Fauna of Puerto Rico: Part 3

I’ve gotten a few more pictures of cool animals living here in the big grid. Including another bird species (!) and some more arthropods.

Bananaquit, (Coereba flaveola)

Alright, so the picture isn’t great, but I swear there is a bird right there in the middle. This is a bananaquit. They are supposedly pretty common, but are usually up in the canopy feeding on nectar, such as this one in a palm.

The can be identified by a yellow underside, dark head, and white eye-line. One of these days, I’ll get a decent picture of one and post more about them.

Phasmatodea, Stick Insects

Stick insects are fairly abundant around here, but you would never know it until they crawl right in front of you. They are masterful at crypsis and blend in with branches and bark of trees very well. I only caught this little guy because it was a green insect on a brown trunk.

They are herbivores, slowly grazing while shaking in the breeze just like a twig.  Any predators coming after these guys must be very perceptive. They grow to pretty good size around here (we’ve seen some probably about 8 inches in length) but are usually relatively small, slender things (usually 2-3 inches long).

Amblypygi, Tail-less Whip Scorpion

This picture doesn’t really do it justice, but this is an amazing nocturnal insectivore. These are arachnids (together with scorpions and spiders) and are carnivorous. The feed mostly on insects (though I’ve read that big ones can will eat a coqui every now and then) by catching them with their spiny pedipalps (modified body segments in front of the mouth).

This guy was pretty small (maybe 3-4 inches in body length, with lots more in legs), but I’ve heard that they can get much bigger. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to see one like that and get a picture with my real camera and not my little field camera.

For the rest of this week, we’re planning to go to Culebra, which is an island off the coast of PR. I’ll be sure to take lots of pictures and post when I get back.