Category: Insects

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Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak

The little thumbnail-sized Hairstreaks are beginning to show up as the busier butterfly time starts in my garden. Just be aware that butterflies can be found all year long all over Costa Rica. iNaturalist has a chart for each species showing when the observations were found and every month has some highs, regardless of the winds and other factors including my garden’s May-October high season, which may be because I have more flowers then. 🙂

Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica, on a Crab’s Claw Heliconia flower.

I’ve seen this little one several times as shown in my GALLERY: Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak, Strymon ziba. And if you are a serious butterfly watcher here in Costa Rica, note that this species is very much like another, Strymon megarus (my gallery link), and the two are easily confused! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

One of my projects over the last few weeks has been to get all of my butterfly observation photos (11 years worth) in iNaturalist and I have nearly completed that tedious posting job with now over 1,500 observation posted on iNaturalist total, which beyond all my butterflies, I have also posted all of my dragonflies and I am in real time now posting other nature photos from day to day but not going back with my 11 year collections, like I just did with butterflies. 🙂

Now all of my Costa Rica butterfly photos will be on both iNaturalist and on butterfliesandmoths.org. Plus all bird photos on eBird and future birds on both. Contributing your image to these volunteer scientific sites will contribute to future research and hopefully the future preservation of many species. I recommend everyone to participate as they can. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Dina Yellow

This, like many yellows, is easily confused with other similar yellows, but what I’m labeling Dina Yellow, Pyrisita dina (my gallery link) is one I’ve seen a lot, especially in my garden.

Dina Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Hecale Longwing

Another Central-America-only butterfly, the Hecale Longwing, Heliconius hecale (zuleika) (my gallery link) which I’ve seen all over Costa Rica, but like with most, there are more photos from my garden because I spend more time here! 🙂

Hecale Longwing, Heliconius hecale, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Leuce Yellow

This Leuce Yellow, Mariposa Amarilla Brasileña, Pyrisitia leuce (my gallery link) was a new species for me last year (2024) and now I am starting the 2025 butterfly season with that species! 🙂

Leuce Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica (on a Lantana flower)
Continue reading “Leuce Yellow”
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White-striped Longtail

One website calls this “Blurry-Striped Longtail,” but I think I prefer White-striped Longtail, Chioides catillus (my gallery link). Just this one shot here plus the feature photo at top. Go to that gallery for more shots in my garden the other day while still windy + more from last year.

White-striped Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And for you butterfly aficionados, yes, he is a lot like the Durantes Longtail, but without that white stripe! Plus he has a longer tail than any of the other Longtails, I think.

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Florida White

The Florida (Giant) White, Glutophrissa drusilla (my gallery link) (formerly Appias drusilla and without the “Giant” in common name) can be found all over Costa Rica even though it’s name implies that it is a butterfly for the state of Florida. 🙂

Florida Giant White, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more butterfly photos + an update on migrants being sent to Costa Rica by Dictator Trump . . .

Continue reading “Florida White”
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Cassius Blue

More different butterflies are beginning to show up like this Cassius Blue, Leptotes cassius (my gallery link) on my driveway the other day while watering the garden (why blacktop is wet). And it was still windy then, but I guess if the caterpillar turns to a butterfly, he has to eat! Windy or not! 🙂

Cassius Blue, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

And oh yeah, he is called a “Blue” because the top of his wings are solid blue, but you only see that when he is flying. He seems to never land with his wings open. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Banded Orange Heliconian

Only my second time to see this species with the other documented with just a cell phone on 8th Avenue in Boquerón Barrio, not far from my house. Thankfully, these photos, made with my Canon camera in my garden, will improve the quality of the photos in my GALLERY: Banded Orange Heliconian, Dryadula phaetusa. 🙂 This is mostly a Central American Butterfly with rare strays in Mexico & SW U.S. as shown on the few Butterflies & Moths postings, but more than 200 observations on iNaturalist CR. 🙂

Banded Orange Heliconian, Dryadula phaetusa, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Continue reading “Banded Orange Heliconian”
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Rounded Metalmark

He’s back! (And while the wind is still blowing!) As one of the most common tiny butterflies in my garden each year, maybe he is signaling the beginning of “butterfly season?” 🙂 The Rounded Metalmark, Calephelis perditalis (my gallery link) is only a little bigger than my thumbnail and yet is one of the most intricately-designed of all the butterflies. I even used a photo of one on my 2023 Christmas Card! 🙂

This one is the first of that species in my garden this year, but I expect there to be many more! 🙂 And a funny thing to me is that all my many photos of this species have come from my garden, not even one from another location in Costa Rica! But iNaturalist CR shows them all over, on both slopes, but with more in the hills and on the Pacific Slope for whatever reason.

Rounded Metalmark, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Rounded Metalmark, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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New Butterfly Species for Me

The Split-banded Owl-Butterfly – Opsiphanes cassina fabricii is a first-time seen butterfly for me and I found him dead on the floor of my bedroom one evening recently. And like with many new ones, it took awhile to identify the species, but I’m going to give credit to iNaturalist Costa Rica for their AI providing the final clue to nail down this identification with a certain amount of confidence that it is correct and the other photos submitted on both iNaturalistCR and on Butterflies&Moths seem to further confirm it. Though even here there is still always a little doubt with some organizations using sub-species, etc. and as an example with this, Butterflies of America uses Opsiphanes cassina fabricii (fabricii as a sub-species), while Butterflies&Moths uses just Opsiphanes cassina (as the overall species) and iNaturalist has the two separated as 2 different species. So I may never be 100% certain! 🙂 But it is still fun and I feel like I am contributing a little toward saving what is left of this planet. And we need everybody’s help for that to happen!

Split-Banded Owl Butterfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

SHARE YOUR NATURE PHOTOS on iNaturalist.org!

If you don’t want to just go there and start using it, try their website HELP PAGE with 5 Getting Started basic questions answered, then go to iNaturalist.org and start both using their IDs & sharing your photos! 🙂 I have it on my phone just for help in identifications and on my laptop computer from where I download my observations. Some younger people use their phone for everything, but that screen is too small for this old man! 🙂 And yeah! I still use a computer mouse and mouse pad too! 🙂

Similarly you can also share your bird photos on eBird and your butterfly & moth photos on BAMONA, butterfliesandmoths.org.

All of these are enormous contributions to scientific research and the conservation of our planet’s animals & plants. Your few observations and contributions added to those of thousands of other people WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Plus you will discover the identification of many things you’ve always wanted to know the name of! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!