This post has been in my drafts for a week, so I thought I might as well just publish it. These past two weeks we have had a lot of revelations about business in Brazil, so I think I will attempt to do a post this week about our discoveries we've made. Many apparently small issues have grown into weeks of waiting, which have delayed the start to our plans unfortunately.
So here's a few pictures of two weeks ago...
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| We had an "infestation" of massive bristly orange caterpillars, which we were told were poisonous (fever, swelling, etc.). Seth wanted to keep one as a pet... |
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| Does anyone know what type of caterpillar this is? Seth and I have perused the internet endlessly, to no avail. It does not appear to be included in any of the top 10 most dangerous caterpillars lists, which has been a huge comfort to me. |
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| And on Good Friday, we enjoyed a delicious crab feast at Sandro and Djane's terreno. |
that's just nuts...
ReplyDeleteHi Brenda, Any luck with the identity of the 'beasts"? I sent the pictures and question to someone in the Biology department who has been doing stuff in Ecuador, Peru etc. He might know. I'll let you know if he comes up with anything? Are they still around or was this just an in and out event? Do the locals know where they go and if they metamorphosize (I made that word up) into impressive moths or butterflies?
ReplyDeleteThe locals here call them fire caterpillars, but the pictures of what I googled didn't quite look the same. They also say they are from the coconut trees, and that they all hatch at the same time, so it was a (hopefully) one time experience.
DeleteAnd also, no one has been able to tell me what they "metamorphosize" into.
DeleteIf you google lagarta-de-fogo, fire caterpillar seems to be a general portuguese term for similar stinging caterpillars. Around 8 pages in, I found a few pictures of what I think is the same caterpillar, but they are still only called lagarta-de-fogo, so I am not sure if this is at all scientific :)
DeleteThose crabs are HUGE! and look yummy...if one can erase the image of the "caterpillar" from your mind!
ReplyDeleteSo funny you mention that, I did think it was an odd combination for a post, but was too lazy to separate the two themes.
DeleteHere's the reply from my colleague
ReplyDeleteCheck out the website he sent me.
Olga:
I can't help you with the specific ID right now, but let me noodle it for a while tonight.
It's definitively a caterpillar with urticating hairs..
http://www.waldwissen.net/technik/holzernte/arbeit/wsl_schmetterlingsraupen_brennhaare/index_EN
Wow, checking out that website makes me even more thankful that no one got hurt. We were killing them but Seth just has such a hard time grasping the concept that bugs can hurt, so he was waving one around on a stick, at one point around other kids. Also, I often walk barefoot to our washing machine outside, and for some reason I put on Shaun's flip flops and squashed one right in front of the machine. I think in all we killed 8, but Seth, against our desires, threw a couple over the fence to save them from us.
DeleteThats so GROSS!
ReplyDelete