Fauna of Puerto Rico: Part 8

Puerto Rican Woodpecker, Melanerpes portoricensis, Picidae, Piciformes

The Puerto Rican Woodpecker is a common denizen of the grid, though they tend to spend much of their time high up in the canopy, well out of camera range. Like most woodpeckers, they subsist largely on insects. They excavate cavities in trees with their bills, where the female will raise her brood.

Cockroaches, Blattodea

Cockroaches are especially abundant in the tropics, and not just household pests. Many of them are colorful and feed on decaying leaf litter at night, bunkering down under tree bark during the day. Some can come in fantastic colors and patterns, from this brown and yellow one to some that can only be described as chartreuse.

Crickets, Gryllidae, Orthoptera

Crickets are relatively abundant in the forest here, making noise at night to attract mates and scare off others. They are herbivores, feeding on leaves and other plant parts. They provide a good food source for many larger (and more interesting) things in the forest.

Butterflies, Lepidoptera

Butterflies and moths are relatively common in the forest,  flitting between the branches searching out flowers to drink the nectar from. The one in the picture above is an exemplary example of cryptic coloration, such that it looks exactly like a dead leaf if it folds its wings. When the wings are opened suddenly, they can startle potential predators with the vibrant blue on the upper wings as an alternative defensive strategy.