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Kinkajou Killed by Car

Kinkajou killed by car, Atenas, Costa Rica

Warning! The second photo is graphic! The Kinkajou is the size of some smaller monkeys (but unrelated) and has a prehensile tail with which he hangs from tree limbs when harvesting fruit. They look similar to the smaller Olingo (but again unrelated). They are found in lowland forests in Central & South America and are nocturnal.

He/she was probably hit by a car in the night. I photographed on the bridge over a small stream on Avenida 8 just outside the Roca Verde main gate on a walk to town. It saddens me that humans continue to remove the forests and trees that keep such unique animals alive. I have never seen one alive in the wild but of course that is partly because they are nocturnal and I am not! :-) Just one more of the thousands of unique species found here in Costa Rica. ¡Pura vida!

Kinkajou killed by car, Atenas, Costa Rica
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Anthropomorphic Valentines?

So on this February 14 I will give these two butterflies human emotions and suggest that the one flying is saying “Please be my valentine!” :-)

They are both Banded Peacocks with male and female looking alike, so I can’t say for sure what the one flying around the other is doing, but it kind of makes a Valentines Day image! :-)

Anthropomorphic Butterfly Valentines – Two Banded Peacocks, Atenas, Costa Rica

And a closeup of the one I’m treating as the female . . .

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Blue-spotted Hairstreak

Instead of such an obvious “Common Name” (above) the source website names that I have to use for BAMONA, which doesn’t already have this butterfly in their database yet, is whatever BOA (butterfliesofamerica) has in their listing and their “common name” is Augustinula Hairstreak with the scientific name of Denivia augustinula. So that is the ID you will find in my personal gallery (which I try to keep in sync with butterfliesandmoths). In my gallery I have more photos from this past Sunday morning’s new discovery for me at Augustinula Hairstreak Gallery where there is an interesting rear shot with a long shadow of the insect. 🙂

For the serious student of butterflies, the Glassberg book uses the common name of “Blue-spotted Greatstreak” and another scientific name used online: Theritas augustinula. Plus, for what it is worth, I found a 3rd scientific name being used online of Thecla augustinula. :-) You can see why identification sometimes drives me crazy! 🙂 Just one photo here and you can go to my gallery for more.

“Blue-spotted” or Augustinula Hairstreak, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Cassius Blue – A New Species!

That is . . . a new species for me to photograph! There are so many species of butterflies in Costa Rica, about 1500, that my butterfly gallery of 260 species barely shows the huge variety here! This tiny butterfly landed on an equally tiny wildflower for just a few seconds and was gone! Because he is one of the “Blues,” the top side of his wings will be some shade of blue, but I did not get to see or photograph that and he was even partly hidden behind a portion of the flower. Maybe I’ll see this one again soon.

He has been seen spottily across the U.S., though mainly in Florida and Texas and on south through Central America. See the location map on ButterfliesAndMoths. Here’s two shots I got in my garden.

Cassius Blue, Leptotes cassius, Atenas, Costa Rica
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Standing Out? OR Lost in the crowd?

 Don’t ever be afraid of to standing out. Fear fitting in because you can get lost in the crowd, but standing alone you’ll always find yourself.

~Unknown

These two photos of budding Torch Gingers or Baton del Emperador are each seemingly lost in a crowd of other like plants and yet both of their developing shapes and bright red color make them stand out to me.

Budding Torch Ginger (Baton del Emperador), Atenas, Costa Rica
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Eastern Tailed-Blue

This Eastern Tailed-Blue (Cupido comyntas) is a cousin of the Ceraunus Blue (linked to blog post) I shared a few days ago, another sub-family in the Gossamer Wings or Lycaenidae Family (linked to that group of galleries) of butterflies and another one of those very tiny ones, as noted by him being on a blade of grass in these photos. :-) Most in the Lycaenidae Family are tiny. Also he’s called a “blue” because the top of his wings are a powdery blue, though barely seen in just one of these photos. Because of the wind this time of year he keeps wings folded when landed, but you can see my photo of another one with open wings in my Eastern Tailed-Blue GALLERY where all the photos have come from my garden. 🙂 And also note that with my eyes he looks white, but the light and/or camera give him a brownish hue this time that I cannot explain.

Eastern Tailed-Blue, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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White Peacock Avoiding the Wind

White Peacock – Anartia jatrophae – I always prefer photos of the tops of their wings when open and spread out, but we have so much wind this time of year that they won’t risk being blown away by keeping their wings folded every time they land and even then their folded wings are like a little sail sticking up. :-) Though not as common for me as the Banded Peacock, they are fairly common all over Costa Rica on both slopes as you can see in my White Peacock GALLERY, though so far only at lower elevations. Here’s two shots from my garden the other day . . .

White Peacock Butterfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Glimpses of Poró Flowers through a Tree

From my terrace the Oró Tree across the street is hidden by my big Higueron Tree (Strangler Fig or Ficus) but when the light is right, I can see glimpses of the orange flowers through the foliage. There is another one up the hill above me that I’ve shown here before, seen more from a distance. Historically, these trees were planted on coffee farms to provide partial shade to grow better coffee beans. They flower between December and April all over Costa Rica, sprinkling the hills and forests with their bright red-orange flowers. See Google Search Photos. :-)

Poró Tree, Atenas, Costa Rica. Flowers come out before the green leaves.
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