Ecuadorian insects are crazy! The locust pictured above has stripes of amber and black on each segment of the body. Scorpions, tarantulas, exotic ants such as bullet ants, locusts, lacewings – practically every insect lives in Ecuador! These insects come in remarkable variations and colours some with unnatural features like spines and extra appendages.
This caterpillar has almost luminous yellow-green stripes, orange legs and head segments and a red head. Insects that live in Ecuador include the green grouse locust (holocerus taurus) which is small and have spiny projections from either side of the body. However, I find treehoppers the most interesting – vibrant colours like orange, green and blue. They are very small and have ‘helmets’ with odd spines (only four or so) in strange shapes. Some look like other insects perched on sticks – namely, ants and wasps. Yet, there are likely thousands of unique species and variations which remain undiscovered in the rainforests of South America – Ecuador, Peru and such places!