Category: Insects

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Black Witch Moth

Not a new one for me but rather an almost regular visitor every year and not just for Halloween! 🙂 And yes, some are black, but definitely not all of the Black Witch Moth, Ascalapha odorata (linked to my gallery) with some having the rich multi colors of this one on my bedroom drapes. When my maid swept the floor the next morning, he was one of several dead insects she swept up. And he is big! 8-10 inch wingspread!

Black Witch Moth, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Sad Day for America

What can I say when the majority of my home country just re-elected a criminal, fascist, racist, rapist, liar for president? I’m sure glad I moved to Costa Rica 10 years ago! Every great nation in history has fallen when it began to rot from within. Is that what is happening to the USA? It is not the country I grew up in, though I saw continuing movement this direction over the last 30 years. I will now spend my final days of life peacefully here in Costa Rica surrounded by nature and trying to ignore what used to be home. I wish all my friends and family in the states the best and believe you will survive as “this too shall pass.” And with you I will hope for a better future.

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Banded Yellow

This is a new species for me and thus no gallery yet. Though this Banded Yellow, Eurema elathea is is very similar to the Barred Yellow, Eurema diaria which is in my gallery and I could have some of those mis-identified, or this one! 🙂 I still struggle with some identifications, but believe this one to be Eurema elathea, which is more common in South America, but we have lots of South American butterflies here in Costa Rica and iNaturalist Costa Rica has recorded 9 observations.

Banded Yellow, Eurema elathea, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Hecale Longwing

Hecale Longwing, Heliconius Hecale (my gallery link) is found from Mexico south to the Peruvian Amazon, including my garden in Costa Rica! 🙂 My gallery includes sightings in 8 different Costa Rica locations on both slopes. Here’s a side view and a top view recently in my garden:

Hecale Longwing, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Hecale Longwing, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Toucan Sighting with No Photo!

Have I told you yet that a Keel-billed Toucan landed in my Cecropia Tree the other morning after breakfast? He was smaller than some, so probably immature or not quite an adult. And it was one of the few mornings that I did not take my camera with me to breakfast on the terrace! I slowly pulled the cell phone out of my pocket and turned it on just as he flew away! Oh well, that’s life! ¡Así es la vida! 🙂 And my camera has been with me for breakfast every day since! 🙂

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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. 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

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Caribe Sur Photo Gallery Ready

I’m still planning on some more posts from this first week of October trip, but you can see all of my acceptable photos in the trip gallery by clicking this linked title or the image of first page below. 2024 October 1-6, Hotel Banana Azul, Caribe Sur

First page of my 2024 Caribe Sur Photo Gallery, CLICK image to go to the gallery.

¡Pura Vida!

And to learn more about Hotel Banana Azul, click that name link! Note that the header photo on their web page was made from “my room,” the one I get on each visit, called “The Howler Suite.” 🙂

There are no big chain hotels or resorts on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica (like the Pacific side). All are small, locally-owned, very friendly and helpful people (muy amable), with simplicity and tranquility. The Caribbean side is not for everyone, but I like it; both the laid back Jamaican atmosphere of the south or the Amazon Jungle atmosphere of the north Caribbean at Tortuguero National Park. The south has Cahuita National Park and Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, making the south also a great place for nature photographers in a different way than Tortuguero where you are mostly on the water. I encourage my fellow expats living in Costa Rica to give this side a try as something different from the Pacific Coast or the mountains. I love every area of Costa Rica because each is different! That is just the way I am! 🙂

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Fiery Skipper

This is probably one you have seen, found in most of the Eastern and Southern U.S. all the way south to Argentina, the Fiery Skipper,  Hylephila phyleus (my gallery link). Like many butterflies, the top and folded wings views are different and distinct. Here’s a shot from the Caribe of both views, and of course the one with a bee in it made me smile! 🙂

Fiery Skipper, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica
Fiery Skipper, Hotel Banana Azul, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!