them!


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## cacoseraph

freaking amazing! i'm like, overloaded on buggy goodness now!


71 is maybe a flatworm


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## J.huff23

Very cool man, very cool.


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## Snipes

mmmm, oh my. Can anyone recommend a site that has unlimited bandwidth for free?


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## MaartenSFS

Forking incredible photos, mate. I thought that I had seen a lot of things in China (And I have..) but you have outdone me. Then again, I couldn't do it every day, but still.. :worship:

And how did you manage to get so many of them to sit still. You must be a very patient man. =P


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## moose35

MaartenSFS said:


> Forking incredible photos



i completly agree i was trying to figure out how to say it with out getting suspended.

once again wonderful pictures. one of the best field trip threads i've seen.

great pics WOman...



                  moose


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## Snipes

I'm going to move this along to get to more pages so i can add more pics


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## Snipes

Categories Left: Reptiles and Amphibians,


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## Snipes

and birds..


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## Snipes

and then the warm fuzzy things including..


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## Snipes

bats, sloths, monkeys and other mammals


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## Snipes

and then flora and scenery


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## Snipes

Going to add reptiles tomorrow. For some reason, the pictures I put up were extremely blurry


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## Laba-Laba

Oh man, what an astonishing collection of pictures.  Number 28 :clap: :clap: :clap: !


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## tarcan

absolutly gorgeous pictures, thanks for sharing! Great looking bugs, so much colour!

Martin


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## Snipes

Okay! Reptiles. Please correct my ids if they are wrong.

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Gonotodes albogularis
















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Basiliscus vittatus





















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Basiliscus basiliscus











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Iguana iguana
















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Multiple Norops species
















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Genus sounds like myba?






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Some house gecko











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Chunk headed snake











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Oxybelis aeneus Brown Vine Snake










this is the only decentish pic of their mouth unfortunately






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Boa constrictor 











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Bothrops asper or atrox   this one was by our station, and we put it in this barrel and then displaced it away from the station later.






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## Snipes

Amphibians
by far the most photographed was Oophaga (Dendrobates) pumilio because our professor did her work on the Madacascar Mantella frogs and the O. pumilio have a lot of color morphs

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Oophaga (Dendrobates) pumilio
Isla Colon morph (yellow, orange, and green)





Isla Bastimentos morphs (ranging from white to red to yellow)




















Other islands had blue and green color morphs, but i was working when the opportunity came to see them and I missed it


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Oophaga (Dendrobates) auratus






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Dink or Tink frog or something
















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Unsure, it was found in The Darien











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Cane Toad











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Leptodactylus pentadactylus


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## Snipes

That's it for this page, next page: Birds, bats, monkeys, and sloths


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## Rindy

WOW, so many creatures and each so different thanks for sharing!


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## syndicate

Again awesome pics!
did you get tagged by this one??


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## Snipes

syndicate said:


> Again awesome pics!
> did you get tagged by this one??
> 
> Nah, it made a few strikes but it never touched down on anyone. Its not my arm anyways and when i held one it was pretty calm. They are rear fanged anyways and tend not to even get that far from what I hear


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## zonbonzovi

After looking through your photos, I'm beating myself up for not going to Bocas del Toro.  I only made it as far as Manzanillo(30+ miles away).  Fantastic creatures/region/people/pictures!  Do you know if research expeditions ever take on "civilain" grunts?


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## MaartenSFS

I love the vine snake. When it opens its mouth in the last shot it looks rather like a black mamba, but slightly less deadly.


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## Snipes

bumping it up


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## Snipes

and another..


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## Snipes

and another


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## Snipes

last bump for this page


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## Snipes

Okay, Birds

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18 This was a common potoo


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## Snipes

Bats

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## Snipes

Monkeys

1  Spider Monkey





















2  Mantled Howler Monkeys




































3  White Face Capuchins- these were HARD to get


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## Snipes

Sloths. I can't help it, i love these things and got lots of good pics

1 Two Toe Sloth



















































2 Three Toe Sloth


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## Snipes

On the last page up will be:
Other Mammals
Flora
Scenery


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## moose35

awesome stuff again.
can't wait to see the rest of the pics.


        moose


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## dtknow

84 is a ghost crab Ocypode sp.

your big crabs are Cardisoma sp. 

did you find Amblys and the cave crickets together? Is that what they were eating?


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## Snipes

They did live together, but I did not see the amblys eat them, which was a lack of time spent looking at them. I studied the forest species much more.
Thanks for your IDs!


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## Snipes

bumping it


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## Snipes

another bump


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## Snipes

getting ready for work bump


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## Snipes

bump bump bump


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## Snipes

3!....bump


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## Snipes

2!....bump


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## Snipes

1! last bump for the page


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## Snipes

Other Mammals

1 Agoutis











2 Paca






3 Spiny Rats






4 Dead Mexican Porcupine. They arent on the island and its the first the guys there have ever seen.






5 Tamandua


























6 Wooly Opossum






7 Four eye Opossum











8 Mouse Opossum. Our pets that died when they were neglected by the person left in charge of them while we had to go renew our visas in Costa Rica. RIP


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## Snipes

Flora
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3 Cacao






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## Snipes

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## spiderfield

This is an amazing thread! :clap: 

The Agoutis looks unreal.  Reminds me of something out of The Labyrinth.  Keep 'em coming!


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## MorganD

#5 in your plants section! =o!  I bet other lemons don't like standing next to that one at the urinals! That's amazing.


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## Loudog760

Thanks for posting these pictures of my home land. I can't wait to go back.


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## josh_r

that fiddler crap is outrageously huge!!! i had no idea any species of fiddler got that big! WOW!

also, i have seen centruroides sculpturatus, on one occasion, preying on a paraphrynus mexicanus in arizona. i have seen cannibalism in this species as well. this was a very very entertaining thread! thank you for sharing!

-josh


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## ZergFront

I spy I leaf-nosed bat.


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## MeganGriffinx3

Sweet pictures guys. Yea when I went to Brazil I couldn't believe it they regularly fed their spiders caviar. haha its so weird down there I'll have to dig up a picture of this.


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