Sean McCann

@ibycter

Entomologist, sometime arachnologist, natural history enthusiast. I used study caracaras. I still do, but I used to as well. Avatar by the endlessly talented @blackmudpuppy.bluesky.social Also, photographer!

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Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

This takes us to midday of the second day at Karanambu. And we got a visit by a Yellow Headed Caracara! It seemed to be anting on the thatched roof of one of the cabins! No Red-throated Caracaras at Karanambu, though they could be found some 40 miles away I was told.

A small cream coloured raptor with dark wings, a dark barred tail, a dark eye stripe, and yellow on the face, sitting on a roof with wings partially spread.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Another couple views of that awesome Lampria robber fly. These shots have some natural light, so you can see how they glow in the sun.

A black robber with a gold pubescence on the thorax, and golden on each of the femora, red colour on the abdominal tergites, and purple-green iridescent eyes. Has golden setae on the underside of the tibiae.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

But I also love big brown adult male flatties, and this big brown male Selenops was dear to my heart as well. Like many spiders in the wild, was missing a leg.

A big brown selenopid spider, with mature palps, on a tree trunk. He is missing leg 3 from his right side.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

If there's anything I love, it is big green huntsman spiders. And this one was big and green, so it was ticking all my boxes.

A big, green huntsman spider on a leaf, imaged against a blue sky.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Catherine found this stick-like mantis hanging out in the shrubberies. I don't think my photo does it justice.

A dark, stick-like mantis crawling beneath some leaves. Has very narrow forelegs, you might mistake it for a stick insect.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Now here is an absolute stunner of a robber fly. In the genus Lampria, possibly L. clavipes. So beautiful!

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

More malaxation! This time, it's an Agelaia, likely A. pallipes that is chomping up some insect bits. This genus also scavenges on carrion, and it is kind of rude when they mistake your jungle stank for rotting meat.

A brilliant yellow and brown wasp on a green leaf chewing up insect bits. She has bold yellow stripes on her thorax.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Great Egret with chicks on a pond of the Rupununi in Guyana last week #EgretsAndHerons

An egret with its bill open on the left of a branch, while to the right, three fuzzy egret chicks look at the adult from a messy little nest. They are backlit by the setting sun.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

What a weird spider! I can't think this could be anything other than Tmarus (Probably should be called "derpy crab spiders" as a common name)

A derpy looking crab spider, with a high cephalothorax, and a kinda cylindrical abdomen, it is patterned in greenish and white, and has very odd eyes.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

We found quite a number of ant-mimicking jumping spiders, though I am unsure of what this one may be.

An ant-like jumping spider, black with pale bands on the abdomen, and yellowish bands at the joints of the legs, perched on a green leaf.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

We saw some butterflies, including this Hamadryas februa (Gray cracker), and the Lysippus metalmark (Riodina lysippus)

A large gray butterfly with brown ocellations all over its wings, resting face down on a tree trunk

A small, chocolate brown butterfly, with bright orange lines on fore and hind wings.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

A beautiful net-winged beetle! Probably tastes awful, lots of things mimic these.

A black and orange net winged beetle, with chunky antennae and a pointy end to each side of its pronotum.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

There are lots of katydids available at Karanambu, on grasses, leaves, and twigs.

A subadult female katydid (green in colour) on a partially munched grass blade.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Where there are spiders, there are thread legged bugs, which are really thin members of the assassin bug family. They eat spider egg sacs (and probably spiders too)

A long, thin, black bug with raptorial forelegs outstretched on a spider web.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

A small huntsman spider of uncertain ID. Love their big long legs!

A small huntsman spider on a grass leaf. It is yellowish, with white spotting on the abdomen, and a dark ring around the eyes going back along the cephalothorax.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

The Pseudomyrmex have big big eyes, and are very gracile and fast

A red and brown ant with big eyes prowls underneath a leaf.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

a really awesome orb weaver found by Catherine, in the genus Spilasma (contains only three species). The beautifuuly structured retreat can be closed by the spider when it is threatened!

A conical trashy retreat in a difficult to see orb web. You can see the legs of a spider poking out of the silk lined hole.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

A nice dung beetle, waiting for something to drop

A dark green metallic dung beetle perched on a green leaf. Very round, and with its antennae out scenting for poops.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Those Thaumasia were very abundant! I took quite a few pictures of them, but I regret not spending a LOT more time with them. They are so beautiful!

Thaumasia spider, yellow-green with white lines, on a green leaf. She is missing leg 3 on her left side.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

A really awesome pisaurid (nursery web spider) in the genus Thaumasia (I think), carrying her egg sac

A lovely olive green spider with white lines on cephalothorax and abdomen, seen from above. She is carrying a big white egg sac in her chelicerae

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Found this absolutely adorable turtle ant on an orchid not far from our cabin. Not sure what the species is.

A tiny gray turtle ant with lovely large eyes and white speckles on an orchid leaf.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

One of the advantages of living next to a wasp nest is seeing the workers prepping food deliveries for the larvae. Here is a Polybia occidentalis malaxating a caterpillar section before bringing it to the nest

A Polybia occidentalis worker chewing on a brown caterpillar piece on cut wood. Juice from the caterpillar is wetting the wood.

A Polybia occidentalis worker chewing on a brown caterpillar piece on cut wood. Juice from the caterpillar is wetting the wood. She looks ready to take off.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Morning dew on a very pretty leaf beetle

A gorgeous leaf beetle covered in dewdrops, it has dark red elytra with creamy spots, a pink thorax, and a dark red head with black antennae.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

Was very pleased to discover that Polybia occidentalis, my old friends from French Guiana, were nesting underneath our cabin's roof. They were, as usual, quite reluctant to take offence to our comings and goings, and even close up photography.

A round wasp nest covered in brown and yellow wasps under a thatched roof.

Closeup of a bunch of Polybia wasps on their nest envelope. They have bold yellow markings on a dark brown background.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 11d

I was getting a coffee at the kitchen when this Leptodeira ashmeadii (Venezuelan cat-eyed snake) was pointed out to me. It quickly retreated back under the flowerpots it was sheltering in.

A small brown and black snake with vertical pupils peeks out from under a leaf.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 12d

The last photo from our first day at Karanambu before we retired for the night: A big chonker of a crab spider, of the species Epicadus taczanowskii

Sean McCann@ibycter· 12d

We were heading back to our cabin from the river, slowly, when Catherine spotted this silverfish on a tree trunk. I love these guys, they have such beautiful scales.

A lovely silverfish, all silvery with pale and darker scales, on white tree bark

Sean McCann@ibycter· 12d

If you look carefully, you can see a scorpion has captured the same species of tiger beetle seen in the last photo.

A scorpion in the grass, with a dead tiger beetle that is inverted, being eaten.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 12d

This nocturnal tiger beetle was really active impossible to photograph, until one of our guides picked it up and it ended up clamping its mandibles on his hand.

A brilliant metallic green tiger beetle with yellow legs on a hand, biting the palm.

Sean McCann@ibycter· 12d

The night is getting later, almost the end of our first day. It is rather shocking how many scorpions are to be found in the leaf litter, which I often blithely crouch and sit in. That's why I don't carry a UV lamp, I probably don't want to know how many scorpions I kneel on.