a little wild   (a small slice of wildlife)

A couple of days in Amboli. Amboli is in the western ghats, which is a world hot-spot of amphibian bio-diversity. It’s a huge tourist attraction in the monsoon season, less so in the summer.

I first looked around the guest house, Mrugaya Amboli (https://www.mrugayaamboli.com/). Our guide was Yash Patil, a terrific naturalist and, as we later found out, an extremely talented self-taught photographer and videographer. Please check out his instagram https://www.instagram.com/rah_bhatka/

Here’s an unidentified grasshopper with beautiful eyes:

I don’t understand what’s going on here. I took the photo thinking that these were eggs, which may still be true. But it got more confusing when I zoomed in.

There are some creatures at the “head” of the long tubular “eggs”. They look too small to have emerged from the eggs. The eggs are tubular and collapsed and empty. This got a little traction from some entomologists as an engaging mystery :-).

I think the consensus is wax secretions from scale insect males, perhaps Monophlebidae –> Icerya? Suggested on Facebook.

To make it more interesting, there appears to be a predatory mite munching away.

This photo was taken nearby:

• Order Hemiptera 
• Suborder Auchenorrhyncha 
• Infraorder Fulgoromorpha 
• Superfamily Fulgoroidea
• Family Fulgoridae 
• Subfamily Dichopterinae
• Tribe Dichopterini
• Genus Dichoptera

A Pompilid, perhaps Liris cf subtessalatus? The blue color on the back was very nice.

Another perhaps Liris:

Another Ichneumonid wasp, maybe Metopius or Euceros as per iNat:

A Nilgiri keelback snake:

I asked Yash for tarantulas, so he took us on a night walk. Spoiler: lots of tarantulas, but zero photographs. Maybe one day I will be more patient than the tarantulas are shy. Also, perhaps a glimpse of a tailless whip-scorpion!

BUT: my first sightings, and first photo, of a Mygalomorph!!! Please see below.

This spider is perhaps in Neoscona:

One of the stars of the night for me!!! Indian tiger centipede, huge, maybe 12 cm or so. Scolopendra hardwickei

A lovely ant-lion, one of the Giant Ant-Lions. According to the knowledgeable gentleman at iNaturalist:

• Order Neuroptera 
• Suborder Myrmeleontiformia 
• Superfamily Myrmeleontoidea 
• Family Myrmeleontidae 
• Subfamily Ascalaphinae 
• Tribe Palparini 
• Genus Stenares

This is interesting for various reasons! First of all, as a member of Ascalaphinae, it’s technically not an ant-lion, but an owlfly, which makes it the first owlfly I’ve ever seen.

Next, there aren’t a lot of Stenares found. He also suggested it might be S. harpyia, which has zero confirmed sightings on iNat, and has only recently (over the last year or two) been discovered in the Western Ghats region. Previously it was only seen in India in Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

This was exciting!!! My first good sighting and photograph of a Mygalomorph!!! This is apparently family Ischnothelidae. Genus perhaps Indothele (I. dumicola suggested, but very difficult to pin down based on these photos), they are present in India at least.

Note the two very long spinnerets at the back (could be easily mistaken for legs).

There is a serious lack of information on the web about this family! And not a ton of sightings in India.

To make it more interesting, on iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/353036314) this was further refined to Indothele amboli:

Tripathi, R., Kadam, G., Sherwood, D. & Sudhikumar, A. V. 2025. Revision of Indian Ischnothelidae (Arachnida: Araneae) and descriptions of two new species of Indothele Coyle, 1995. European Journal of Taxonomy 981: 189-212.

There are currently no reports of I. amboli in iNaturalist, but I know that Mr Atish Gawai has taken photos of a similar spider, in the same area.

Amboli leaping frog:

iNat suggests perhaps genus Thereuopoda for this centipede:

Lovely camouflaged spider in Cyclosa. I recognized it as a Cyclosa web immediately, but it *still* was tough to decide whether the lump was a spider or debris.

Another Amboli leaping frog:

Malabar spotted flat, a butterfly that spreads its wings. This is with flash, the actual view was much darker.

This is what they look like without the flash:

This one is perhaps:

Family Geometridae 
Subfamily Sterrhinae 
Tribe Scopulini
Genus Scopula
Scopula caesaria

A lovely whipsnake Ahaetulla? Aka Green vine snake

Chrysomelid beetle:

It was in a general mishmash:

In Hubballi, a Physocyclus cf globosus, cellar spider, perhaps short-bodied cellar spider

Stratiomyidae, perhaps Odontomyia:

• Family Stratiomyidae 
• Subfamily Stratiomyinae
• Tribe Stratiomyini
• Genus Odontomyia

This was on a laterite plateau. We spent some time exploring this plateau, which is part of an biome being recognized as a fascinating and unique eco-system found nowhere else. They are characterized by very little soil cover which leads to little water retention and a boom and bust cycle in the summer and rainy season. However, since they composed of porous rock, they act as water reservoirs for the surrounding areas. See: https://roundglasssustain.com/habitats/laterite-plateaus-maharashtra

We discussed coming back in the monsoon season with a waterproof lens to investigate the life in the monsoon, which would be wonderful.

Also on the laterite plateau. iNaturalists says:

Phylum Tracheophyta 
Subphylum Angiospermae 
Class Liliopsida 
Order Poales 
Family Eriocaulaceae 
Genus Eriocaulon 
Eriocaulon sexangulare

gecko eggs:

on a hike, porcupine scat:

And leopard scat. Note the white parts: these are not fungus, but are calcium from the bones consumed.

Some landscape photos:

waterfall on the way to Amboli:

The view at the top of the hike was stunning:

focus soft? 😦