Hello Amy and Scott,

Below you will find a list of most of the creatures we encountered together along with some interesting links and book recommendations we think you will enjoy.

If you can spare the time we would really appreciate your review on Trip Advisor. If you would like to post your experience on the Night Tour you can do so by following this link: Trip Advisor .

Thanks again for joining us on the tour. We hope to see you back in Drake Bay soon. Until then, we wish you the best with all your endeavors and many wonderful encounters.

Gian and Tracie

Trapdoor Spider - Ummidia sp.

Few spiders are as exceptional as Trapdoor Spiders. Their engineering, ingenuity and perseverance is unsurpassed. The longest lived spider in the world is a Trapdoor Spider from Australia. Get to know this incredible spider clicking here.

A few years ago we worked on the BBC production "The Dark: Nature's Nighttime World," which featured one of our local Trapdoor Spiders. You can watch the footage clicking here.

June 11, 2022 Encounters List

Encounters	Species Name	Common Name
1	Agalychnis callidryas	Gaudy Leaf Frog
2	Cupiennius coccineus	Red-thighed Wandering Spider
1	Siproeta stelenes	Malachite Butterfly
4	Rhynchonycteris naso	Proboscis Bat
2	Paraphrynus laevifrons	Tailless Whip Scorpion
1	Deinopis longipes	Net-casting Spider
1	Iguana rhinolopha	Green Iguana
1	Boana rosenbergi	Gladiator Tree Frog
1	Pristimantis ridens	Pygmy Rain Frog
Multiple	Ummidia sp.	Trapdoor Spiders
1	Dermanura watsoni	Thomas' Fruit-eating Bat
Multiple	Atta sp.	Leafcutter Ants
Multiple	Rhinella horribilis	Giant Marine Toad
Multiple	Leptodactylus savagei	Smoky Jungle Frog
1	Akanthomyces sp.	Entomopathogenic Fungus
Multiple	Craugastor fitzingeri	Common Rain Frog
1	Basiliscus basiliscus	Common Basilisk
1	Agaricales	Bioluminescent Fungus
1	Phanocles sp.	Giant Walking Stick
1	Mimetica sp.	Leaf Katydid

Moon Phase

	Waxing Gibbous - 91.6% Full Moonrise - 3:13 PM Moonset - 2:27 AM Weather Conditions - Rainy Temperature - 25.8° C / 78.4° F Relative Humidity - 97.2%

Gaudy Leaf Frog - Agalychnis callidryas

The Gaudy Leaf Frog, Agalychnis callidryas, has come to be one of the best known ambassadors for Costa Rica. Along with toucans, monkeys and quetzals, Gaudy Leaf Frogs have come to embody all the enchantment and beauty awaiting discovery in the tropical rainforest. Read More...

Proboscis Bats - Rhynchonycteris naso

One of the joys of touring the Sierpe River near Drake Bay is discovering, with the help of your guide, a colony of Brazilian Long-Nosed Bats. These bats are one of the most commonly seen bats along tropical rivers from southern Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil. Read More...

News from the Web

Read more about the incredible "Viper Caterpillar", Hemeroplanes sp!

http://www.thenighttour.com/alien2/hemeroplanes.htm

Check out our Guide to the Arachnids of Drake Bay! This is the first effort to document the arachnid fauna of the area

http://www.thenighttour.com/arachnids.pdf

Read about the wasp that brainwashes the spider - check out an article on the BBC News website entitled “Parasite's web of death”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/841401.stm

"Zombie" Ants Found With New Mind-Control Fungi – National Geographic

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110303-zombie-ants-fungus-new-species-fungi-bugs-science-brazil/

Also watch the excellent BBC Planet Earth on You Tube: Cordyceps: attack of
the killer fungi - Planet Earth Attenborough BBC wildlife

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8

From Spines to Tequila and Heavy-Metal Music - Admit It, Bats Are Cool

https://insider.si.edu/2014/10/spines-tequila-heavy-metal-music-admit-bats-cool/

'Scorpion venom' attacks tumours

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5214784.stm

Scorpion Venom With Nanoparticles Slows Spread Of Brain Cancer

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090416133816.htm

Insect Brains Are Rich Stores of New Antibiotics

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09/100906202901.htm

"Surreal" Vegetarian Spider Found -- A First

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/vegetarian-spider/

Arachnophobe creates cape woven from spider silk

https://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/25/world/europe/spider-silk-cape-on-display/index.html

Tool Use In Crocodylians: Crocodiles and Alligators use sticks as lures to attract waterbirds

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/2013/11/30/tool-use-in-crocs-and-gators/

Tiny Frogs and Giant Spiders: Best of Friends

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/tetrapod-zoology/tiny-frogs-and-giant-spiders-best-of-friends/

A syndrome of mutualism reinforces the lifestyle of a sloth

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/281/1778/20133006

Ancient Temple Reveals Secrets of Mexico's Meat-Eating Bats

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/07/ancient-temple-reveals-secrets-of-mexicos-meat-eating-bats/

Giant Walking Stick - Phanocles sp.

