# Costa Rica 2012



## VinceG (Feb 10, 2012)

Here are some pictures of insects, reptiles, amphibians and arachnids that I've taken during my trip in Costa Rica.

Guanacaste, Costa Rica:
This region is the most arid in Costa Rica.

First nighttime session near my hotel:
A normal Lycosidae:


A weird looking cricket:


An amblypigid:




Some wasps starting their nest in a leave:


A grasshopper that was right next to the nest:


A Centroides sp., infested by mites. I'm quite sure someone on the boards can identify this species!


The first tarantula found there. It's a mature male, measuring about 2.5''. He had some really nice purple highlights:






Harpaphe haydeniana, yellow-spotted milliped. They were all over the place! Sadly I did not have a diffuser for a better picture!


Micrathena sp.:


Bufo gigantica, a huge toad! He was about a foot long!




This is just the first part of my pictures, there is a lot more to come! So stay tuned for more!
For better quality: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vincentgiroux/

Reactions: Like 1


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## mark e sic (Feb 11, 2012)

NICE keep them coming!!


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## VinceG (Feb 11, 2012)

Thanks a lot sir! 
More coming very soon!


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## VinceG (Feb 11, 2012)

Here is a few more pictures.
Still in the region of Guanacaste

Another amblypigid:


A quite large grasshopper:


A red-eyed cicada:


Another Centruroides sp.:




Leaf-mimic grasshopper:


A very small mygalomorph:


A very nice mantid, he was quite high up in the tree, so I was not able to get a great shot of it:


One of my personal favorite; A green lynx spider, Peucetia viridans, protecting her eggsac!:


A camel spider, too bad I missed a part of the pedipalps:


Lycosa sp?:




Another mature male tarantula, this one was about the same size:


A sleepy anole:




Another lizard:




A preview of my next set of pictures of the region of the Lake of Arenal (rainforests):

Reactions: Like 1


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## zonbonzovi (Feb 11, 2012)

Good stuff, Vince.  The green 'grasshopper' is a katydid and the 'Harapaphe' is probably a distant cousin of that genus.  The mantid find is awesome.  Great country.  I would love to go back and visit the side you're on.  Off to check out your gallery...


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## loxoscelesfear (Feb 14, 2012)

Looks like a good time!  While traveling, I try to pick desolate motels so I can go exploring.  Skip unloading luggage-- just  put on headlamp, and head off into the unknown.


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## Storm76 (Feb 14, 2012)

I don't know if I'd be able to do that not really being able to identify nearly every thing I stumbled across, but those pictures are just gorgeous and great to look at!


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## Scorpion Tom (Feb 14, 2012)

Nice pics, the centruroides are amazing


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## VinceG (Feb 14, 2012)

zonbonzovi said:


> Good stuff, Vince.  The green 'grasshopper' is a katydid and the 'Harapaphe' is probably a distant cousin of that genus.  The mantid find is awesome.  Great country.  I would love to go back and visit the side you're on.  Off to check out your gallery...


Thanks for the ID! I don't know much about the Orthopteras, but they are really interresting!
It's definitly a nice place to visit!

---------- Post added 02-14-2012 at 06:25 PM ----------




loxoscelesfear said:


> Looks like a good time!  While traveling, I try to pick desolate motels so I can go exploring.  Skip unloading luggage-- just  put on headlamp, and head off into the unknown.


That's pretty much what I did! Haha!

---------- Post added 02-14-2012 at 06:26 PM ----------




Storm76 said:


> I don't know if I'd be able to do that not really being able to identify nearly every thing I stumbled across, but those pictures are just gorgeous and great to look at!


Thanks! I'll send pictures this weekend!

---------- Post added 02-14-2012 at 06:26 PM ----------




tseros7768 said:


> Nice pics, the centruroides are amazing


Yes they are! And they were everywhere!


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## moloch (Feb 19, 2012)

Excellent shots, Vince.  Looks like you found a number of interesting animals.

Regards,
David


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## Scorpion Tom (Feb 19, 2012)

VinceG said:


> Thanks for the ID! I don't know much about the Orthopteras, but they are really interresting!
> It's definitly a nice place to visit!
> 
> ---------- Post added 02-14-2012 at 06:25 PM ----------
> ...


Thats amazing, thanks for sharing this


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## VinceG (Apr 1, 2012)

Sorry for the little break, my mid term exams kept me quite busy.

These next specimens were fount mostly in a rainforest at night, near the Arenal Volcano.
Sadly I had no light diffuser, so the rain quite ruined those pictures.






Bean Weevil:


Some kind of glass frog (ID?):


One of the only snakes I've been able to take a picture of, sadly I was only equiped with a macro lens, and the camera flash, so the lighting is very bad. Plus, the snake was quite far from me.
I think it is a Common tree boa, Corallus ruschenbergerii:


Here is some more pictures of the arid regions of Guanacaste:



A very small scorpion, I need an ID on this one!




Salticidae:


The next pictures were taken in a National Park in the North-West of Costa Rica, I can't quite remember the name but it was a really nice place!









This picture has a weird effect to it, there was no modifications at all brought to it. Sadly I was sightly out of focus:


Finally, the best catch, a wild Aphonopelma seemanni. I fought for about 15 minutes to get her out of her hole to take some pictures, it was quite a hard task since I was getting bit my some kind of flies.
She was about 4'', a very beautiful specimen:




I have a few more pictures left, I'll post them tomorrow if I have the time!

Cheers,
Vince


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## Nebulosa (Apr 1, 2012)

Awesome!  Thanks for posting.


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## VinceG (Apr 2, 2012)

Nebulosa said:


> Awesome!  Thanks for posting.


My pleasure to share with you! I'm glad you liked it!

Here are the very last pictures I took.

Centroides sp.


And finally a very impressive Blaberus giganteus, by far the biggest roach I've seen! 


Thanks to everyone who liked my thread, I really enjoy getting feedbacks!


Centr

Reactions: Like 2


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## ZergFront (Apr 2, 2012)

Nice! Tropical bugs are so cool.


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## VinceG (Apr 3, 2012)

ZergFront said:


> Nice! Tropical bugs are so cool.


Yes they are! And there is so much diversity too!


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## lizardminion (Apr 3, 2012)

This is where the term "living souvenir" comes from...


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