Tanna Longtail

Tanna Longtail, Urbanus tanna, is easily confused with the Teleus Longtail, but the 5 white dots in the short white line on his wing separates him from the Teleus. Seen in my garden yesterday, though I am still seeing way fewer butterflies than usual in June.

Tanna Longtail, Atenas, Costa Rica

And though these look like two different butterflies with the dark brown and light brown contrast, they are the same individual in differing light. 🙂

Tanna Longtail, Atenas, Costa Rica

See more in my Tanna Longtail Gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

Salome or Boisduval’s Yellow

Maybe! Again, another yellow that is not an exact match to any in the book or online. Another one I got in my garden a few weeks ago. Nice, whatever he is! 🙂

Salome or Boisduval’s Yellow – Maybe! Atenas, Costa Rica
Salome or Boisduval’s Yellow – Maybe! Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And for those following it, my Saturday morning “Coffee & Art” photo sale did very well. Of course I didn’t sell everything, but I sold a lot! 🙂 THANKS to all who came! You are appreciated!

Recent Butterflies

Though I’m not seeing as many as last June, the variety of butterflies is slowly expanding in my garden. We got almost no rain in May and now it rains every afternoon, which is normal for rainy season, but if anything different this June it is maybe more rain than last year, which may or may not affect the number of butterflies. And I’m also getting fewer birds. Here’s photos of 5 different species seen in the last week.

Dina Yellow, Atenas, Costa Rica
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Wall Art Available in Atenas

I will always prefer that you order wall art directly from my online Photo Gallery which is hosted by SmugMug.com who uses professional printers to print each of these, whether on paper, canvas or my new preference of “Float-mounted Metal Print.” I ordered each of these from my gallery.

There are 11 new ones ordered especially for the new local gallery that did not get established, plus about that many more I already had. You can see them online in two places:

  • Wall Art Images in a sub-gallery in my big Photo Gallery on SmugMug.
  • Or on this website at: Art Gallery at My House, but you have to scroll down past the floral accent pillows which I listed first with wall art second. Everything available is presented there on one page, while in the galleries there is a separate sub-gallery for each category.

The feature photo is one of the bigger images, a sunset from Cancun with Costa Rica on that horizon! 🙂 And below is one of the four Red-eyed Tree Frog photos available.

Red-eyed Tree Frog at Arenal Observatory Lodge, 20×16 inches, Metal, $100 USD or ¢55,000 CRC.

¡Pura Vida!

Coffee & Art, June 24, 9-12 am

Come and Go as you please! – ¡Ven y Vete como quieras!

Recent Butterflies

I’ve been way too busy in the past month and looking forward to slowing down and spending more time photographing nature! BUT, in all the recent “busy-ness” I did walk through parts of my gardens each morning and though early for the peak of butterflies here, I’ve seen quite a variety. Here’s5 or 6 different species in my gardens recently . . .

One of the Epimecis Group of Moths – possibly a baby Epimecis hortaria, Tulip Tree Beauty. This was only about an inch wide at most.
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Plain Longtail Skipper

Not as colorful as other butterflies but still an important part of the ecology of our planet where there are more insects than all other animals and people combined and the rest of the earth depends on them!  🙂   Plain Longtail Skipper, Urbanus simplicius. And for you who are identifiers, let me add that I had some trouble identifying this one, with the side view, to me, being more like the Teleus Longtail but I think the fainter white lines on the tops of the wings is what makes this one a “Plain Longtail,” along with the location of the white on his antennae. Here’s 4 shots from different views . . .

Plain Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

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A “Bright Scintillant” or Subspecies of “Rounded Metalmark”?

My best printed source of butterfly identification is the book A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America by Jeffrey Glassberg. In that book this butterfly is labeled as a “Bright Scintillant,” but rather than giving a scientific name, it just says it is one of the “Calephelis species.” The butterfly website I volunteer for (butterfliesandmoths.org) does not have Bright Scintillant nor does its backup website, butterfliesofamerica.com, therefore I and others have put this one in “Rounded Metalmark, Calephelis peritalis, a part of the “Calephelis species” as the book says. But according to the Glasberg book, the white dots on the upper edges of the the forward wing make this one different from the Rounded Metalmark in the book. I do not know who is the final authority on butterfly names, but hope this one is at least made a subspecies of the Rounded Metalmark! And identification of the myriad of butterflies in Costa Rica will always have its challenges like this!  🙂   Here’s two shots of the latest I have seen of the above butterfly in my garden . . .

Bright Scintillant or Rounded Metalmark, Atenas, Costa Rica

Continue reading “A “Bright Scintillant” or Subspecies of “Rounded Metalmark”?”