Category: Insects

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Polydamas Swallowtail

It was still windy when I captured this very determined butterfly feeding on the flowers. Maybe the worse part of the January to March constant winds blowing here is no butterflies! And somewhat also my allergies to the constant dust blowing in! 🙂 But the Polydamas Swallowtail (my gallery link) seems to be one of those few tough (or strong) butterflies who can fly in the winds and is maybe the most seen butterfly during this time period. I do also see some Banded Peacocks and tiny brown Skippers in my garden, but only occasionally, plus way up in the trees are some Yellows that seem to stay high, with almost no other butterflies. But that will start changing in April & May as the winds stop and my peak of butterflies in my garden is May to September! And yes, that is the rainy season. Just one shot of this Polydamas.

Polydamas Swallowtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Birding Gallery

The last of the three day trips that I participated in with my Canadian Friends was to the Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve better known here for its Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel where we had breakfast after a couple of hours of birding. And the clouds never lifted or burned off the entire time we were there. Click the first page of that gallery below to access it or if you prefer an address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/Birding-at-Villa-Blanca-Cloud-Forest-Reserve

CLICK THIS IMAGE OF THE GALLERY to go to it.

¡Pura Vida!

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Carara National Park Gallery ready

Because we went after the Rio Tarcoles trip, it was too late in day for many birds, I got only 2 species, but I did get 10 species of other wildlife including some interesting species like the Helmeted Iguana, stick moth caterpillar, etc. and one of my dark monkey shots is visible. Click the first page of gallery below to enter or if you prefer an address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/Hiking-Carara-NP

CLICK ABOVE IMAGE to go to the gallery.

I earlier did a post on the Helmeted Iguana and one on the Stink Bug, two of the 10 “Other Wildlife” seen at Carara this time. See gallery.

And tomorrow I will hopefully have completed the gallery for our morning visit to Los Angeles Cloud Forest Reserve and Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Hotel.

¡Pura Vida!

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Peruvian Shield Mantis

The Peruvian Shield Mantis – Choeradodis rhombicollis (Wikipedia link) is found mostly in Central & South American tropics. I photographed this one last week at Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort. And yes, he is related to the Praying Mantis, also found here. In my gallery I have him with other Hooded Mantises, Genus Choeradodis. But both iNaturalist & Google Lens were specific with a species name on this one. 🙂

Peruvian Shield Mantis, Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort, San Ramon, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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A “Stink Bug” at Carara Park

I haven’t found a species match yet, but sure that it is in this super family: Stink Bugs, Shield Bugs, and Allies Superfamily Pentatomoidea (linked to an iNaturalist page on this family).

Ond of many different species of “Stink Bugs” in Costa Rica, Carara National Park, Puntarenas.

¡Pura Vida!


And for more bugs, my gallery: More Costa Rica Insects which is separate from my Butterfly & dragonfly galleries. 🙂

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Augochlorine Sweat Bees, Tribe Augochlorini

This tiny little bee on the Spadix of an Anthurium (not a large pistil) was, I first thought, a Green Orchid Bee, but the AI of iNaturalist says no, it is one of many different species of sweat bees and once I post it on iNaturalist, it may or may not be given a species name, just the Tribe Augochlorini. He will go in my general Bees Gallery with only this tribal name for now. 🙂 He is less than half the size of yesterday’s orchid bee.

Augochlorine Sweat Bees, Tribe Augochlorini, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

My First 2026 Photography Day Trip Today

Early this morning Walter will take me and a group of 4 Canadian friends to breakfast at El Jardin on our way to a birding boat trip on Rio Tarcoles to its mouth on the coast followed by a birding hike in nearby Carara National Park, then lunch somewhere on our way back to Atenas. This is the second time I’ve arranged this always productive birding trip for this group.

Then on Thursday we go, at their request, to a mountain Cloud Forest Reserve north of San Ramon. There will not be as many birds there but all will be different from what was seen on the coast. Plus that 6:30am guided hike will be followed by a great “farm to table” breakfast at the Villa Blanca Cloud Forest Resort. I spent a couple of nights there during my earlier years in Costa Rica (2017) and it is nice, but I photographed only 9 species of birds that one time there. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Belted Orchid Bee

The unusual “Cigar Plant,” Pampano or Gadetea in Spanish (Calathea lutea, scientific name) doesn’t attract many birds (an occasional hummingbird) but this large bee seems to like its nectar. The Belted Orchid Bee, Eulaema cingulata, is one of 8+ species in my Bees Gallery for Costa Rica. I may soon break that gallery up into species galleries. And with the mostly windy days now, bees are sometimes all I can find to photograph! But tomorrow I go birding with some visiting Canadian friends to Rio Tarcoles & Carara National Park, so that will boost my lagging daily photos! 🙂

Belted Orchid Bee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Yummy Cicada for Breakfast?

That is what this Tropical Kingbird (my gallery link) was eating one morning last week. 🙂

Tropical Kingbird eating a Cicada, My Garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Giant White

This was in my garden and not the cow pasture, but with the strong winds this time of year I’m seeing a lot fewer of any species in the garden, though this one has been pretty common in the past as you can see in my Gallery: Giant White, Ganyra josephina. Note that all of them have been seen in Atenas! 🙂 Two shots from the other day . . .

Giant White, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Hesperini Tribe

This tribe level identification means it will be difficult even for the experts to identify, as that is as far down the ID latter the iNaturalist AI would go and I’m certainly unqualified to go farther. It may end up being a common species with two anomalies, that dark “plate” or whatever on his back or shoulders and the whitish tip of his tail. Neither characteristic matches any of the similar species photos I could find, so I’m leaving it at the tribe level. 🙂 Found in the cow pasture and it is the last one from that visual adventure. 🙂 This tribe is also called “branded grass skippers” which is appropriate for one found in the grasses of a cow pasture! 🙂

Hesperini Tribe or branded grass skipper butterfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

An added side-note on that walk along the cow pasture in my shorts is that, when I got back to the house, both legs were itching all over, possibly from some insect in the grasses or allergic reaction to some plant. A generous lathering of Allergel took care of that itching pretty quickly! 🙂 This is all from the cow pasture for now. Back to my garden! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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