Posted November 18, 2019

Insects, arachnids and all their relatives are definitely of interest to me. I like to seek, find, photograph, document, and publish as many insects, arachnids and their relatives as possible.

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These creatures are a sample of what was photographed by FLAAR Mesoamerica between 2018 and 2019 in cooperation with the park administrators IDAEH and CONAP. These insects are already known. But we feel there is potential for discovering lots more.

Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo has potential for finding and photographing creatures not documented elsewhere in Peten because of the series of lakes, lagoons, rivers, swamps, and seasonally inundated ecosystems.

We have recently found, photographed, and published Tasiste palm for Yaxha, Nakum, and Naranjo sectors of the park. This palm is well known for Belize but is nowhere documented for Tikal in any list that we have seen published in the recent half century. Why in PNYNN and not at Tikal? Because the FLAAR Mesoamerica team has found ecosystems west of Yaxha and east of Nakum, habitats which do not exist at the Tikal park. And with the help of Naranjo sector team of Archaeologist Vilma Fialko, Arquitecto Raul Norega, plus Horacio Palacios, they took us to explore a savanna-cibal-jimbal ecosystem adjacent to Naranjo which is not present at Tikal. Plus, the corozera between the savanna and the Naranjo pyramids, temples, and palaces is also different than the corozera 4 km from Yaxha and the other corozera 4 km from Nakum.

So with these unique and biodiverse ecosystems, we feel there is potential to find insects not previously photographed or published for nearby Tikal nor elsewhere in Peten.

Posted November 15, 2019

Most biological and ecological research in Peten (Guatemala) is undertaken at Parque Nacional Tikal or at El Mirador to the north. Research is popular at Tikal since you can reach it on a paved highway; there are three hotels to chose from, and there are roads throughout the center of the park.

We (FLAAR Mesoamerica) also recognize the pleasant aspects of Tikal (I was a student volunteer here for 12 months back in 1965). But my heart and soul are in the Yaxha and Nakum area. And, courtesy of Archaeologist Vilma Fialko and Arquitecto Raul Norega, plus Horacio Palacios, another key person who has hiked through all the remote areas of the Naranjo sector of Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo, I am now learning of the remarkable biodiversity of the ecosystems of the Naranjo sector of PNYNN.

Insects and arachnids and all their relatives are of definitely interest to me. We also seek, find, photograph, and document birds: park ranger Teco showed me king vultures soaring above the hills in the park. In 54 years in Mesoamerica I had never seen a king vulture in the wild (only in a zoo). But all the bird species have been carefully documented in Tikal area over recent half a century.

Enlarge Image Photo by Alejandra Gutierrez with a Canon 1D Mark II, Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM. Settings 300mm 1/8000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 4000.

Enlarge Image Photo by David Arrivillaga with a Nikon D5, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR. Settings: 800mm, 1/2500, f/6.3, ISO 2500.

Enlarge Image Photo by Nicholas Hellmuth with a Nikon D810, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR. Settings: 800mm, 1/1250 sec, f/13, ISO 4000.

But Laguna Yaxha and Rio Ixtinto offer ecosystems not at Tikal, so this park (PNYNN) offers opportunities to find and photograph waterbirds (wading birds, shore birds, diving birds, and swimming birds) that have not yet been seen nor photographed with high-resolution digital cameras in adjacent Tikal.

Posted October 14, 2019

While working at Parque Nacional Yaxha Nakum Naranjo we found and photographed many different sizes and shapes of native Peten area wasp nests. While visiting friends at hotel Posada Caribe (on the shore of Arroyo Petexbatun, municipio of Sayaxche, Peten, Guatemala) they took us to visit other friends of theirs several kilometers hike into the hills. We noticed a wasp nest and I took some photos: Nikon D810, 200mm tele-macro lens.

As soon as we can identify the Genus species of these wasps we will update this post.

Click to enlarge image View of entire nest, several kilometers from Arroyo Petexbatun.	Click to enlarge image View of how nest is attached to underside of banana leaf.
Click to enlarge image Close-up to show the entrance to the nest.	Click to enlarge image Another angle of view to see the entrance to the nest.

We do not have any photographs of the inside since we do not destroy the nests; we leave them fully operational just the way we found them.

Wasps are among my favorite insects because of their biodiversity of size, nest architecture, and whether they are pollinators. For example, we hope to find more honey wasps (the ones in this photo are not honey wasps). Guatemala is a great place to study insects and arachnids.

Posted August 1, 2019

In the gardens, parks and forests of Guatemala, it’s common to appreciate the most famous pollinator: the bee. It’s likely that if you observe a bee, it’s Apis mellifera, which is also known as the domestic or European bee. It was introduced with the arrival of the Spaniards and has adapted very well throughout America. However, this is not our native bee.

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Apis mellifera, domestic or European bee.

Our native bee, Melipona beecheii, is a stingless bee, it’s commonly known as a Mayan bee, jicote or criolla. It’s a robust bee, like the European bee, 9-10 mm long, black, orange and with yellow stripes. It’s native to Mesoamerica, in Guatemala they live at elevations of 0-2000 meters above sea level in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Chiquimula, Quiché, Petén, Escuintla, Guatemala, Jutiapa, Retalhuleu, Sololá, Santa Rosa and Izabal(Escobedo, and others, 2017).

Posted July 23, 2019

Our continuing research in PNYNN finds trees, bushes, mushrooms that are not yet in any list of flora of this part of Peten (this park is between Tikal on the west and Belize near the east). Although our focus is on finding edible native plants and plants to provide materials for the Maya for thousands of years, we also do photography of birds (especially waterbirds), spiders, and insects.

Camera Nikon D810, lens Nikon AF-S Micro 60mm G; settings: ISO 8000, f 11, 1/250. Photo by Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth

Camera Nikon D810, lens Nikon AF-S Micro 60mm G; settings: ISO 1250, f11, 1/100. Photo by Dr. Nicholas Hellmuth

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Camera Nikon D5; settings: ISO 2000, 1/800 sec, f/14. Photo by David Arrivillaga

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Here are photos of the same Genus species in four different locations around Naranjo ruins and from Naranjo to Rio Holmul (about 20 kilometers to the north).

On the July field trip our team found lots of giant grasshoppers. These are solitary (meaning never in a group). Their bodies look as if they are totally armored to withstand attack from birds and other insectivorous creatures. We will do a web page on them and also a full-color PDF as soon as possible.

Posted July 15, 2019

The Yaxha-Nakum-Naranjo National Park is considered a wetland of great importance for nature and human beings due to the diverse ecosystem services it presents. Ecosystem services are given thanks to the roles played by various agents in the ecosystem.

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Aquatic birds are an essential part of ecosystems and provide specific ecosystem services, such as:

• Provision of food for predators.
• Provision of feathers as ornament.
• Control of diseases thanks to the fact that some of them are scavengers.
• Bird-watching.
• Control of plant growth by foraging.
• Seed dispersal and pollination.
• Control of populations of fish, crustaceans, insects, etc.
• Aeration of the soil.