Gladiator Tree Frog - Boana rosenbergi

Gladiator Tree Frogs are common inhabitants of the humid lowlands in central and southwestern Costa Rica. These large tree frogs may measure anywhere from 70 to 90 millimeters and are easily distinguished by a pencil thin line that runs from the tip of their snout to the middle of their back. Read more ...

Recommended Reading

Nature of the Rainforest: Costa Rica and Beyond [Paperback]

Adrian Forsyth

The Earth Dwellers: Adventures in the Land of Ants

Erich Hoyt

Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects [Hardcover]

Amy Stewart

Spiders of the World (Of the World Series) [Hardcover]

Rod Preston-Mafham

Tales of a Shaman's Apprentice: An Ethnobotanist Searches for New Medicines in the Amazon Rain Forest [Paperback]

Mark J. Plotkin

Medicine Quest: In Search of Nature's Healing Secrets [Paperback]

Mark J. Plotkin

Book of the Spider [Paperback]

Paul Hillyard

A Naturalist in Costa Rica: How Movement Shapes Identity [Paperback]

Alexander F. Skutch

The Quetzal and the Macaw: The Story of Costa Rica's National Parks [Hardcover]

David Rains Wallace

Insects through the Seasons [Paperback]

Gilbert Waldbauer

Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects [Hardcover]

Peter Menzel

The Curious World of Bugs: The Bugman's Guide to the Mysterious and Remarkable Lives of Things That Crawl [Hardcover]

Daniel Marlos

Tropical Nature: Life and Death in the Rain Forests of Central and South America [Paperback]

Adrian Forsyth

The Secret Lives of Bats: My Adventures with the World's Most Misunderstood Mammals

Merlin Tuttle

The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humbolt's New World

Andrea Wulf

Tailless Whip Scorpion - Paraphrynus laevifrons

In his critically acclaimed series and accompanying book, Life in the Undergrowth, Sir David Attenborough describes the tailless whip-scorpion as “horrifying”. Upon seeing a tailless whip-scorpion for the first time, our guests on The Night Tour undoubtedly share this sentiment – at least initially. Read more...

Thomas' Fruit-eating Bats - Dermanura watsoni

Tropical rainforests are home to the greatest diversity of bats on the planet. One might think housing would be an issue, after all, caves are often few and far between. Not so. Tropical bats have come up with some innovative ways to open the rainforest real estate market. Read More...

Videos

Here are some of our favorite videos from the web. Enjoy!

	The amazing mating dance of the Peacock Jumping Spider rivals even the famed Birds of Paradise. Click here for a sneak peak into this tiny spider's incredible talents
	Net-casting Spiders are among the most sophisticated hunters of the spider world. Watch this incredible slow-motion BBC footage of this spider in action by clicking here. Ze Frank also produced a fantastic video about Net-casting Spiders for his "True Facts" Series. You can view the video by clicking here
	Can you imagine harvesting silk from the rear-ends of over a million spiders to create an incredible golden scarf? Did you know that scientists have created mutant, spider-silk-producing goats? Click here to view this amazing video on spider silk - one of the world's strongest fibers.
	Although the creature in this video is not nocturnal, it still ranks as one of our favorites. Red-capped Manakins are small birds commonly found in Drake Bay. Male Red-capped Manakins have to perform to woo their mates and they are fantastic dancers! Check out their routine by clicking here.
	Would you like to learn about a newly discovered species of an anus-lacking mite that lives, loves and explodes on your forehead? Watch this fascinating talk by Rob Dunn on biodiversity, discovery, and the critical need to revolutionize science...Click Here to view.
	Did you know that the word "TWERKING" was runner up for the 2013 Oxford Dictionaries "Word Of The Year"? But long before hip hop queens and, more recently, Miley Cyrus stired the cultural airwaves with this provocative move, there's been a whole lot of twerking going on in the steamy world of the rainforest. In 2010, scientist discovered that male red eyed tree frogs engage in twerk-offs to establish who is the biggest, baddest, sexiest frog around. Biologist Michael Caldwell first observed the behavior when he began studying these frogs using night-vision optics. Read More byClicking Here and then watch a video of these incredible TWERKING FROGS Here.
	Velvet Worms are among the most fascinating creatures one can hope to encounter in Drake Bay. On the Night Tour we are fortunate enough to see these living fossils from time to time. Read More about it on our blog! Also, be sure to check out this video featuring the Velvet Worm's slime attack and learn about their unique hunting method in Wired Magazine's article: How the Velvet Worm Pulls Off Its Bizarre Slime Attack
	Watch this enlightening talk by Ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin on the need to protect the rainforest and the people that inhabit them...Click Here to view.

Pygmy Rain Frog - Pristimantis ridens

Entomopathogenic Fungus - Akanthomyces sp.

Thanks so much again for joining us on

the Night Tour!

www.thenighttour.com

Check out our new book!