Wild and Crazy Fauna (Welcome to the Jungle)

(Thank you, thank you, thank you to John for all these nice pictures).

La Selva is all the moist, sticky, photosynthetic, “biodiversity on crack,” that I expected of the jungle before coming to Costa Rica. In the week that I have been here I have seen enough wild and crazy fauna that I wouldn’t be surprised if tomorrow I watched a peccary eat a toucan that has just consumed a stick bug that is host to a parasitic botfly, then swim down the river to be immediately chomped by a crocodile. It’s just that crazy.  The tropics are overwhelmed with biological possibility. Rapid nutrient cycling through the forests means that there is a constant array of oppositional images: rain and sun, red and green, birth and death. Of course, while there are many beautiful sights, there are equally as many sites that make my skin crawl and crave the timid northeastern forests of the US. But, I’ve decided to keep this post limited to my favorite things – more on the scary later (You can anxiously await the eyelash viper / botfly / scorpion post…).

This cute howler monkey hangs out on the suspension bridge that connects the residential side of the research station with the academic side of campus. The bridge crosses a wide river, and offers excellent viewing opportunities both day and night. It’s also an amazing place to unwind and relax in the down moments (of which there are few). One day while sitting on the bridge, this guy mozied over to check us out. While he was occupied with us in the middle of the bridge, a coati (sort of a cross between a dog and cat, if you can imagine that) strolled onto the bridge and slumped down for a lazy nap (all my adjectives and verbs are indicative of the oppressive heat and humidity that settles like a blanket over this place). Once the monkey noticed him, the two proped eachother with interest for a couple of minutes before moving on their separate ways. Quite entertaining. Calling him a “howler” monkey is somewhat deceiving, as his howl sounds more like a ferocious roar. Its funny.

This sweet little red eye tree frog is the subject of study for my friends’ independent project. They go out into the nearby swamp every night with hip waders on to catch these guys, clip their toe to get a blood sample, and then analyze their parasite load. They brought one back to the lab so we could see what they look like, and they are absolutely gorgeous. Although you can barely see it here, they have brilliant blue legs. Additionally, when they have a nictitating membrane (like a cat), that they can close over their eye but still see out. The membrane has a gorgeous netting pattern, through which you can still see the red of the eye. See below.

This is the golden orb weaver spider. These guys are everywhere around La Selva, and they weave massive 3D webs in which they capture their prey. These spiders are highly sexually dimorphic, and the female (pictured here) is excessively larger than the male. The male can often be found hanging out in the web with the female, because she feeds him. This appears their only reason for staying there, as their fate isn’t too bright: in the end, the female eats her mate.

These iguanas are the most hilariously bizarre creatures I have ever seen, and also the most evolutionarily stupid. How they have survived until now in evolutionary time, I’m not sure, which is funny because they look as old as dinosaurs. Their defense against “threats”: when they hear something coming close, they drop from whatever tree they are hanging out in, in what results in a loud crashing downfall, culminating in a thud as the iguana hits the ground. Any animal preying on the iguana probably second guesses their decision to eat such a stupid creature, for fear that their idiocy is contagious. Idiots.

There are crazy birds everywhere here. Yes, Dad, I have become somewhat of a birdwatching fanatic; it’s hard not to with all the brilliant coloration and amazing bird calls. It sure beats snow geese migrations in northern Vermont…This guy is the Montezuma Oropendula (Oro for gold, pendula for tail). His call sounds like an excerpt from a Super Mario Brothers Gameboy game, and culminates with an off-kilter screech that seems somewhat detached from the preceding song. The oropendula is also notable for their supreme weaving abilities; their nests are hanging woven sacks that dangle from their nesting trees in numbers up to about ten. A very cool and funny bird.

Ants! Ants! Ants! I never thought I would be so excited about ants, but at La Selva, it is hard not to be. These guys are one species of “army ants,” so named because they begin massive raids at the beginning of every day that end with massive pillage of whatever (whatever) they encounter. We watched a line of army ants marching home after the day’s raid (which extends from dawn until dusk) carrying heads of insects, tails of scorpions, legs, larvae, and other remnants of their poor victims. I would not want to fall victim to these guys… One of our visiting professors is a specialist in social insects from the University of Washington – Seattle, and he took us out to find the “raid front.” You can imagine this like a lollipop. There is a column of ants connecting the nest to the front of the raid, and the front of the raid balloons out into a squadron of armies set on destruction. We were lucky enough to find the raid front of a Labidus predator raid, and watched as the unlucky Ponerine ants evacuated their nest, each carrying a larvae in attempt to escape. The army ants are also exceptionally interesting because they don’t have a permanent home, but rather construct a travelling “bivouac” composed of army ant bodies, which contains the brood and the queen, and houses the workers when they come home from the day’s raid. Yes, these guys build a house of live bodies. I wouldn’t want to be the guy that has to hold up the house. We were able to find one of their bivouacs up in a tree near the station, and it is crazy to see an amorphous blob of live ants dangling from a tree top.

These little tykes (Oophaga pumilio), the strawberry poison-dart frog, are so adorable. I remember going to zoo exhibits as a child and being fascinated with teh brilliantly colored poison dart frogs. Now, they are all over the place! Although they are poisonous if you consume them, it is totally fine to handle them as long as you wash your hands after. My professor said that she was collecting blood samples from these guys, and “bled” up to 100 in a day. At the end of the day, her hands would start going tingly and a bit numb. Don’t worry, I’ve only handled five in one day so far. Two of my friends will be working with these guys for their independent project, to test their terretorial defense against unfamiliar frogs with a similar threat call  (basically, they get to watch a bunch of these little guys duke it out… they are viscious).