In the Americas, there is but a single species of carnivorous butterfly.  Unlike other American butterflies whose larvae feed on plants, caterpillars of the Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius) feed only on wooly aphids!  Living wooly aphids!  Throughout the range of the Harvester in eastern North America, various species of wooly aphids are utilized for food.  Here in peninsular Florida, just one species of wooly aphid is used, Neoprociphilus aceris, an aphid that feeds uniquely on spiny greenbrier (Smilax) vines.

The caterpillars are small, slug-like creatures that frequently feed in groups.  Locally, It is common to see several caterpillars together, working their way along a greenbrier vine, chomping down all the aphids as they go.

Amazingly, the aphids make no attempt to flee from the approaching caterpillars, instead, they just wait to be the next one to be eaten! Here is what it looks like as a Harvester caterpillar tears into an unsuspecting aphid:

In many parts of the range of the Harvester, the caterpillars are myrmecophilous (that is, actively tended by ants), but I’ve never noticed ants tending Harvester larvae in Florida.  What’s cooler?  Harvester caterpillars produce acoustical signals, the purpose of which remains largely unknown.

So, all of this is pretty amazing!  But it gets better.  The pupae have been described in the literature, for over a century, as as resembling a monkey’s face.  I’m not sure I necessarily see a monkey’s face in the pupa, but I definitely see a face!

Harvester adults are delicate-looking butterflies that remain close to aphid populations.  They are most active in the afternoon, and males guard perches in the canopy where they await passing females.  These perches are usually 2-4 meters above ground-level, but occasionally, lower perches will be utilized.  Today I got lucky, and found this male Harvester guarding a perch at eye-level, allowing me to get some photos:

While there are many related carnivorous butterfly species in Africa and Asia, the Harvester is truly unique among American butterflies!

After loving grasshoppers as a kid, then subsequently paying them little attention, I’ve fallen back in love with grasshoppers!  Probably the main reason grasshoppers have returned to the top of my list of favorite insects is due to a great book that enables me to identify virtually all of the species in Florida, where I’ve been living since 2006.  Easy access to species-specific information always makes learning a new group more fun and rewarding, and I thank Dr. Capinera for paving the way for me!

For the past few months, I’ve attempted to photograph most of the grasshopper species I encounter, as I try to learn them.  I’ve found grasshoppers to be incredibly photogenic, and usually not too difficult to sneak up on to photograph with a macro lens (100mm).  That is, not too difficult compared to butterflies…

Up until now, I’ve simply tweeted all of my grasshopper photos, in order to share them with anyone interested.  In an effort to keep track of which Florida species I’ve photographed, plan trips to photograph missing species, and to archive these photos in a place where they may be more easily accessible, I’ve decided to maintain the following list of Florida grasshopper species, illustrated with my photos, as a blog post.  I’ll update this post regularly as I obtain additional photos.

While the Capinera book is by far the best reference for Florida grasshopper species, much new information has been gathered since the book’s publication, and several new taxa have been described.  Currently, the most up-to-date list of Florida grasshopper species is maintained by the Mississippi Entomological Museum, listing 94 taxa (88 species + some subspecies) for the state.  The list below is taken directly from the Mississippi Entomological Museum’s site, and will be updated as their list is updated.

