Though I did not get a folded wing view with the double stripes, the golden-based color of the bluish/turquoise back identify this longtail as the Double-striped Longtail (butterfliesandmoths site) which seems to be rarely seen. This is my first sighting that I know of. If you browse my CR Butterflies Galleries you will see that there are several other “Longtail” Skippers besides this one and each is interesting. And like so many of the butterflies, there are several others that look a lot like this one, especially this time the Esmeralda Longtail, Urbanus esmeraldus.
English-language websites say dragonfly groups are either clusters, flights or swarms and swarm implies a lot more than the 6 to 8 I had circling my garden the other day, do I assume looking for food? 🙂 The term “flight” is appropriate with my group because they never landed anywhere in my yard but just kept flying around in circles like they were looking for something until they flew away from my yard.
Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens), Atenas, Costa Rica
Now that I’m getting used to my Costa Rica Dragonfly/Damselfly book, I’m more comfortable identifying these guys as the Wandering Glider, Pantala flavescens (Wikipedia link), whose name indicates that they have the “habit of long-term flying and then hanging up vertically” in a tree or other plant. They did not “hang” at my place but moved on. Since all dragonflies breed in and generally stay around water, they are probably from the little stream on the other side of the cow pasture in front of my house. This species is known for its long flights, but evidently my yard was not far enough for what they wanted. 🙂
Another reason for this ID is that the book says they are “the only medium-sized skimmer gold or yellow-orange overall.” That plus the red eyes and reddish or gold spots on the tip of their wings clinches the ID. Two more photos:
I think this is a beautiful “Swallowtail-Like” butterfly that I’ve seen two other times before this; once before in my garden and once at Villa Calletas Hotel in Jaco Beach on the Pacific Coast. I know that at first glance, the spots above the crescents seem red rather than pink, but if you look at my top-view photo you can tell that they are more pink in some light. 🙂 Here’s four different photo views of one in my garden a week ago yesterday.
I’m seeing fewer grasshoppers now than just a few years ago, like with so many of the insects that are decreasing in numbers or going extinct, even in species-rich Costa Rica (11,000+ species of grasshoppers). I don’t have an identity on this little fellow of about an inch long, but the first grasshopper in my yard in a long time! I would encourage you to read a book I just started titled Rebugging the Planet: The Remarkable Things that Insects (and Other Invertebrates) Do – And Why We Need to Love Them More by Vicki Hird. As humans continue to cut down the forests and pour concrete and insecticides over the earth we are systematically destroying the natural earth including creatures necessary for our own survival. This little book is a great starting point for some people to begin “re-wilding” the earth! Time is running out! And I also recommend the documentary series INSECT PLANET on Curiosity Stream.
Unidentified Tiny Grasshopper, Atenas, Costa Rica.
Because I’m choosing IDs for a website now I am even more cautious or unsure of my identifications now and still don’t have an expert to run it by. But this seems to be the closest match out of around a dozen orange and brown Skipper butterflies in my book, A Swift Guide to Butterflies of Mexico and Central America, which I still depend on mostly. The website I’m volunteering for as Costa Rica Coordinator has so many different photos of this species that it makes it even more confusing, but as one of the most frequently cited species in this color I’m probably safe. 🙂 Size: about as big as my thumb.
Here’s my five totally different views of this orangey butterfly from two different days in my garden that I hope I have labeled correctly . . .
I really struggled with the ID on this butterfly, thinking at first it was one of the Sarota Jewelmarks which are all tiny, but the patterns just did not match any of them. Then moving into the Metalmarks I found two that had similar patterns with colors and dark center matching best with the Rounded Metalmark, Caliphelis perditalis (link to butterfliesandmoths.org). There seem to be a lot of these in Mexico and Texas while I’m the first to note one in Costa Rica on the above website. Here’s two shots from different angles, though he never landed with his wings folded which is the other shot I try to get for ID purposes . . .
Not a new butterfly for me though the first one seen this year. It is beautiful in it’s own complicated sort of way like a paisley design? 🙂
The scientific name is Smyrna blomfildia (Butterfliesandmoths.org) and it is found throughout Central America and Mexico and the southwestern fringes of the United States. Just two shots here and FYI, that is a narrow ceiling level screen for air flow in my laundry room (much lint) and I did vacuum the screen after seeing these photos! 🙂
Blomfild’s Beauty, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa RicaBlomfild’s Beauty, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
This month is my second time to see one of these in my garden in June 2020 when I did a blog post first titled “Flying Shrimp” and then went back and changed it when someone told me it was a “Hummingbird Moth.” Well, now I’m a little better versed in butterflies and moths and the scientific name is Aellopos titan (link to ButterfliesandMoths.org) and the accepted common name Titan Sphinx Moth, though some still call it “Hummingbird Moth.” It is found throughout South and Central America north throughout the eastern half of the United States. It is one of the weirdest looking creatures I’ve seen in my garden.My Titan Sphinx Moth Gallery includes those photos from 2020 as well as this year’s. Interesting! 🙂
I must admit that I was more focused on butterflies than birds when we walked Calle Balsilla last week, plus we were later getting there which means fewer birds, but I did get these 4 bird species along with my 11 species of butterflies! 🙂
Inca Dove, Calle Balsilla, Atenas, Costa Rica
Interesting that the above dove is the only bird I photographed that was not totally black in color! 🙂
Judith LaBelle introduced me to a new “country road” in Atenas the other day that is likely better for birding! But, because of car trouble, we got there later than planned, with not as many birds photographed (only 4) which I will share tomorrow, but I was wowed by the butterflies flitting along the side of the road when no farmer riding a horse was going by. 🙂
It’s on the other side of Ruta 27 by the Tarcoles River after the dam or after Rio Grande has become Rio Tarcoles. There is a small rural community known as Balsilla de Mora, centered around a church by that name in Atenas Canton that includes some people living over the nearby province line in San Jose Province adjacent to our Alajuela Province. Farming people don’t pay much attention to canton and province lines! 🙂
I’m featuring this neat unidentified butterfly that was our trip target and then 10 more butterflies below it for a total of 11, including 4 new species for me! 🙂 And I’m thankful to Judy who saw this same butterfly on her last trip there and took me back looking for it. There is never a guarantee of repeat sightings of birds or butterflies, but, just as we were leaving, we saw it! I still can’t find it in my books or on the internet, but will keep trying for an ID! 🙂 There’s 1,500+ butterfly species in Costa Rica!
