Bordered Patch

One of the many “Patches” and “Crescents” that I love, the Bordered Patch, Chlosyne lacinia (my gallery link) is found from Argentina to much of the western portion of the U.S.A. They can vary in colors from a rich gold or yellow through all the oranges to a bright red along with the black & white. You can see some of the variations on butterfliesandmoths and just a few in my linked gallery above. Another Costa Rica treat! 🙂

Bordered Patch, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Tulip Tree Beauty

This large moth in the Geometridae Family is nocturnal and attracted to lights which may be why he came to my terrace sliding door and was on the insect screen when I went to prepare breakfast one morning last week. While writing this at about noon on the same day, he was still on the screen and I don’t know if he is sleeping there or dead. In my gallery at Tulip Tree Beauty, Epimecis hortaria, you can see that I got two shots on the screen, the lighter one was on my Canon 750D with more detail and the darker one was on my Samsung Cellphone which is more the color brown that my eyes saw. The third photo in the gallery is the same species that I photographed back in July 2016, also on my terrace, and is the best photo! 🙂 Here’s just one of this year’s photos with the other one (Canon) at top as the featured photo . . .

Tulip Tree Beauty, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica (Samsung phone photo)

¡Pura Vida!

Tiger Mimic-White

I’ve seen this one only one other time and the side view or folded wings view was more brown/tan than this one in my garden which is common, though the top of the wings always stay bright orange, yellow & black. It is the Tiger Mimic-White, Dismorphia amphione (linked to my gallery). It is another Central America only butterfly, found from Mexico to Columbia. Here’s two shots from my garden . . .

Tiger Mimic-White, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Golden Melwhite makes me Smile

This is one of the many “high-energy” butterflies and has a crisp bright yellow contrasted with a bright white most of the time, flitting through my garden and beyond! The Golden Melwhite, Melete polyhymnia (linked to my gallery) is found only in Central America with a few strays seen in Columbia, South America. iNaturalist shows a subspecies for only Central America named Melete polyhymnia florinda, Mariposa blanca crema de borde negro Centroamericana. Here’s three shots recently from my garden . . .

Golden Melwhite, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Rounded Metalmark

This tiny little butterfly was one of the most seen in my garden last year, but not nearly as much this year. This particular Rounded Metalmark, Calephelis perditalis (my gallery link) I believe is unique to either Costa Rica or Central America and should be a subspecies or new species, but this is where BAMONA says to put it for now and even though the ones on iNaturalist CR are darker, they are certainly in the same family as my usually more brilliantly colored observations (see my gallery). And for what it is worth, I travel all over Costa Rica but have only seen this fellow in my garden here in Atenas, Alajuela. 🙂

Rounded Metalmark, Calephelis perditalis, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Florida White . . .

. . . a long way from home! 🙂 But then with Costa Rica in the geographical center between North & South America, just about any species from either continent can be here! Though this is my first time to see this Florida White, Appias drusilla (linked to my gallery). I’ve seen this one in Florida with less of this beige or tan coloring, but I believe my ID is correct even though I will be the first to report one from Costa Rica on butterfliesandmoths.org, though iNaturalist has 36 observations from Costa Rica and says they are found all the way south into Brazil. Here’s two shots from my garden . . .

Florida White, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
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Ugly Brown Butterfly?

That is what some might call this, one of many similar to him. He is a Common Spurwing, Antigonus erosus (linked to my gallery with 4 pix). There are many other similar “Spreadwings” or other categories. Here’s just one shot from my garden. Go to the above gallery for more of this one.

Common Spurwing, Antigonus erosus, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

And he is a tiny one! Maybe one inch wide.

¡Pura Vida!

Boisduval’s Yellow & Bee!

And the butterfly decided to back away from this flower, giving way to the bee! 🙂 Plus this is a less frequently seen butterfly here, another interesting “Yellow,” the Boisduval’s Yellow, Eurema boisduvaliana (linked to my gallery).

Boisduval’s Yellow + Bee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Boisduval’s Yellow backing away from a Bee, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Doves “Tree-Hide”

A couple of White-winged Doves were hiding in the Strangler Fig Tree the other day – meaning that any shot I made would show part of them behind leaves or limbs. But still they are an active part of my home environment! 🙂 See some much better photos in my White-winged Dove Gallery. They are the most frequent doves/pigeons in my garden with maybe Inca Doves second.

White-winged Doves, in my Higueron Ficus Tree, Atenas, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!