Gomphocerinae

Achurum carinatum (F. Walker)  Longheaded Toothpick Grasshopper

Amblytropidia mysteca (Saussure)  Brown Winter Grasshopper

Dichromorpha elegans (Morse)  Elegant Grasshopper

Dichromorpha viridis (Scudder)  Shortwinged Green Grasshopper

Eritettix obscurus (Scudder)  Obscure Slantfaced Grasshopper

Mermiria bivittata (Serville)  Twostriped Mermiria Grasshopper

Mermiria intertexta Scudder  Eastern Mermiria Grasshopper

Mermiria picta (F. Walker)  Lively Mermiria Grasshopper

Orphulella pelidna (Burmeister)  Spotwinged Grasshopper

Syrbula admirabilis (Uhler)  Handsome Grasshopper

Acridinae

Metaleptea brevicornis (Johannson)  Clippedwing Grasshopper

Oedipodinae

Arphia granulata (Sassure)  Southern Yellowwinged Grasshopper

Arphia sulphurea (Fabricius)  Sulfurwinged Grasshopper

Arphia xanthoptera (Burmeister)  Autumn Yellowwinged Grasshopper

Chortophaga austrailor Rehn & Hebard  Southern Greenstriped Grasshopper

Dissosteira carolina (Linnaeus)  Carolina Grasshopper

Hippiscus ocelote (Saussure)  Wrinkled Grasshopper

Pardalophora phoenicoptera (Burmeister)  Orangewinged Grasshopper

Psinidia fenestralis (Serville)  Longhorn Bandwinged Grasshopper

Spharagemon bolli Scudder  Boll’s Grasshopper

Spharagemon crepitans (Saussure)  Crepitating Grasshopper

Spharagemon cristatum (Scudder)  Ridgeback Sand Grasshopper

Spharagemon marmorata picta (Scudder)  Marbled Grasshopper

Trimerotropis maritima (Harris)  Seaside Grasshopper

Leptysminane

Leptysma marginicollis (Serville)  Cattail Toothpick Grasshopper

Stenacris vitreipennis (Marschall)  Glassywinged Toothpick Grasshopper

Cyrtacanthacridinae

Schistocerca alutacea Harris  Rusty Grasshopper

Schistocerca americana (Drury)  American Bird Grasshopper

Schistocera ceratiola Hubbell and Walker  Rosemary Grasshopper

Schistocerca damnifica (Saussure)  Mischevous Grasshopper

Schistocerca obscura (Fabricius)  Obscure Bird Grasshopper

Schistocerca rubiginosa (Harris)  Rubiginosa Grasshopper

Melanoplinae

Aptenopedes aptera aptera Scudder  Wingless Florida Grasshopper

Aptenopedes aptera coquinae Hebard  Wingless Florida Grasshopper

Aptenopedes aptera saturiba Hebard  Wingless Florida Grasshopper

Aptenopedes aptera simplex Hebard  Wingless Florida Grasshopper

Aptenopedes hubbelli Hebard  Hubbell’s Grasshopper

Aptenopedes nigropicta Hebard  Nigropicta Grasshopper

Aptenopedes robusta Hebard  Robust Grasshopper

Aptenopedes sphenariodes apalachee Hebard  Linearwinged Grasshopper

Aptenopedes sphenarioides clara Rehn  Linearwinged Grasshopper

Aptenopedes sphenarioides sphenarioides Scudder  Linearwinged Grasshopper

Eotettix palustris Morse  Swamp Eastern Grasshopper

Eotettix pusillus Morse  Little Eastern Grasshopper

Eotettix signatus Scudder  Handsome Florida Grasshopper

Gymnoscirtetes morsei Hebard  Morse’s Wingless Grasshopper

Gymnoscirtetes pusillus Scudder  Little Wingless Grasshopper

Hesperotettix floridensis Morse  Florida Purplestriped Grasshopper

Hesprotettix gemmicula Hebard  Gemmicula Grasshopper

Hesperotettix osceola Hebard  Osceola’s Grasshopper

Hesperotettix viridis pratensis Scudder  Meadow Purplestriped Grasshopper

Melanoplus adelogyrus Hubbell  St. Johns Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus apalachicolae Hubbell  Apalachicola Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus bispinosus Scudder  Twospined Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus bonita Otte  Beautiful Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus carrabellae Otte  Carrabell’s Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus childsi Otte  Child’s Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus davisi Hebard  Davis’ Oak Grasshopper

Melanoplus decoratus Morse  Decorated Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus forcipatus Hubbell  Toothcercus Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus furcatus Scudder  Larger Forktailed Grasshopper

Melanoplus gurneyi Strohecker  Gurney’s Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus impudicus Scudder  Immodest Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus indicifer Hubbell  Spinecercus Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus keeleri keeleri (Thomas)  Keeler’s Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus kissimmee Otte  Kissimmee Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus nanciae Deyrup  Ocala Clawcercus Grasshopper

Melanoplus ordwayae Deyrup  Trail Ridge Scrub Grasshopper

Melanoplus peatus Otte  Peatus Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus peninsularis Hubbell  Peninsular Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus propinquus Scudder  Southern Redlegged Grasshopper

Melanoplus puer (Scudder)  Florida Least Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus punctulatus arboreus Scudder  Pinetree Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus punctulatus punctulatus (Scudder)  Pinetree Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus pygmaeus Davis  Pygmy Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus quercicola Hebard  Acorn Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus querneus Rehn and Hebard  Oak Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus rotundipennis (Scudder)  Roundwinged Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus sanguinipes vulturnus Gurney and Brooks  Migratory Grasshopper

Melanoplus scapularis Rehn and Hebard  Lesser Forktailed Grasshopper

Melanoplus scudderi scudderi (Uhler)  Scudder’s Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus sebringi Otte  Sebring’s Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus seminole Hubbell  Seminole Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus strumosus Morse  Strumosus Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus symmetricus Morse  Symmetrical Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus tepidus Morse  Southern Obovatewinged Grasshopper

Melanoplus tequestae Hubbell  Tequesta Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus withlacoocheensis Squitier and Deyrup  Withlacoochee Spurthroat Grasshopper

Melanoplus zento Otte  Zento Spurthroat Grasshopper

Paroxya atlantica Scudder  Atlantic Grasshopper

Paroxya clavuliger (Serville)  Olivegreen Swamp Grasshopper

Paroxya paroxyoides (Scudder)  Paroxyoides Swamp Grasshopper

Paroxya recta Scudder  Recta Swamp Grasshopper

Romaleidae

Romalea microptera (Beauvois)  Eastern Lubber Grasshopper

Yesterday while hiking in the woods of Levy County, Florida, I stumbled upon the coolest spider I have ever found! From a distance, it looked like bird poop, atop a stalk of Florida Paintbrush (Carphephorus corymbosus).

As I got closer, it became apparent that the object was a spider, so being unfamiliar with it, I proceeded to take a few photos.  When I reviewed the photos on the display window, I could not believe the faces that jumped out at me!

How many faces do you see on this spider?  Using some imagination, I saw 6 faces staring back at me, there in the forest.  [At home on my computer screen, I saw even more!]  So it seemed that I had found the perfect Halloween spider!

But there are even more faces to be seen on this spider.  Here is the head-on view, which reveals additional faces, including its real face!

This is really pretty remarkable!  However, as if all these faces weren’t enough, the posterior view of this spider displays one of the most charming faces in all of nature! That’s right, a spider butt shaped like a heart, with lips puckered for a big kiss!

So, it appears that Wagneriana tauricornis is not just for Halloween anymore, but perfect for Valentine’s Day too!