Black ant and hole

Hey, anybody down there?

Ipê trees

Some weeks ago I posted images of our ipê trees in bloom. Shortly thereafter, all the blooms fell to the ground making for a carpet of yellow (top Image). In more recent times we were shuffling our feet through layers of seeds (the bottom two images). There are many species of ipês in Brazil. The big trees cut for lumber are found in the high forest of the Amazon. Then there others to be found in the tropical savanna. Small dwarf trees, which knock your eyes out when they are in bloom. And there are others, some used for decorating our streets. According to Guilhereme, we have at least four different species at the Fundação. The genus is Tabebuia. The family is Bignoniaceae. Another common name for ipê is pau dárco, bow wood.

Fungi, continued

And this one could be named "bat fungus under rain".

Fungi

Hum, this one could be named "bulls-eye" fungus.

Insects 3167

Arteriosclerosis is blocking my memory. I can't remember the name of these insects. Tree hoppers, or something like that. I'll remember later to make the correction. I've identified them before, but I found this image to be better than older posts.

Dr. Pedro Pardal

The IV Congress of Butantan Amazônia is taking place in Santarém, October 20-30. The theme of the encounter this session is "Biodiversity and Research of Poisonous Animals in the Amazon". Presentations and workshops are taking place at most universities in Santarém in Santarém, plus field research in Belterra. I had planned on participating in most of the evening sessions, but a aggravating cold and cough kept me away from these events. One presentation I wouldn't miss for anything was scheduled for Friday evening at UEPA. The keynote speaker was Dr. Pedro Pardal (attached image) from the School of Tropical Medicine at the Federal University of Pará in Belém. He comes to Santarém quite often for speaking engagements and field research in his specialty of poisonous animals. I came to be introduced to Dr. Pardal via my wife, Áurea, who was his student when she was a medical student at the Federal University. Friday night's presentation was entitled "Poisonous Fish of the Amazon". Great stuff!

Wild passion fruit flower

A wild passion fruit flower makes it debut. What appears to be a log on the lower right is actually the main vine. It's huge!

Guaraná

Guaraná (Paullina cupana) plant in bloom.

Theobroma

Top image, environmental management student from Antioch College taking pictures of the inflorescence of wild cacao. Bottom image, the flowers. Picture taken last Saturday.

CEPES flowers

Flowers in bloom at CEPES, our school of professional education.

Pau Brasil, continued

Although I'm happy to have a piece of Pau Brasil wood, it's a very poor quality sample. It's a reject because of the knot. It's also faded in color because I had left the board out in an open area, where it suffered from the elements, including rain.

Pau Brasil, continued

My two Pau Brasil (Caesalpinia echinata) trees. The images of flowers and seed pods were from the one on the right. This picture was taken nearly two years ago, so the trees are a bit larger now.

Pau Brasil, continued

Seedlings of Pau Brasil. Germination rate is very high for the seeds.

Pau Brasil, continued

Mature and dried seeds from the Pau Brasil pods. As I remember it, there are around 4 seeds to a pod. Nope, no thorns on the seeds!

Pau Brasil, continued

The first seed pods produced by one of my two Pau Brasil (Caesalpinia eschinata) trees. Notice the immature thorns on the bean pods. Pau Brasil is a very thorny tree! They're to be found on the main trunk of the tree, on stems and even the bean pods.

Pau Brasil

Pau Brasil (Caesalpinia eschinata) is probably the most famous of all the trees in Brazil. As a matter of fact, the country gets its name from this tree. It's not from the Amazon, but the Atlantic Forest. In previous posts I reported on history of Pau Brasil (Brazil wood), so I won't repeat the story. I came by three of the seedlings a few years ago. One died, but the other two are doing quite well in the area next to the Bosque Santa Lucia reception center. One of the trees has flowered time and again, but it never produced fruit until this year. Image, inflorescence of Pau Brasil. More coming.

Hybiscus

As long as they get food and water, they just keep knocking our eyeballs out. They also require a lot of sunshine, which they are getting this time of the year.

Invisible spider

These spiders are real artists at becoming invisible.

Insect 2741

I would assume from the fly family. Not common. First I've seen.

Long horned beetle

Not a very good picture of this long-horned beetle, but it was a one-shot affair. I've never been too keen on using nets, but I can understand how the practice facilitates photography.

Tucumã fruit

Something took a liking to this tucumã fruit (Astrocaryum vulgre).

Yellow wings

Leftover beauty from a former butterfly.

Duranta repens

The mature fruit of pingo de ouro (Duranta repens).

Chacrona

Chacrona (Psicotria virodis) leaves and fruit. The leaves are one component for making ayahuasca tea.

Red leaves

The younger set showing off!