Vol 1 - The Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club

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Page 18 THE FIELD NATURALIST Issue No. 1/2013TTFNC Bug Trip to Arena Forest Reserve(Continued from page 14)starts at the base of a tree at ground level,and works its way up the trunk of the tree,until after many years of constant buildingand adding, it may present an imposing structuremuch taller than a man. In 2003, Scheffrahn,Starr (et. all) noted there are 55 termitespecies in T&T.We searched many buttress notches, lookingfor spiders and other insects. We foundmany, including the golden-orb silk weaver(Nephila clavipes), one of the most widely distributedorb-weavers in the tropics. We encountereda pair of small dung beetles (a.k.a“kaka rollers”) rolling their load. We foundthe large black ant, Pachycondyla crassinoda,Trinidad’s largest ant, that feeds on termites,especially the corniger, among other things.For me, it was difficult not to search forbirds, as the forest was alive with them. Itried to keep my focus on the bugs. Soonafter we entered the forest, we came upon alarge and active lek of White-bearded Manakins,and a little farther along, we encounteredanother active lek of about 8 – 12Green Hermit hummingbirds. Among otherbirds I identified were; Rock Pigeon, RuddyGround-Dove, Green-backed Trogon, CollaredTrogon, Channel-billed Toucan, OrangewingedParrot, Plain-brown Woodcreeper,Cocoa Woodcreeper, Great Kiskadee, Rufous-breasted Wren, Spectacled Thrush, SilverbeakedTanager, Blue-gray Tanager, Palm Tanager,Bananaquit, Yellow-rumped Cacique, andCrested Oropendola . If only my birding earwas better, I could have added plenty more.We paused to examine a plant which ShaneBallah is particularly interested in. We foundmany later on our trip. Looking in theTTFNC Guide to Flowers of Trinidad and Tobago,the plant appears to be in there, andidentified as “Tabaquillia” or Chelonanthus alatus.Kenny also shows a plant which resemblesthis one, which he identifies as “GroundItch Bush” or Irlbachia alata. Kenny goes onto state that this is a common roadside plant,which may flower for many months. Also,according to Kenny, ants are attracted to theflower walls. In a web search of the two speciesnamed above, Irlbachia alata seemed tome to be the relevant plant we were lookingat.Shane has been studying the relationship of amystery ant to this plant. The plant appearsto host extrafloral nectaries on the base ofthe flowers and flower buds, that can beclearly seen in the photo. The same plantalso appears to have some other type of extrafloralnectary, or additional growth, thatapparently attracts the ants. Growing on thebase of the leaf stems, instead of a nectarstation, as in many extrafloral nectaries, thisplant appears to have a ridge-type growth ormembrane, which the ants will appear toreadily eat, maybe even sooner than the extrafloralnectaries on the base of the flowersand buds. I purposely disturbed a plantwhere several ants appeared to be feeding totest their defense reaction. In all cases, theants did not defend the plant but fled. Thissymbiotic relation is a new mystery waitingto be unraveled.We walked the trail network to BarkerTrace, then along Balata Branch Road till we
Page 19 THE FIELD NATURALIST Issue No. 1/2013reached Cumuto-Tumpuna Road and walkedback our vehicles. Along the way, we encountereda large social paper wasp hive,which Christopher later identified as Polybiastriata. We walked through a mora forest,and a palm forest on the way out. We saw abeautiful King Shoemaker butterfly (Preponademophon), that was too wary to be photographed,a chirping arboreal grasshopper, andmany nice wildflowers.During our time in the Arena Forest Reserve,we passed six hunters on our trek,one with a 12 gauge shotgun, who said hewas shooting with “heavy load.” The othersmay have had dogs, as I heard hunting dogs inthe not-too-far distance. I asked each hunterwhat he was looking for. All of them said,“Deer.”All in all, we had a lovely day, and we saw alot of nature, confirming the TTFNC Motto,“Natura Maxime Miranda in Minimis” (Natureis most remarkable in the least). I wouldrecommend the Arena Forest Reserve as abeautiful and peaceful place to observe nature.Families of Trinidad and Tobago (Araneida).Living World, Journal of the Trinidad and TobagoField Naturalist’s Club: 67 – 77.STARR, C. K., and A. W. HOOK. (2003). TheAculeate Hymenoptera of Trinidad, West Indies.p 1-31. SCHEFFRAHN, R. H., J. KRECEK,B. MAHARAJ, J. A. CHASE, J. R. MANGOLD,and C. K. STARR. (2003). Termite Fauna(Isoptera) of Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies. p33-38 Occasional Paper #12, Occasional Papersof the Department of Life Sciences, Universityof the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad.TYLER, Bonnie J. and Yasmin BAKSH-COMEAU, 2012, Trinidad and Tobago WildflowerGuide, printed by Rainforest Publicationsfor the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalist’sClub.QUESNEL, Victor C., T. Francis FARRELL &Paul L. COMEAU, 2005. Native Trees of Trinidad& TobaSources:BARCANT, Malcolm, 1970, Butterflies of Trinidadand Tobago, Collins Press, London, 314pagesKENNY, Julian S., 2006, Flowers of Trinidad andTobago, Prospect Press, Port of Spain, 140pages, ISBN 976-95057-8-1SEWLAL, J. N., 2010. Annotated List of Spider
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