On our September expedition we visited several rivers in El Golfete, Livingston, Izabal. Among them was the Río Higuerito, in which we got a great surprise: howler monkeys! We found and documented approximately 10 mantled howler monkeys, which were eating and moving among trees. One of them had her calf on her back. This species is in danger of extinction so we are happy to find more monkeys. We had already seen this species on our May expedition in the Río Dulce area.
In Guatemala there are two species of this primate, commonly called the saraguate or howler monkey. In the coastal areas of the Caribbean, you can find the mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliate), which is characterized by being of black ceded hair and lighter hair stands out on the back, which is why it is called the golden-mantled howler monkey. While in the petenera jungles and Alta Verapaz area we find Alouatta pigra, which is characterized by being entirely black in color. Both species feed mainly on plants of the Moraceae family such as ficus spp, Anacardaceae, Fabaceaee among others. Because their diet depends on various species of trees, they are being greatly affected by the fragmentation of forests caused by human activities. Howler monkeys need to distribute themselves to find food and reproduce, which is why various investigations ensure that the fragmentation of forests has contributed to the decline of their populations.
Family
Atelidae
Estado de Conservacvión
Species
Alouatta palliata Gray.
Vulnerable (UICN)
Species
Alouatta pigra Lawrence.
En Peligro (UICN)
Alouatta palliate at Rio Higuerito, El Golfete, Livingston. September, 2021. Photo by Alejandra Gutiérrez, FLAAR Mesoamerica.
Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza
Mirador del Cañon Reserve is located in the Cañon de Río Dulce area, administered by FUNDAECO. In it we were able to document many insects, one of our favorites was a very curious wasp hive. Their colors are yellow with black and they belong to the Vespidae family
Within the Vespidae family are grouped the common wasps that are characterized by measuring between 4.5 - 25 mm (adults) and having colorations ranging from yellow to black or dark blue. Both sexes have developed antennae. Their antennae have 12 segments in females and 13 in males. In Guatemala, 90 species have been recorded that inhabit heights between 0 - 4000 meters above sea level. They build their nests with mud or vegetable fibers. (Yoshimoto, Cano and Orellana, 2015).
Taxonomy of Vespidae family.
Vespidae at Reserva Cañon de Rio Dulce, Livingston. September, 2021.Photo by Brandon Hidalgo, FLAAR Mesoamerica.
Class
INSECTA
Order
HYMENOPTERA
Suborder
APOCRITA
Superfamily
VESPOIDEA
Family
VESPIDAE
Order
HYMENOPTERA
Wasps, bees and ants
Suborder
AUSTRALIAN COMPANY
$1.38
AAD
AUSENCO
$2.38
Superfamily
ADELAIDE
$3.22
XXD
ADITYA BIRLA
$1.02
AAC
AUSTRALIAN COMPANY
$1.38
AAD
AUSENCO
$2.38
Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza
On the shores of Playa Quehueche in the northern direction of the municipality of Livingston, it was very curious to find different species of Arthropods. During the tour we stopped to photograph two very interesting species, since they were perched on the sand of the beach. One of them was an elegant Swallowtail butterfly of the genus Papilio (Papilionidae) and an imposing Luber grasshopper or lobster with intense red wings of the genus Taeniopoda (Romaleidae).
Pamilionidae family includes more than 600 species worldwide. A particular characteristic of the Papilio genus is that most of all of these butterflies feature tails on their hind wings which resemble the tails of swallow family of birds, hence their name. Swallowtails butterflies feed on flowers, and can often be found in mud or damp sand where they sip dissolved minerals and salts. They beat their wings rapidly when feeding on nectar, as a balancing technique.
On the other hand, Romelidae currently consists of 64 genera and 437 species. Most Romaleidae grasshoppers are Neotropical and they are characterized by presenting an apical spine on the external surface of the posterior tibiae. The Romaleids have the largest acridoid species and body biomass known in nature. They have varied sizes, shapes and colors, and can be winged, brachioptera or, rarely, apterous (without wings).
While we were walking along a path in the San Miguel La Palotada - El Zotz Biotope, we could hear the sound of the cicadas intensely, when we were about to leave in a tree we could observe the small insect on the trunk of a tree.
