Tag: red headed firetip

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Red-headed Firetip

I’ve seen this one only one other time and just the top of wings then, which are a bright blue, while this folded wing view shows the underneath side of wings to be brown. He is the Red-headed Firetip, Pyrrhopyge zenodorus (linked to my gallery). Photographed yesterday across the street from where I live.

Red-headed Firetip, K’s Zinnia Garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Red-headed Firetip, K’s Zinnia Garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

And yeah, I know, the top of this one seems to be more brown than blue, so maybe one of nature’s exceptions. You can see a bright blue one in my gallery linked above. 🙂

P.S. NOTE: Since posting this, the experts on iNaturalist couldn’t agree on the species and thus in my galleries I have this individual in a genus gallery: Pyrrhopygopsis Genus

¡Pura Vida!

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Red-headed Firetip

Out of about a dozen species of butterflies photographed here at Macaw Lodge, it looks like the only new one for me will be this Red-headed Firetip, Pyrrhopyge phidias. I have photos of the Royal Firetip, but neither seem to be seen often. And this one looks a little like the Guava Skipper, though in a different sub-family. They are all in the big Skipper family. See all my Skippers in that family gallery.  ?

I have enjoyed my little 3-night getaway at Macaw Lodge and I return home tomorrow. Even with a lot of rain, I managed to photograph much in this truly “off the beaten tracks” lodge in a partially old growth forest adjacent a national park. I got about 17 species of birds and a dozen species of butterflies along with landscapes and other nature things!  ? The food is good and the people super-nice, both the rural locals and the guests that included a group from Europe this week. For anyone considering wilderness places in Costa Rica, I do recommend this lodge! It is my second visit with the other time in 2019.