Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak

Not new for me, but semi-rare and found only in Central America & Mexico. Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak, Strymon ziba (linked to my gallery) is another one of those very tiny, fingernail-sized butterflies and this one I’ve seen only in my garden. You can see a few other photos from other countries on the butterfliesandmoths.org page.

Red-spotted Scrub-Hairstreak, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Esmeralda Longtail

You might ask why the Common Name for this butterfly is in Spanish? “Esmeralda” = “Emerald” in English. Yes, it is unusual, even for species found only in Spanish-speaking Central America like this butterfly. It is of course named for the emerald-colored (green or turquoise) body of this Longtail Skipper which otherwise looks a lot like other Longtails! But not to be confused with a separate Turquoise Longtail! 🙂 And of course the scientific name is in Latin (esmeraldus) like every other species in the world. Esmeralda Longtail, Urbanus esmeraldus (linked to my Esmeralda Gallery) or you can see other people’s submitted photos on butterfliesandmoths.org, Esmeralda page. Just one shot here.

Esmeralda Longtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Apricot Sulphur

And how can a butterfly named “Apricot” not be cool? 🙂 This Apricot Sulphur, Phoebis argante (my gallery link) I saw just a week ago in my garden for my fourth sighting! One other time in my garden and once each at Xandari and Banana Azul, my two best butterfly hotels here! Check out the different looks in my gallery linked above or study them online. Here’s two shots with more from that sighting in the above gallery.

Apricot Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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50+ Dragonflies Identified . . .

. . . with either the species or family genus name, most by species. That is because I decided to upload all my dragonfly and damselfly photos to Naturalista Costa Rica, the iNaturalist branch here, and of course you know that all members of iNaturalist can submit an identification of a species photo submitted. And lucky for me, one of the two authors of Dragonflies and Damselflies of Costa Rica is active on iNaturalist and so my many photos have been labeled by possibly the foremost specialist on Costa Rica Dragon and Damselflies. 🙂 You can see them in my gallery named: DRAGONFLIES & DAMSELFLIES (50+) which is now the first set of galleries under OTHER WILDLIFE. It was a lot of work, but now my photos are properly identified and are all on iNaturalist for posterity! 🙂 Plus, this gallery is now a good scientific database for research. And in the future I hope to do this with some other categories of my nature photos. 🙂 Though I will continue to post my birds on eBird and my butterflies on butterfliesandmoths.org

CLICK on the above image to go to the gallery. One of the largest Costa Rica Dragonfly Collections on the internet! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!

Howarth’s White

The second most common White in my garden this year is this new species for me: Howarth’s White – Ganyra howarthi (link to my gallery). Here’s one shot with more in the above gallery. It is easily identified by the one big black dot beside two lesser gray dots, 🙂

Howarth’s White, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

And tomorrow I will share the two other “Whites” that I’m seeing in my garden this year. A busy year for butterflies! 🙂

White Angled-Sulphur

I’m back to sharing photos from my garden and this particular butterfly has been quite numerous the last few days. And more interesting than some of the many other Whites that I’m getting now. Here’s two shots from this week and you can see more in my White Angled-Sulphur Gallery. The scientific name is Anteos clorinde and they are residents from Argentina up to Mexico, putting Costa rica near the center. Here’s two shots . . .

White Angled-Sulphur, Atenas, Costa Rica
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