Web-casting Spider: This spider will apparently toss a web over a small animal that comes within range. We saw these occasionally at night.
Opilionid harvestman:
I came across sights like this at times. This arachnid had been attacked and killed by a fungus. The fungus enveloped and digested the body. All that was left was some of the exoskeleton and parts of the dried fungus.
Lampyrid juvenile. I was told that this insect hunted small snails.
Moth Derbid. These look very different to the derbids that I saw at Taman Negara. These were smaller and looked almost like a lep.
We departed Madre Selva at about 11am and then set off for Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz was many hours up the Amazon and it required more than a day of travel. The boat journey continued into the night until we finally pulled up against the shore at around midnight. I think that the night travel was wonderful. Ted, Ed and I sat on the deck and watched fishing bats flash by the bow lights. On occasion a nightjar or a potoo could be seen.
During daylight hours, my friends and I used the time to catch up on sleep but also scanned the shoreline for birds. At times, we travelled only meters from one bank or the other and this gave us many birding opportunities. Some of the birding highlights included species such as the White-cheeked Jacamars, Black-capped Heron, Cocoi Heron, Oriole Blackbirds, Yellow-hooded Blackbirds, Donacobius, Magpie Tanagers, Bare-necked Fruitcrows, Gilded Barbets, Red-and-Green Macaws and so many more. I think that everyone was impressed by the dazzling colours of the Masked Crimson Tanagers that we saw in riverside growth from time to time.
Eventually, we reached the village of Indiana. Here, we stopped and then used taxis to transport us a few kilometers to Mazan on the Rio Napo. A fast boat (the one with the green metal hull) awaited us there to carry us upstream on the Rio Napo to the trail head to Santa Cruz.
... sights along the way
The trip up the Rio Napo was not long and soon we reached the trail head to Santa Cruz.
Near the river, I saw many palms. I was told by Percy, our Peruvian bird guide, that these were Moriche Palms. We saw thickets of these in places and they are known among birders as the preferred habitat of a number of species such as the Moriche Oriole or the nicely named Point-tailed Palmcreeper.
Santa Cruz station itself was a 2km walk through cleared land and secondary growth.
This is the sort of habitat where I herped, birded and photographed butterflies for the next three days:
... some areas had been cleared not that long ago. Regrowth was young and the vegetation was dense.
There were small areas with large trees.
We stayed here at the headquarters in basic accommodation.
Birding at Santa Cruz was not nearly as productive as at Madre Selva. We found few birds of the forest interior such as antbirds, trogons and motmots. We did hear the wing snaps and buzzes of White-bearded Manakins but failed to find other forest manakins such as Wire-tailed, Blue-crowned, White-crowned and Red-headed. Reptiles, amphibians and butterflies, however, were numerous and did not seem to be adversely affected by the young successional forest.
Once again, I have proposed names where I found something similar on the web but butterfly diversity in South America is extreme and my names may not be correct.
Turquoise-banded Shoemaker (Archaeoprepona amphimachus) -- I only saw this big nymphalid on a few times on sunny afternoons. Its behaviour was odd. It would fly at me and then zip around me a few times before it dropping to the trail and where it walked with closed wings. It would occasionally flick its wings and the turquoise stripe shimmered each time. I thought the entire upperwing must be blue. It seemed to be curious and it hovered around me again for a few moments before ascending and landing on a sunlit leaf. Once on the leaf, it opened its wings to reveal the lovely blue stripe.
"80" Buttefly (Diaethria sp.) -- These butterflies would normally hold their wings closed but this one reacted to the flash and I was able to take an in-focus shot of the opened wings. This particular individual often perched on the wood of the dormitory. I could usually find it on sunny days. It really was a stunner!
Eresia nauplius -- This butterfly behaved like a Neptis.
I have found this distinctive butterfly before on the net but I have misplaced the name. It apparently is common and often associated with agriculture. I only observed it once and this was on a night walk. I initially thought it to be a moth until I saw its clubbed antennae. The upper wing appears to be irridescent green.
Daggerwing (Marpesia furcula) -- I saw this beautiful daggerwing a number of times along a small stream in the forest. I gave me a hard time but I finally was able to take a few photos.
Morpho achilles -- This rather drab morpho actually landed for a few minutes and held its wings open. For morphos, this seems to be a rare event at least in the forest understorey.
Owl Butterfly (Calligo sp.) -- Their inner wings were a dull orange and purple. These were crepuscular butterflies. I usually saw them in flight at dusk along the Rio Orosa. I found this one at night when I was searching for reptiles in the forest.
Philaethria dido -- We saw these pretty butterflies on several occasions. This one was yet another butterfly that sipped at drying clothes. This was a large species.
Oleriao nega? -- It was initially caught in the web of a spider. After I took this photo, it flicked its wings and then was free. This wing shape was typical of many butterflies that lived within the forest interior. Most Heliconiinae, Ithomyiinae, some Pieridae and some Nymphalidae all share this wing shape.
Bia actorion -- yet another interesting Nymphalid. Ed caught one so that we could examine the inner wings briefly before releasing it. It certainly looks much like Elymnias hypermnestra at Taman Negara!
Hamadryas laodamia -- I only saw one of these at Santa Cruz.
Temenis laothoe -- another beauty that would flick its wings to the camera flash. I obtained one out of focus shot of the inner wings but at least the colours can be seen.
Clearwing butterflies like this were common but hard to photograph. They were almost invisible in the dim light of the forest floor. My friend briefly caught this one for a photo.
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