Carnivorous wasp

Whilst the snake (Leptophis ahatulla) was eating the frog (Hyla rosenbergi) a carnivorous wasp arrived on the scene and was attempting to join in with the feast. These wasps are known locally as "Carniceros". Please contact us if you think you recognise the species of wasp.

In the process of being eaten

These images show various stages in the process of a frog (Hyla rosenbergi) being eaten by a snake (Leptophis ahatulla).

Snake eating a frog

A few days ago, I was in the garden, when I heard a stange, beeping call. It was pretty loud. It turned out to be a green parrot snake, known locally as "Lora falsa" (Leptophis ahatulla), that had managed to catch a Gladiator frog, also known as Rosenberg's tree frog (Hyla rosenbergi). As the image shows, the snake had captured the frog by its rear end, and held it there clamped in it's jaws for some time, until the frog finally died. At some point (although, we did not observe this part of the process) it managed to turn the frog, and proceeded to devour it head first. It is truly amazing that this snake, not much thicker than a adult human's finger, managed to swallow what is one of the larger frog species to be found here at Los Charcos. The size ratio can clearly be seen here.

Central American Tree Boa, or "Boa Manglar" - Corralus ruschenbergerii

A Central American Tree Boa, known locally as "Boa Manglar" (we suspect probably the same individual as visited and stayed with us last year) has recently moved from the toolshed to the house, and sits in the rafters, when not out basking in the morning sun or hunting bats by night. Apparently, Corralus ruschenbergerii is one of the longest species in the genus. Ours is ca. 2 meters. We found a nifty site about these attractive snakes at: http://www.corallus.com

The Smoky Jungle Frog, or "Rana Toro" - Leptodactylus pentadactylus

Now that rainy season is well underway and all of the little creatures of the night forest are showing up on our doorstep (!) we recently had the chance to photograph this gorgeous specimen of Leptodactylus pentadactylus, locally known as "Rana Toro", and with the fabulous common name of Smoky Jungle Frog. This is one pretty large, pretty fast frog. Too fast even for Nilo! Those markings around its mouth give it a pretty sharp-toothed look too!

"Cherepo" - The Casque-Headed Lizard

With all of these reptiles you'd never guess that we specialize in plants! Here is another fine lizard encountered in the Los Charcos forest reserve. It is Corytophanes cristatus, the casque-headed lizard, locally known as "cherepo". An expert at camoflauge and a little on the vicious side, this lizard can - and most likely will - give you a nasty nip! Both sexes of this genus are crested, but only on the head, unlike the closely related Basiliscus lizards (now I'll have to get a shot of one of those posted!), which display developed crests on the head, dorsal and tail regions, but only the males.

A Red Herring... A False Chameleon!

We heard from Chris Anderson at UCBerkely (California) that our recent squamate visitor was not in fact a chameleon but a false one! Polychrus gutturosus . Our friends, Costa Rican expert herpatologists Mamoot Sasa and Frederico Bolaños, tell us that these are essentially arboreal lizards, which pass their time in the tree canopy and are therefore little known. Their distribution ranges from Honduras to Ecuador and Amozonian Peru. Here is another photo, this time showing a darker skin cast.