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To me everything in nature is a work of art and that includes some very tiny any unusual insects. Here’s 5 or counting the little black dot in one photo, 6 insects that I cannot identify but are a part of the colorful nature found at Xandari Costa Rica.
. . . and I think one of these 9 is actually a moth, but I can’t find an ID. The immense variety of butterflies and moths here in Costa Rica can be overwhelming at times but is also one of the joys of being here! 🙂 It depends on which website or book you read, but with more species still being discovered here, some say there are now 1,500+ known species of butterflies and over 12,000 species of moths (not all identified), so it is not surprising that I can’t find an ID for everyone I photograph. 🙂
And as is my practice, one photo here for the emailed announcement of this post, followed by a gallery of all 9 final butterflies (maybe 2 are moths) from my visit to Xandari Costa Rica last week. I may still share some other photos from that very unique hotel in Alajuela and then back to nature shots around where I live for the next two weeks before my Caribbean trip the 19th of September. Pura vida!
. . . from my brief two-night trip to Xandari Resort in Alajuela continues to show the amazing number of butterflies at this forest hotel less than an hour away from my house! I’m still not sure of the total and have four I can’t identify, but I will share 9 or 10 more tomorrow as the final batch of butterflies from Xandari before focusing on those around my house again.
As usual, one photo here for the email announcement of the blog post, then followed online with a gallery of all 10 butterflies. And again 11 photos because I want to show the big difference in the top and bottom side of the wings of one, the Starred Oxeo, even though almost all butterflies have different patterns on top and bottom, with this one just being a more drastic difference. Enjoy!
I already knew that Xandari was good for butterflies, but really didn’t think I would photograph this many species! And I’m still processing the photos and identifying, but it now looks like about 30 species. I could share one a day for the next 30 days but that would not be fair to you who are faithful readers of this blog, so just 3 days of Xandari butterflies! 🙂
One shot for the email notice of the blog and then a gallery of all 10 with actually 11 photos because one is so different with folded wings that you must see both views! 🙂
Well, it was just two nights away, one of my shortest overnight trips yet in Costa Rica, and I was planning on a blog post each night. But first it was Google Chrome, then MS Edge and finally Firefox browser that all refused to let me into my own website to post (and one other site) saying I was on an “unsafe connection (hotel Wifi) and that someone at my own website might steal by personal information including credit card numbers.” 🙂 Grrrrrrrrr.
So I just took a respite from the blog. No big deal. And here are the photos I was going to post that first night there (Wednesday) simply showing my room. The large rooms, or really spacious villas, plus the overall architecture is the highlight of Xandari Costa Rica for most guests, that and also the original art and statuary in every room and in the gardens. Then the first class restaurant and for nature lovers like me, a protected rainforest with 5 waterfalls and beautiful gardens around the buildings plus for other people, 3 pools and a Spa! It was a good respite and even though fewer birds this time (fewer all over Central Valley because of the strange weather this year), I photographed 5 or 6 birds plus more that 25 species (still counting) of butterflies with about 6 new or first-time seen species for me! Here’s one photo of one of the butterflies for the email version of the post, followed by a gallery of 6 shots from my room . . .
The Orange-barred Sulphur, Phoebis philea (Link to butterflies&moths website) is one that does not land with open wings very much, meaning you seldom see the orange bars! And when he lands with folded wings I think he looks a lot like the Cloudless Sulphur, having similar spots on the bottom of both their wings, though Clouded has a faint brown border to help you see the difference. My Orange-barred Gallery includes these plus the first one I photographed back in 2015 at the Yorkin Bribri Indigenous Reserve in Limón Province.
Another first time seen butterfly for me and this time it is one seen in the lower half of the U.S, Calpodes ethlius or Brazilian Skipper (link to butterflies&moths site). It is found from Argentina north through maybe half of the USA.
¡Pura Vida!
The Frosted Flasher, Astraptes alardus (butterflies & moths website) is found from Argentina throughout Central America to Mexico and Cuba. This is my first record of one in my garden, though several flashers can look alike. 🙂 The “frosted” is that wide white band on the underneath side of his wing. Here’s 4 photos from yesterday and you can see more in my Frosted Flasher Gallery. The butterflies are abundant here this year! 🙂
The White Angled Sulphur, Anteos clorinde (link to butterflies&moths site), is not new to me and when I get my photos loaded to that website I think I will have some of the better photos there, but I haven’t gotten to my White Angled Sulphur GALLERY yet. 🙂 Check it out!
I’ve been very busy with so many butterflies to photograph in my garden daily (and almost no birds for some reason) plus I still haven’t caught up with identifying and approving all the submissions from Costa Rica to the butterflies & moths website (very time-consuming!) that I don’t have time to get my own photos submitted! 🙂
Here’s 3 shots of today’s White Angled-Sulphur . . .
Eusalasia Cheles is the scientific name of this new butterfly for me and it will be new for butterfliesandmoths.org website that I volunteer for after my request to add it as a species is processed and my photos will then be their first! 🙂 My garden is becoming a rich source of butterflies!
It is found only in Costa Rica and Panama and there is not much online about it with only pictures of pinned specimens on the most prolific butterfliesofamerica.com. For the common name, they just reverse the scientific name, calling it “Cheles Eusalasia” while my Butterflies of Mexico and Central America book has the common name of “Dimorphic Sombermark,” with “sombermarks” being a subspecies category of “metalmarks.” Here are my 5 photos of one that first came in my house before I shooed him back into the garden! 🙂
