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This is a Blue-eyed Setwing, Dythemis nigra (linked to my Gallery) which is not a new species for me and these photo IDs have been confirmed by iNaturalist. I have both dragonflies and damselflies visiting my garden somewhat regularly, though they tend to stay closer to the water of a stream across the cow pasture from me. Two shots from different angles . . .
¡Pura Vida!
See my GALLERIES: Dragonflies & Damselflies Costa Rica
You can see more in my GALLERY: Leaves and Nature Things.
¡Pura Vida!
. . . for me at least, and for BAMONA, as I had to ask for the additional species, though there are lots (160) of observations on iNaturalist CR. This was of course in my garden, on the “Once de abril” or Golden Dewdrop flowering shrub (Duranta erecta). The butterfly is the Anius Metalmark (Charis anius), one of the tiny (thumbnail sized) Metalmarks. In addition to the iNat observations above you can find a little bit of info on iNaturalista Costa Rica. It is found from Honduras south to Brazil. No other information seems to be online nor in my books. I got only two shots before he disappeared.
¡Pura Vida!
At almost opposite times of the year I get two crops of Maraca Flowers each year with red ones in November in my front gardens and these yellow ones in April to June in my back garden, which is always the larger of the two crops. Some North Americans or other English speakers call them “Shampoo Ginger” or “Pinecone Ginger” while Costa Ricans call them “Maracas.” My first time to see them was on one of my expeditions to Guatemala and loved this tropical oddity from the beginning. And its aromatic liquid in the bracts can actually be used as a shampoo or conditioner. 🙂 The scientific name is Zingiber zerumbet and they are usually red, yellow or orange in color.
And on the other side of my house (streetside) are the red ones now dying out as these yellow one come in. I don’t know why they are on different schedules, but it means I always have some Maracas blooming! 🙂
Continue reading “This Year’s Maraca Crop”
A nice colorful heliconian that I was glad to see in my garden the other day, Mexican Silverspot, Dione moneta (my gallery link). It’s the colorful ones that are called “flying flowers.” 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
“The time to protect a species is while it is still common.”
― Rosalie Edge
Back in 2017 when my artist friend and next door neighbor, Anthony Jeroski, returned to the states, I got his favorite pot plant, a Desert Rose. It has been one of my favorites also and has literally bloomed constantly, year around, these past 7 years. I repotted it back then and since it seemed a little crowded recently, I had one of the plant nurseries (viveros) repot it for me this time. 🙂
I’ve had a Crown of Thorns that also bloomed year around, but it finally died, while this little guy just keeps on producing! The feature photo is of the new pot which was dormant at first (or in shock) for about a month in its new pot, but has started blooming again and will soon have blooms on every stem! Here’s one shot for the emailed version, followed by the online gallery of multiple shots. Another one of my many joys of being retired in Costa Rica! 🙂
Just playing around with photos of the indigenous man statue in my garden with 5 different views . . .
is here in my garden eating one of the brilliant Green Orchid Bees. Asilidae is the Family of robber flies or assassin flies with many different species, especially here in the tropics, so I’m not likely to find the species name, but will hope someone on iNaturalist knows! 🙂 You can read about them in the Asilidae article on Wikipedia. Another fun little insect here in Costa Rica! 🙂 And Robber Flies pretty much all over the Americas! And you can see other photos on iNaturalist Costa Rica with a map of where the many photos there have come from.
See some of my other interesting CR insect photos in that gallery link.
¡Pura Vida!
Well, it is a little trouble getting there, but almost always productive when I walk the 10 blocks through town to get to Calle Nueva and this May 10 walk gave me 10 species of butterflies which I finish today. Tomorrow I’ll share the 3 birds I photographed and the next day the other wildlife, then back to sharing from my garden! 🙂
These two little guys are always nice, even when one is damaged like this time: Tailed Orange – Pyrisitia proterpia (iNaturalist CR link since I have no gallery yet.) and the more common Whirlabout Skipper – Polites vibex (my gallery link). This was my first sighting of a Tailed Orange!
¡Pura Vida!
I used the iNaturalist A-I to hep identify this which, if correct is a new species for me. Laverna Metalmark, Calephelis laverna (iNaturalist link) is similar to other Metalmarks in my Metalmarks Gallery. I haven’t submitted it to iNaturalist yet, to see if the identifiers there agree with this ID. Here’s two shots from Calle Nueva . . .
¡Pura Vida!