Category: Atenas

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Ruby-spotted Swallowtail

The Ruby-spotted Swallowtail (my gallery link) is found from Southern Texas south to Argentina and yes, it reminds me of several Cattlehearts, especially the Pink-spotted, but this is in a different subfamily from Cattlehearts. This is my second observation to not have white spots on the top of the forward wings, which is normal even if in a minority as you can see in my gallery or other online butterfly sites. But, you will see from the only partial side view this one ever gave me that he does have white spots on the underneath side of all wings. 🙂 Another exception in nature and I think that the all black top makes for a handsome butterfly!

A semi-side view shows white spots on the underneath side of both forward and hind wings.
Ruby-spotted Swallowtail, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

Milkweed Flowers

Have you noticed how many of my butterfly shots are on the Milkweeds now? 🙂 It is second only to Porterweed attracting the larger butterflies like this and the only flower Monarchs will come to. Tiny butterflies prefer tiny flowers. 🙂 I can’t believe that this is my first year to plant Milkweed! A great butterfly attractor! I recommend it!

Thank You! — For Reading My Blog!

JetPack just informed me that during August 2026 my blog & website had Nine Thousand Views! 9,000! I don’t know who all of you are, but thank you for reading and enjoying Costa Rica’s nature with me! ~Charlie

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Caribbean Milkweed Bug

In addition to caterpillars, I’ve now had two Caribbean Milkweed Bugs (my gallery link) on my Milkweed flowers. There are several versions of this insect including a different subspecies in North America (Oncopeltus fasciatus) while the one here is Oncopeltus cingulifer. They do not harm the plant nor the caterpillars or butterflies if around. 🙂

GoogleAI says: “They use straw-like mouthparts to feed primarily on milkweed seeds and sap. By consuming milkweed, they store cardiac glycosides in their bodies, making them poisonous or unpalatable to predators like birds. They are mostly harmless to the plant and do not attack monarch butterfly eggs or caterpillars, meaning chemical control is rarely needed.”

One of my plants is seeding profusely, so maybe they were after the tiny seeds! 🙂

The smaller of the two on one of my Milkweeds. The Feature Photo is the larger one. This one may be a juvenile or in some species the female is smaller. I don’t know.

¡Pura Vida!

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Hoffman’s Woodpecker

One of the two most common woodpeckers in my garden (Black-cheeked is the other one) and one of 10 total woodpecker species I’ve photographed in Costa Rica! You will find all 10 in my online gallery, with this observation included in the gallery Hoffman’s Woodpecker (linked). This one looking for insects on a dead limb in neighbor’s yard is a male, known by the red spot on the top of his head, while the female has only that golden nape with no red. Otherwise they are identical. They are found only in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Read more about them on eBird. So many fascinating birds here! 🙂

Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica
Hoffman’s Woodpecker, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Monarch Caterpillars

Now I have Monarch Caterpillars on one group of Milkweeds and I expect them to eat most of the leaves like the Queen Caterpillars did a month ago and that milkweed grew right back. So whoopee! More Monarchs! 🙂 And I post my caterpillar shots in the same gallery with their butterfly, so see these and one more caterpillar from San Gerardo de Dota in my gallery Monarch!

Monarch Caterpillar, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Cotton Stainer Bugs – Genus Dysdercus

On my August 8 Calle Nueva Hike I mostly photographed butterflies, but did get two different damselflies and this little unusual insect that I’ve only been able to narrow down to its genus, Cotton Stainer Bugs – Genus Dysdercus (my gallery link for more photos). iNaturalist gave three possible species in that genus that are all three similar, but none an exact match to mine. Thus I’m leaving it with the genus ID for now and hopefully someone on iNaturalist will be able to identify it. The large number of unique and colorful insects here is amazing, as you can see in my gallery: More Insects CR (100+ Species), linked. Note that I have separate galleries for two other major categories of insects: Dragonflies & Damselflies CR and of course my largest, Butterflies & Moths CR. 🙂

Cotton Stainer Bugs – Genus Dysdercus, Calle Nueva, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Large Orange Sulphur that’s not Orange!

So many of the butterflies have colors included in their names and this one is not the only one that doesn’t stick to its colors. 🙂 I’ve seen the Large Orange Sulphur (my gallery link) two or three other times, including one last month that was orange or really an orange-yellow. 🙂 But you have to admit that the name sounds better than calling it a “Large Dirty White Sulphur!” 🙂

Large Orange Sulphur, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Monarch

The Milkweeds I planted finally attracted a Monarch, but only this one on one day, while the Milkweeds are being dominated by a “flight” or “kaleidoscope” of Banded Peacocks. 🙂 I made a lot of photos with 9 shown in the gallery, Monarch (linked), along with many other Monarchs from other locations in Costa Rica with I think the best being the ones made at Maquenque Lodge this past July. Just two shots from my garden in this blog post.

Monarch, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Canivet’s Emerald

I almost had this one labeled as a Garden Emerald that can be found only in a few limited areas of Costa Rica and Panama, because the iNat AI said it was a Garden Emerald (very similar to Canivet’s), but the same day I posted it on iNaturalistCR, two serious birders corrected me because of both location and the length and shape of the tail. 🙂 So I corrected it there and in my gallery, not getting the “Lifer” that I thought I had! 🙂 Note that this is a male, all green, while the female has a white front and white eyebrow. You can see both in my gallery, Canivet’s Emerald.

Garden Emerald, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

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Common Anastrus

This is another new species for me, a Spreadwing Skipper named Common Anastrus or Common Bluevent (my gallery linked) with more images in that gallery. Not as colorful or flashy as some I’ve seen here recently, but another important member of the Butterfly Family, photographed here on Lantana Flowers. It lives in Central America and tropical South America with Costa Rica it’s “type locality” or where it is happier (like me)! 🙂

Common Anastrus, Echelatus sempiternus, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

“Costa Rica: Cradle of Whales” FREE video on YouTube

Costa Rica is the only place in the world where whales come from two hemispheres to give birth to their babies. Currently the whales from Antarctica are here and by December those arctic whales from off the coast of Alaska will be here for the same reason. The 46 minute video was made by a large conglomeration of volunteer scientists, underwater photographers, and nature organizations in cooperation with Costa Rica TV Channel 7 that just premiered it on TV. They now share it with the world for free from their YouTube channel, linked from the title above and embedded below . . . IT IS IN SPANISH ONLY . . .

You will enjoy the photography, even if you can’t understand Spanish! 🙂