Costa Rica Animals!
Costa Rica Birds:
- About 80 Families
- Clay-colored Robin is national bird
- Niche: Several including seed dispersion and bug population control
- 887 Documented Species
- Mostly spotted at dawn and dusk
- The Most Common birds sighted are below.
Costa Rica Frogs:
- Frogs live for 5-6 years
- Most common are the tree frogs and poison dart frogs (be warned. When picking up frogs you CANNOT have any lotion, creams, or repellent . You are NOT advised to touch any frogs.)
- Costa Rica hosts 133 species of frogs and toads placed into 8 families.
- Mostly see them ate nighttime
Costa Rica Monkeys:
- There are four species of monkeys live in Costa Rica, three of them popular as pets.
- The white-faced Capuchin, the spider, the squirrel, and endangered howler monkey.
- The Howler monkey is sparse in other regions but abundant in Costa Rica
- The Howler only eat leaves and flowers but the other monkeys have a wider diet from leaves to lizards
- The other two speices are the Squirrel and Spider monkeys.
- The spider monkey has a copper or orange fur, Capuchin monkeys have small skinny bodies covered in brown and black fur, Squirrel monkeys, or "titi" are the smallest of the Costa Rican monkeys, And last the biggest primate in Costa Rica is the howler monkey.
Bugs of Costa Rica:
-Orge-Faced Spider: The name, ogre-faced spider, comes from the bulging eyes of this arachnid.
-Millipedes: They are some of the oldest known animals to live on earth. Millipedes can live up to 7 years, which is considered a long lifespan as far as bugs go.
-Leaf cutter ants: These ants are the only animals, other than humans, that cultivate their own food. Leaf cutters have a special relationship with fungus. They feed on structures called "gongylidia," which are produced only by a certain fungus that only lives in the nests of leaf cutter ants. The leaf cutter ants' underground nests can be as large as a car with millions of colony members. The nest can contain up to 2,000 chambers, and can be up to over 600 square feet wide and 20 feet deep.
-Blue Morpho Butterfly: It is one of the world’s largest species of butterflies and certainly one of the most beautiful. The brilliant iridescent color of this insect is the result of the way many miniscule scales on the wings reflect natural light. The under side of the wings are brown with camouflage spots that look like eyes to protect these butterflies from predators. In fact when the blue morpho flaps its wings, it is difficult for predators (mostly birds) to keep track of its moving target. They are active during the day only.
-Guanacaste Stick Insect: The guanacaste is one of the more common stick critters found in Costa Rica. Walking sticks are nocturnal, and sleep most of the day. Some pretend they are dead to fool their enemies, – birds. When laying their eggs, many females drop them in hard to reach places or spread them out over large areas, so they cannot all be eaten at once by predators.
-Orge-Faced Spider: The name, ogre-faced spider, comes from the bulging eyes of this arachnid.
-Millipedes: They are some of the oldest known animals to live on earth. Millipedes can live up to 7 years, which is considered a long lifespan as far as bugs go.
-Leaf cutter ants: These ants are the only animals, other than humans, that cultivate their own food. Leaf cutters have a special relationship with fungus. They feed on structures called "gongylidia," which are produced only by a certain fungus that only lives in the nests of leaf cutter ants. The leaf cutter ants' underground nests can be as large as a car with millions of colony members. The nest can contain up to 2,000 chambers, and can be up to over 600 square feet wide and 20 feet deep.
-Blue Morpho Butterfly: It is one of the world’s largest species of butterflies and certainly one of the most beautiful. The brilliant iridescent color of this insect is the result of the way many miniscule scales on the wings reflect natural light. The under side of the wings are brown with camouflage spots that look like eyes to protect these butterflies from predators. In fact when the blue morpho flaps its wings, it is difficult for predators (mostly birds) to keep track of its moving target. They are active during the day only.
-Guanacaste Stick Insect: The guanacaste is one of the more common stick critters found in Costa Rica. Walking sticks are nocturnal, and sleep most of the day. Some pretend they are dead to fool their enemies, – birds. When laying their eggs, many females drop them in hard to reach places or spread them out over large areas, so they cannot all be eaten at once by predators.