Category: Flowers

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Laverna Metalmark or Laverna Calephelis

This species, Calephelis laverna (my gallery link) was seen almost daily last year but only a few times this year and it is one I have had trouble identifying with none of the expert identifiers responding to my submissions on iNaturalist or BAMONA. With the Glassberg book I gave it the Rounded Metalmark, Calephelis perditalis, identification. Later with more photos to compare with on iNaturalist, I changed to Calephelis laverna (mainly because of the bits of white on the border). iNaturalist doesn’t use a “common name” while Butterflies of America calls it Laverna Calephelis (reversing the scientific name word order which they generally do when there is not a known “common name” and BAMONA always follows Butterflies of America.

But I am still hoping for an “expert” to confirm or change this identification. Until then, this is my best effort at identification. It is found from Mexico to Brazil, so the location fits. Just one photo from my garden on October 1 and thus the beginning of October nature photos . . .

Calephelis laverna, a tiny Metalmark butterfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And Me Photographing in my Garden . . .

One of my gardeners snapped this shot of me trying to photograph another butterfly! 🙂

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Broken Silverdrop – New View

Most of my photos of this species and most in online systems show side views of the Broken Silverdrop, Epargyreus exadeus cruza (my gallery link) with this top view being the second top view on both iNaturalist & BAMONA, so a unique photo! And I have 2 top views in my gallery! 🙂 The feature and two other photos here . . .

Broken Silverdrop, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica (unusual top view)
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Marcellina Sulphur

This is a new yellow butterfly for me this year with sightings in my garden in July, August & September as shown in the gallery Marcellina Sulphur, Phoebis marcellina. There are many different yellows as you can see in their “Family Gallery” of my photos: Pieridae – WHITES, YELLOWS & SULPHURS (40 species). I will never tire of all the unique species of butterflies found here in Costa Rica and the almost continuous finding of new species like this one. Tomorrow I will share a photo of a more common Yellow seen here, the Dina Yellow. But here is just one photo of the Marcellina Sulphur . . .

Marcellina Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Wind’s Skipper

Seen in my garden before, another big brown, fuzzy Skipper that at times seem like the majority of the butterflies! 🙂 I’ve had this one in my garden one other time, back in 2023 as shown in my gallery: Wind’s Skipper, Windia windi. (Linked to the gallery.)

Wind’s Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Difficult to Identify

This is one of those that are almost impossible to identify with no matches in any of my sources of those spots and other characteristics. The AI called Google Lens is for the entire world and on difficult individuals like this one, they might call it a butterfly that lives only in Asia or Africa, so not as helpful on ones like this as they are on very unique and unusual insects they can find another photo of. So far, iNaturalista’s AI is the most helpful on butterflies, but not always. In the case of this one, as far as they will go in identification is to put it in the Hesperini Tribe which is pretty broad or general. As I write this, I haven’t yet posted these photos on iNaturalist yet. But when I do there is a real possibility that one of the experts who have devoted their lives to butterflies will have an identification, but not always. Here’s three photos of this Skipper Butterfly that I cannot ID:

Unidentified Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Difficult to Identify”
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Telemiades Genus Skipper

I think it is most likely the Telemiades nicomedes, but not sure, so giving it the genus name. iNaturalist uses the genus name a lot as you can see on this Genus Telemiades page of iNaturalist Costa Rica.

Telemiades Genus of Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Unusual Flowers with Unusual Names

As my last post from the Tortuguero Adventure, I’m introducing just one of several unusual flowers at Tortuga Lodge & Gardens which help them live up to the “gardens” part of their name. The iNaturalist AI is “confident” that the flowers in both of these photos are in the Genus Columnea (linked to Wikipedia taxonomy article) or you can see other examples in Costa Rica that have been submitted with that genus, including some with specific species, on iNaturalistCR-Genus-Columnea. And as the first “suggestion” species on both these similar but different photos, they give the species name Columnea nicaraguensis. (linked to photos of that species on iNaturalist Costa Rica). And that is most likely the correct species of these two photos even though they seem a little different.

Columnea nicaraguensis, Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica
Columnea nicaraguensis, Tortuga Lodge & Gardens, Tortuguero National Park, Limón, Costa Rica

Be sure to check out the FLOWERS gallery in the Trip Gallery and notice other interesting flowers like the Peacock Flower, Night-scented Orchid and Pheasant’s Tail! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Tomorrow it is back to photos from my garden and for about a week, shots made in early September that I held for now. 🙂

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Tortuguero Trip Gallery

CLICK IMAGE to go to the gallery or . . .

Go to: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2025-09-08-12-Tortuga-Lodge-Gardens-Tortuguero

For the last two weeks I’ve shared photos made on my 4-night trip to “The Amazon of Costa Rica,” Tortuguero National Park. And that was only the “tip of the iceberg” of the many photos made. See them all in the above gallery! Having this kind of nature adventures is why I chose to live out my retirement in Costa Rica and it has already surpassed my hopes and dreams and though I have to slow down some, the adventures continue! Sometimes in my little backyard garden! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!