Category: Butterflies

Butterflies photographed in Costa Rica and nearby

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Guava Skipper

My second time to see this colorful butterfly was almost two weeks ago (yeah, I’m writing posts way ahead again, but will do it live daily on my trip in July). It was after breakfast, walking in my garden, when I found him. The Guava Skipper, Phocides polybius (Wikipedia link) is found from South Texas through Mexico and all of Central America down to Argentina. My only other time to see one was at Xandari Resort Alajuela for my birthday in 2019. Those photos plus these here can be seen in my Guava Skipper Gallery.

The one at Xandari was bluer than this one which is darker or close to black. And it is interesting that most of my butterfly photos at home show them on a Porterweed flower even though I have many other flowers. An obvious preference for butterflies and hummingbirds! 🙂 And by the way, they are called “Guava” because they lay their eggs on a Guava Plant, which is somewhere between a shrub and a small tropical tree. 🙂

Guava Skipper, Atenas, Costa Rica

Now here’s six shots in a slideshow for a change . . .

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Blue-winged Sheenmark

This is my fourth time to see one of these colorful butterflies and all but one was in my garden, with the other one at Xandari Nature Resort in Alajuela. See my Blue-winged Sheenmark Gallery or see other people’s photos at this Butterflies of America site. I found no thorough articles online except to note that they’ve been reported from SE Mexico south through all of Central America to Ecuador. In other words another of those mainly in Central America butterflies! 🙂

Blue-winged Sheenmark, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Dorantes Longtail

This Dorantes Longtail, Urbanus dorantes (Link is to butterfliesandmoths.org) was in my garden the 3 or 4 weeks ago with one of the yellows being the only two at that time. I wrote this post and then forgot about it, lost in my “drafts.” 🙂 This one is found from Argentina north through Central America and Mexico to South Texas and Florida plus the West Indies. I’m expecting more butterflies to start arriving soon or sometime in June.

Dorantes Longtail, Roca Verde, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Salome Yellow, Eurema salome

This butterfly in my garden is like many of the others, hard to identify, but the closest match in my book and online seems to be Salome Yellow (Eurema salome) (link to butterfliesandmoths.org). The book was more helpful for this butterfly than this online site though other sites verified the single spot on top. While the bottom side of the wings is very similar to both the Cloudless Sulphur and Tailed Sulphur, the heavier border and single dark dot on top seals it for this species, I think! 🙂

Salome Yellow (Eurema salome), Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Brilliant Blue Metalmark

Occasionally I realize how much I would miss if I had a car instead of walking to town. 🙂 More than just reducing my carbon footprint and helping my health by walking, I get the serendipity of seeing a new or rare butterfly or bird – like this one! Another lifer!

As with the Western Pygmy-blue seen at Chachagua, this one is tiny or thumbnail sized (a tiny bit larger than the Pygmy-blue) and my first time to see or photograph this Blue Metalmark – Lasaia sula Staudinger (butterfliesandmoths.org link).

One house that I always pass on the way to town has lots of flowers and by their corner they have an occasional bed of zinnias, not oft seen here. This metalmark was on the zinnias with a Polydamas Swallowtail and I got photos of both with my cell phone before continuing on toward town. 🙂 What a life! 🙂

Blue Metalmark, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Chachagua Trip Gallery

Though I still have another week’s worth of blog posts about my visit to Chachagua Rainforest Hotel, I have also completed the photo gallery on this trip for anyone who wants to see all the shots from this trip together in one place. 🙂 CLICK on the image of first page of gallery below which this time is all in just 3 folders: Birds, Other Wildlife and Hotel Grounds.

First Page of this “Trip Gallery” – CLICK to visit the gallery.

If that image click doesn’t work, try this new SmugMug Gallery Address URL: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2022-May-16-21-Chachagua-Rainforest-Hotel-San-Ramon-Alajuela

¡Pura Vida!

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Western Pygmy-Blue, Brephidium exilis

UPDATE & CORRECTION, April 2024:

I made a big mistake when I first identified this back in 2022. The real identity is Simple Sarota, Sarota acantus. Sorry for any inconvenience! I first made the correction with a blog post April 14, 2024: Correcting a Butterfly ID. Then later decided I should make it here also.

I’m still going through photos from my visit to Chachagua Rainforest Hotel in San Ramon Canton of Alajuela Province and just discovered a new favorite that has taken a lot of work with the photos to get them visible. They are of a teeny tiny butterfly the size of a fingernail or at most my thumbnail! And with an internet search I discovered that it is a Western Pygmy-Blue, Brephidium exilis (Wikipedia article link). In my photos he/she is on the leaf of a flower and then on the stem of a flower. It is about the size of a fingernail or thumbnail, the smallest I’ve ever photographed and websites say it is one of the smallest in the world and the smallest in the Americas, found from the western U.S. south through Venezuela. They come in many color combinations and I think mine is prettier than any I saw online! 🙂 It wasn’t included in my earlier Rainforest Butterflies post because I had not processed these photos yet, made on my last day there in one of their gardens.

Western Pygmy-Blue Butterfly, Chachagua Rainforest Hotel, San Ramon, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Rainforest Butterflies

I managed to get photos of 6 butterflies at Chachagua Rainforest Hotel out of about 10 different species I saw. These aren’t great photos but they document what I saw all over the hotel property from gardens to the lakes. Of these 6, four are first-time-seen butterflies for me, all but the Yellow and the White Peacock. Here’s one photo for the email announcement of this post, then all 6 are in a gallery in the full post online.

Unidentified Butterfly at Chachagua Rainforest Hotel, San Ramon, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
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