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A few days ago I shared a Mexican Silverspot and this one is different but similar, with the side view spots differently arranged and the top view totally different. Some more of the flying color found in Central America! See my GALLERY: Juno Longwing or Silverspot, Dione juno for more and better photos from Costa Rica.
¡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!
Sunday before last in the early morning before walking to El Fogon for breakfast, I was on my terrace with a cup of tea and my camera when the neighborhood motmots came to my garden with their offspring. It appears that they were teaching him/her (male and female look identical to humans) how to catch a Cicada (or find a dead one). 
Check out the gallery below of 6 shots chronologically of the lesson in my Higuerón and Nance Trees and on the ground below . . .
The Red Cracker, Hamadryas amphinome (my gallery link) has an almost solid red underside of his lower wing, which I am yet to get a photo of. The only other place that I’ve seen this butterfly was on two different occasions at Xandari Resort, on a hill overlooking Alajuela (city) and the San Jose Airport. This shot was made in my garden on the trunk of the Cecropia Tree. I’ve only seen Crackers (all species) on trunks of trees, so maybe there is something in bark they eat? And I’ve also only seen the topside of most.
¡Pura Vida!
And if Cracker butterflies interest you, check out my galleries on these 6 different species . . .
¡Pura Vida!
¡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!
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!
Thanks to my friend Steve for these photos! Today a bus load of 28 Democrat friends here in Atenas joined approximately 150 U.S. Expats living in Costa Rica to protest in front of the U.S. Embassy for the world-wide “No Kings Rally” against Donald Trump. I was not there because of old man health issues but pleased to share these photos that Steve published. I surely hope that the American people are waking up to the need to resist this very dangerous man and hopefully impeach him soon.
RESIST!
This is only my second time to see one of these interesting butterflies, and the whole time he was in my garden, he stayed partially hidden behind leaves. The other time was just a half block outside the Roca Verde gate in Boquerón Barrio on 8th Avenue. You can see both sightings in my Ruddy Daggerwing Gallery. This one of several daggerwings is unique because he is orange on top like many other daggerwings, but his underside is “ruddy” (see my feature photo) or sometimes much like a dead leaf and the point of the upper wing is very falcate (hooked) like no other daggerwing. He is found from Brazil north through Central America, Mexico, and the West Indies to southern Florida. Here’s 3 of my several photos . . .
Just playing around with photos of the indigenous man statue in my garden with 5 different views . . .