Cicadas are insects belonging to the superfamily Cicadoidea, they are well known for their shape and colors, you can easily see a skull, a bird and a butterfly, in the area of its head and thorax. They are also famous for being able to remain buried for up to 17 years (depending on the species); but, above all, they are very famous for their strident sounds. And why are Cicadas so noisy? They are able to produce these sounds because they possess the tymbal organ. The sound is produced only by males because is a mating call. According to Bauer, P. (n.d.) “each male cicada has a pair of these circular ridged membranes on the back and side surface of the first abdominal segment. Contraction of a tymbal muscle attached to the membrane causes it to bend, producing a clicking sound. The tymbal springs back when the muscle is relaxed. The frequency of the contractions of the tymbal muscle range from 120 to 480 times a second, which is fast enough to make it sound continuous to the human ear.”
What is most amazing of the noisy calling of Cicadas is that each species has its own distinctive song that only attracts females of its own kind. This allows several different species to coexist (Valdes, n.d.). So the next time you listen to Cicadas, pay attention because you won’t always listen to the same song twice.
Now that we are in Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo National Park we were able to photograph them in droves. We spent more than ten minutes observing them and finding their best angles. You can find them on the Yaxha road to Nakum and at Grupo Maler, in the Yaxha area. Possibly in more places, you just have to listen and observe the logs.
Chicharra - Order: Hemiptera Family: Cicadidae
Chicharra - Order: Hemiptera - Family: Cicadidae. Grupo Maler, Parque Nacional Yaxha. June 30, 2021. Photography: David Arrivillaga. Photo taken with a Sony A7R IV camera, Sony E 30mm F3.5 Macro lens, 1/125 sec, f/9, ISO 1600
Sony A7R IV camera,Sony E 30mm F3.5 Macro lens, 1/100 sec, f/10, ISO 1600
Written by Vivian Hurtado & Roxana Leal
Identified Species by Victor Mendoza
During the May and June expeditions in Livingston, Izabal, we had the opportunity to find and photograph hummingbirds and their nests. The nests are incredible, it is located five feet from the ground and they are made perfectly with branches, lichen, moss and other materials found in nature. In each nest we have found between one and two eggs. Because of their size they are difficult to find.
Tapon Creek, Cerro San Gil and Río Dulce, Biotopo Chocón Machacas were the places where we have documented these birds. On some occasions there was the hummingbird and on others we only found the nest. You can find different species of hummingbirds when you visit Izabal, FUNDAECO has registered around 26 species in this department.
According to Alarcon (2011) some of the characteristics that you must take into account to identify hummingbirds in the field are: the size of the beak, its shape and color; the projections of the wings when the bird is perched; the shape, color and markings on the tail. Sometimes, the species can be very similar to each other so they can only be differentiated by the area where they live and it is advisable to use distribution maps, it also helps to identify the flowers they visit.
Photographed by David Arrivillaga on April the 28th 2021, in Livingston Izabal, Guatemala with a Sony ILCE-7RM4 using the FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lens. Settings: 1/250 f/9 ISO 2000.
Photographed by Haniel López in Livingston, Izabal, Guatemala.
When you drive towards the Yaxha entrance to Parque Nacional Yaxha, Nakum and Naranjo, a few kilometers before the park entrance, on the left side of the road (west side) there is a local family that depends on income from bee honey and bee pollen to survive.
About 7 km towards Yaxha park entrance from the highway turnoff of La Maquina, you can find local honey at Don Goyo's bee area. Here is Roxana Leal, social media manager of FLAAR Mesoamerica, walking up towards the family-run business of Don Goyo.
Members of the FLAAR team also bought several bottles of honey to assist the hospitable family. Don Goyo raises doncella bees (Melipona species, probably Melipona beechii) and tamagás (the slightly larger black stingless bee, potentially Cephalotrigona zexmeniae). We are preparing a full report (ready by June) and will double-check the species identification with bee-ologist Scott Forsythe.
It helps local Mayan families if you can purchase their handicrafts at the PNYNN visitors center or obtain the honey directly from Don Goyo along the side of the road (his honey is not sold in any store; only directly from their family home).
To learn about stingless bees of the Mayan people you can ask Don Goyo to take you on a brief tour around his apiary so you can see the cute golden stingless honey bees. The tamagás bee tend to swarm into your hair (if you get too close to their hive), but they have no stingers. I am used to them.
Stingless bee honey is much more liquid than honey from European bees and nowhere near as thick as Manuka honey. So stingless bee honey is not “watered down,” it is liquid as is.