Forest Headlights

This is how we know it is late dry season: click beetles with headlights! We were recently doing bat surveys near Laguna Seca in Gallon Jug Estate, and the night was lit with these interesting large beetles. It is amazing how much light is put out by them!

In the family Elateridae, click beetles have the ability to make a snapping sound thought to help them avoid predation. If the beetle finds itself upside down, the ability to click pops it up and over, right side up.

Laguna Seca morning

How many Belize Field Notes readers (that are former Lodge visitors) have visited Laguna Seca? It's a wetlands system that extends northward across the Gallon Jug Estate property. If you are visiting Chan Chich Lodge, be sure to take the excursion from the Lodge for a leisurely Laguna Seca walk. There is a nice path wending its way through fairly extensive Maya ruins. Both spider and howler monkeys can almost always be seen there. For birders, specialties include the Agami heron, Northern Jacana, Least Bittern, and Black-collared Hawk. Of course the surrounding forest is filled with the "usual" cast of tropical birds.

There's more. Not long ago I posted about a "procession of peccaries." That video was taken at Laguna Seca. Last night when we returned to do a survey, there were the peccaries again, in the same spot. I could see they were attracted by the low water levels and nice cool mud wallows. Next project: get a photo of them wallowing...

A Nosy Bat Indeed

In my last post, I explained how the long-nosed bats are found along waterways. That is certainly the case ... and you must be wondering what they are doing in the photo above. Yes, a harem of long-nosed bats has chosen the inside of the umbrella on the floating deck at Laguna Seca as their roost site! You can see them here, roosting in their characteristic head down position, their wings at a 45-degree angle.

You can also see their little noses angled up, the source of their scientific name, Rhychonycteris naso, a combination of the Greek words "rhynchos" and "nykteris" meaning "nose" or "snout" and "bat." The species name, "nasus," also refers to the nose, clearly a defining characteristic of these little creatures.

While these long-nosed bats are hardly cryptic (that is, blending in) with their surroundings, you've got to admit, they've chosen a well protected spot to roost!