Here’s 3 different species of dragonflies I got at Maquenque Ecolodge, Boca Tapada, San Carlos Canton, Alajuela, Costa Rica. IDs are based on the book Dragonflies and Damselflies of Costa Rica by Paulson & Haber.
Dragonflies
Ceraunus Blue
This is my third time to photograph a Ceraunus Blue, Hemiargus ceraunus, including one other time in my home garden and one at Hotel Banana Azul in the Caribbean. You can see those other photos in the Ceraunus Blue GALLERY and other people’s photos from all over the Americas at butterfliesandmoths.org. This is one of those tiny, fingernail-sized butterflies and seems to be fairly common in North and Central America. Here’s my three different views of this one last Thursday in my garden . . .
Mystery Insect with Shin Pads?
There are thousands of different species of insects in Costa Rica and I have no idea what this one is that I caught the other day in my garden on a Plumbago flower (Most insects don’t land on it because it is sticky and they can get stuck!). AND he appears to have little yellow shin pads or knee pads. Hmmm? Every day in Costa Rica nature there is a new discovery! 🙂
I will put him in my Unidentified Insects GALLERY where there are 34 species now with some much more colorful and interesting. Please contact me if you can identify any of them!
🙂
¡Pura Vida!
The “Brown is Cool” Butterflies
Three butterflies I got the other morning at the same time that are not new to me but I think handsome butterflies, The Tanna Longtail (normal sized) and the Rawson’s Metalmark (tiny fingernail sized), the same species I featured 6 days ago on March 22, and a Plain Longtail not much different from the first one above.
Note that this Tanna Longtail is very similar to the Teleus Longtail (darker side spots, thinner median band) and the Brown Longtail (also with darker side spots) and thus my ID is not guaranteed but I’m pretty sure! 🙂
See my galleries of other shots of these two at:
¡Pura Vida!
The Layered Mexican Yellow
It’s the layers of yellow, white and brown that identify this butterfly more than the spots and their locations which I tend to focus on first. 🙂 This butterfly photographed in my garden is the Mexican Yellow, Eurema mexicana. I’ve seen him before at Arenal Butterfly Conservatory and at Xandari Resort. See all those shots in my Mexican Yellow Gallery.
And it looks different from other angles or light . . .
Brilliant White Peacock Butterfly
Though one of my regular visitors, I continue to be amazed at the simple beauty of this butterfly . . .
Fingernail-sized Butterfly
This tiny butterfly in my garden the other day that I am identifying as a Rawson’s Metalmark. These very tiny little brown butterflies are difficult to identify! 🙂 Here’s 4 shots of this one from different angles . . .
New Book for Hotel Patrons
My favorite hotel in Costa Rica’s Caribbean South is Banana Azul and I just completed a new book which I will take copies of on my next visit there in September for other patrons to enjoy in the lobby along with others of my photo books about the area that are already there.
This new book has photos of 28 species of butterflies photographed on the Banana Azul property or at nearby locations. Enjoy thumbing through it for free electronically at my bookstore by clicking the cover image below or just going to this web address:
https://www.blurb.com/b/11513083-hotel-banana-azul-butterflies
¡Pura Vida!
Grasshopper in My Shower
He was on the shower curtain which I whisked a bit and he fell to the bathroom floor, not moving during my shower. So I photographed him and turned out the light. The next day he was on the shower curtain again and I carried him out to the garden this time. I have a big stack of insects books but little in any of them to help identify grasshoppers other than the “Giant Grasshopper” which tourists love. So I’ve just added this one more “Unidentified Grasshopper” to the 15+ in my Grasshopper Gallery. 🙂
One website says that there are 11,000 species of grasshoppers in Costa Rica plus over 6,000 species of Katydids which are often confused with grasshoppers, so I guess a field guide would be difficult to develop and pretty thick! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Tico Times Article: Costa Rica Wildlife: The Spotted Skunk
Other Insects at Tortuguero
Here’s 3 more interesting “bugs” I got useable photos of . . .
See earlier blog posts for other insect photos of . . .
For more “other insects” in Costa Rica like the above 3, see my gallery: More Insects CR (82+ Species alphabetically) or specific galleries on this post’s three insects:
- Golden Orb-weaver Spider (in a general CR Spiders gallery)
- Longhorn Beetle
- Termite Nests
All photos this trip in: Tortuguero 2023 Trip Gallery
¡Pura Vida!
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This Tortuguero insects post was prepared 10 days ago while yesterday I decided to add below a totally unrelated link to an article I liked when read yesterday:
Bonus Link from E.J. Dionne, Jr.
Why we should all be liberal: The power of an adjective
Column by E.J. Dionne, Jr. in yesterday’s Washington Post, March 12, 2023. It helps describe who I am and why I think most “liberals” (as either an adjective or a noun) are more like Jesus than most “conservatives” (as either an adjective or a noun). What I believe spiritually and politically is based on me being a “follower of Jesus” first and foremost and why I can no longer identify as a Southern Baptist or Evangelical (my former life) and even more certainly not as a Republican in the states.
And note that Dionne quotes extensively from what he calls “one of this year’s most important political books,” Michael Walzer’s “The Struggle for a Decent Politics: On ‘Liberal’ as an Adjective,” published last month.
“Choice, not chance, determines your destiny.”
–Aristotle
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