Category: Insects

Posted on

Caterpillars on the Milkweed!

When I first planted the Tropical Milkweed I was hoping they would attract the Monarch Butterfly which is not as common here as in the States, but none yet. Then the other day I found 3 caterpillars on one of the Milkweed plants and with the iNaturalist AI have identified them as caterpillars of the Queen – Danaus gilippus butterfly (Linked to my gallery) which is related to the Monarch. Maybe in the near future I will have some fresh Queens birthed in my garden! 🙂 So far, the only two Queens I’ve seen have been elsewhere.

I’m hoping that their eating all the leaves off my best Milkweed plant will not kill it! 🙂 They were first planted between two tall flowers and thus only get sunshine midday which is really not enough sun for milkweed. I just a few days ago planted 3 more Milkweeds in a different part of the garden where they get both morning and midday sun, so hopefully they will do better! I’m on the side of a hill with lots of trees, so plants like this that need lots of sunshine will always struggle on my little lot.

Caterpillar of Queen Butterfly – Danaus gilippus, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
(Note that most leaves are already eaten!) 🙂
Caterpillar of Queen Butterfly – Danaus gilippus, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
(Note that most leaves are already eaten!) 🙂
Tropical Milkweed, in my garden, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica — Those caterpillars ate all those leaves!

¡Pura Vida!

I have not focused on caterpillars, but do have a little gallery with what caterpillars I’ve photographed in Costa Rica at CATERPILLARS (linked) with most in the “Unidentified” folder for a total of 15 species, assuming no overlap or duplication.

Posted on

Xandari ’26 GALLERY Ready

CLICK above image to go to the Xandari Travel Gallery 2026

And if after a few seconds, that click doesn’t work, then just go to this address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2026-06-8-10-Xandari-Nature-Resort-Alajuela

Visiting places like this here in Costa Rica and making photos is my greatest joy! I hope you enjoy some of the photos! And I may still share a few more on the blog, but they are starting to happen now where I live! And in 2 1/2 weeks I will be at Maquenque Eco Lodge, one of my other favorite places from which to share my love of nature! And there I will celebrate my 86th birthday! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Salome Yellow

One of the 17 species of butterflies I photographed at Xandari, Salome Yellow (my gallery link) is just one more of the large variety of butterflies found at Xandari and soon to be shared in a trip gallery for my little two-night trip there earlier this past week.

Salome Yellow, Xandari Costa Rica, Alajuela

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Chiapas White

The only other time I’ve seen this species was in 2022, also at Xandari! That year it was on flowers by the Room 19 Terrace (coincidentally the same room I was in this year), but this year I saw it by the Frog Pond near the Sunset Pool, the opposite end of the hotel! 🙂 I got better photos then as you can see in the Gallery Chiapas White. It is also called “Orange-striped White” and “Dimorphic White,” while in Spanish it is “Mariposa Pamela.” It is found only in Central & South America and some consider it “rare” which is partly because they often spend their time in the treetops and thus not seen as often. My first observation was 1 of only 38 in Costa Rica on iNaturalist and 1 of only 2 in BAMONA. 🙂

Chiapas White, Xandari Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Red Postman or Erato Heliconia

This is one of two butterfly species called “Postman.” This one with the addition of “Red” in the common English name, has the scientific name of Heliconius erato (my gallery link) and at least one website uses a different common name of “Erato Heliconia” instead of “Red Postman.” And that is just in the English language! 🙂

Then to make it more complicated, the other species that looks the same to most people has the common English name of plain “Postman” or other websites use the common name of “Melpomene Heliconian,” which like the other one is a twist on the scientific name which is: Heliconius melpomene rosina (my gallery link). Any hobby that includes scientific names and information will get complicated sometimes! 🙂

A single photo of the Erato version for the emailed blog post, followed by a gallery of 4 different shots from different angles to help the identifiers. 🙂

Red Postman or Erato Heliconian, Xandari Costa Rica, Alajuela
Continue reading “Red Postman or Erato Heliconia”
Posted on

Brazilian Skipper

A cool little reddish-brown skipper that I’ve seen in my garden before. See other photos in the gallery: Brazilian Skipper.

Brazilian Skipper, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Tomorrow is the day to which I moved my little 2-night visit to Xandari Nature Resort in Alajuela (because I was sick on the original date in May) and tomorrow morning I will repost or link to the May post about Xandari, a favorite nature place with a large variety of butterflies! Probably my 3rd best location for butterflies. 🙂 And . . .

MY REPORT ON: Pause 10: Final Project—Your Mindful Photography Journal 

That little online class is completed with that above link going to my report on the last class. In the next week or so I will write my personal evaluation of the whole course and say whether I recommend it. 🙂 If interested in Photography & Mindfulness, read all my notes there.

And get ready for my next Nature Adventure at Xandari this week!

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Laverna Metalmark – Dark & Light

Many species of butterflies can have greatly different looks and yet be the same species and in this case (I think) even the same individual can look quite different because of the light or shadows, the angle of the shot or even the background which I think is the case for these two photos taken within a few seconds of each other on different color backgrounds. I vaguely remember the same individual flying from the blue Plumbago flower to the green leaf of a Heliconia flower.

Laverna Metalmark on a blue Plumbago Flower, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Laverna Metalmark on the green leaf of a Heliconia Flower, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See more of this regular in my garden in the gallery: Laverna Metalmark.

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

2 Strange Moths at the End of May

On the 29th & 30th of May two unusual moths showed up at my house, one inside and one outside in the garden. The featured photo is one I’ve had before in my garden and seen on a trip to a South Pacific Rainforest. Once called “Giant Butterfly Moth,” it is now called the disgusting name of “Screwworm” – Telchin atymnius (linked to my gallery). It is more beautiful when the wings are open with more white and a big orange patch (see the above linked gallery for that).

Screwworm – Telchin atymnius, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

-o-

And the other one, seen inside my house on the kitchen floor, was comparatively tiny, identified on iNaturalist as a Packard’s Eusarca Moth – Eusarca packardaria, linked to Wikipedia which says it is in North America, but being in the middle of North & South America, we often get species from both sides. Though I am the first to report one on iNaturalist Costa Rica, so it might get re-labeled as something else, though this was the ID of iNaturalist AI and I think a good match.

Packard’s Eusarca Moth – Eusarca packardaria, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Banded Yellow

This tiny butterfly appears at first to be plain beige with dark patches showing through from the top side (they are dark brown patches). But if you look close you can see a faint yellow band along the edge of the forward wing. The only ones I’ve seen have been in my garden and on the nearby Calle Nueva dirt road. See my other shots, including one top view showing those dark brown patches and at least one with a more obvious yellow band! 🙂 All in my gallery: Banded Yellow, Limoncito de Faja, Eurema elathea.

Banded Yellow, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Posted on

Pink-spotted Cattleheart

One of the few unique butterflies I saw in May, the Pink-spotted Cattleheart (my gallery link) is found only from Mexico to Costa Rica. They like my garden. 🙂 But this one would not come out in the open like a few in my above-linked gallery. All but one in the gallery were seen in my garden, with the one exception being at Villa Caletas, Jaco, just an hour west of here. Like with a few other butterfly species, I am the #1 observer of this in Costa Rica on iNaturalist. 🙂

Pink-spotted Cattleheart, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Pink-spotted Cattleheart, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

My sick stomach is slowly getting better with meds & careful eating.