The Tupi people, one of the main ethnic groups of Brazilian indigenous people, believe in a male supernatural being called “Curupira” that guards the forest in Tupi mythology. I crowned this BLOG with his name because I aspire the BLOG, which deals with insects as part of the nature, to play a role just like Curupira who protects the forest from the destructive habits of man.
18 Oct, 2008
It's Saturday today.
Usually, locals account for a good part of the...
Museum's Saturday attendance, but the one-week interruption of business seems to be negatively affecting the attendance figure.
There was not much for me to do but sit in a chair and twiddle my thumbs.
So, out of need to kill my time, I took a stroll through the garden and found the treehopper that had arrived as a new face in the first week of past March---and guess what, it perched on the same tree as before!
It was the only one around this time too. This particular treehopper appears to be a loner.
This one also looks like a type that shies away from mass outbreak. I haven't found its larvae yet.
These guys are of a group-habitation type and can be found around the Museum almost all year round.
The one in the middle probably had just developed to the adult stage this morning. The more whitish larvae surrounding the adult are its siblings, not offsprings, which are expected to become imagoes in a few days.
I have a hunch that the fact that even a single species exhibits such diversities in their mode of life must have a lot to do with the vast varieties of insects in general, but I'm not going into that topic here.
Most of treehoppers infest on young plants or tillers of less than 1 meter in height, while hardly any of them can be found on full-grown trees of even a same species.
This photo shows a mass outbreak of treehoppers on twigs located about 5 meters from the ground.
These treehoppers are a long-known species, but I have never seen a group infestation like this before (This photo is taken from my photo archive.)
I am dying to resume my research at the head of my observation tower 38 meters above ground to see and record how treehoppers live at the jungle canopy.
But alas, I have been precluded from doing so by my lingering legal woes.
Now I can imagine how Basho felt when he wrote the famous 'haiku':
falling ill while travelling -
in my dreams I am wandering
over withered fields
(Tr. Gabi Greve)
This is a photo of an owl butterfly, a species of the genus Caligo, which has just emerged from a pupa in a drain ditch of my aquarium.
The larvae of this species are considered noxious insects here in Brazil as they inflict heavy damage on the cultured palms. A similar treatment is given to certain species of long-horned beetles (longicorn) as well.
Fortunately, tree hoppers have managed to escape recognition as they inhabit trees on the jungle periphery or by the roadside.
Penned on October 18, 2008
