Creepy Crawlies in Belize
Creepy crawlies in Belize, are not really very creepy. In fact, most of them are facscinating creatures. Here are a few that we find incredibly interesting:
A soft spot for Weevils
When you look closely at weevils one can only wonder if they are Dr. Seuss creature come to life. Sure geckos are cute but weevils are weird!
Weevils are tiny, herbivorous beetles that are ubiquitious in tropical rainforests. What makes them particularly interesting is how they often have co-evolved along with the plant species that they feed on. There characteristics include bizarre colorations and they can rotate their head a full 360 degrees. Here are a few pictures of some of the more interesting specimens.
For more about the weevils in Belize you can go here: http://www.richard-seaman.com/Arthropods/Belize/Highlights/
Here are several of our trips that visit the Belize rainforest:
Ultimate Adventure
Rainforest Canopy Extension
A Gecko in my Shower
This one may be on the walls of your hotel room. They creep, scurry and chirp at night. It turns out the gecko you’re mostly likely to see in Belize scurrying on the ceiling or walls of your hotel room, is a foreigner, hitchhiker that is native to Southeast Asia.
The habitat for the common house gecko, scientific name Hemidactylus frenatus ias the name would suggest is in your home or hotel room. Since the gecko feeds on other insects like mosquitoes and moths they are a welcome residents in most warm climate abodes.
Out of the 5,600 species of lizard on the planet, over 1,500 belong to the gecko infraorder called Gekota. In Belize we have a number of naturally occurring species including the yellow headed gecko, the banded and turnip-tailed gecko. Some of the coolest characteristics of geckos included their highly specialized toe pads that can have over 14,000 hair like setae per square millimeter. These hair like appendages can also create electrical attraction and repulsion between molecules further enabling their ability to climb just about any smooth surface.
Geckos really are ubuquitus in Belize, and you can almost find them everywhere. Here are several trips where you have a very good chance for encounter:
Glover's Reef & Maya Mountains
Paradise Islands
Ultimate Adventure
