charliedoggett.net
That seem to be mating on a leaf in my garden. Just one more intriguing photo from nature! :-)
85+ funny insect photos in my More Insects CR GALLERY. Or for more similar to this, go to the sub-gallery Unidentified Other Insects.
¡Pura Vida!
Sometimes people don’t see shadows . . . but I noticed these shadows and I knew it meant it was sunny.
~David Hockney
¡Pura Vida!
More pix in My Home Gardens GALLERY.
is the locally used Spanish name for the English-named Clay-colored Thrush (Turdus grayi), the National Bird of Costa Rica, supposedly because the indigenous people believed that its beautiful songs in April brought the beginning of rainy season in May. It is mostly a Central American bird, found from South Texas to Columbia in South America. And yes! Their songs in April are beautiful! They sing their hearts out almost constantly until it starts raining, then they stop. :-)
See many more photos in my Clay-colored Thrush GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
The Cerulean Dancer Damselfly (Argia anceps), male here, is one of dozens of blue and black damselflies with this one most often confused with the Azure Dancer and the Thorn-tipped Dancer (says the book), but because of the shade of blue, the size and the wing color I am declaring this a Cerulean Dancer! :-) But to be honest, with both damsel and dragonflies, I am seldom 100% certain of the identification and I use a Costa Rica specific field guide with nearly 300 species of damselflies and dragonflies included with photos! You would think that makes it easy, but not for me! The many similarities between species makes identification a challenge for many! This one was photographed on the railing of my terrace in Atenas, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica.
See my Dragonflies & Damselflies GALLERY with 50+ species! And many are unidentified! :-)
¡Pura Vida!
The full name of this one is Gray-headed Chachalaca (Ortalis cinereiceps) with the only other one named “Plain Chachalaca” and it’s found only in Guanacaste (dryer NW Costa Rica). This one is a regular “chicken-sized” bird living in my neighborhood, though like other birds, I’ve been seeing fewer for a while. They always come in groups or families and “chatter” a lot, thus Ticos sometimes jokingly call a person who talks a lot “a Chachalaca!” :-)
Here’s three shots of them moving between my trees and you can see more photos in my Gray-headed Chachalaca GALLERY. I see them in many parts of Costa Rica and they are indigenous to Central America.
Another interesting butterfly not often seen, the Eastern Tailed-Blue, Cupido comyntas, in my garden. I have seen him once before in my garden as shown in my Eastern Tailed-Blue GALLERY.
¡Pura Vida!
I continue to find what appear to be “new” species for me, though this one is pretty much identical to the “Plain Longtail” with the exception of a slightly shorter tail (he could have broken off the tip as he did the 2nd tail) and the “orange smudges” on the wings, large on top and smaller on bottom or side view. I’ll label this the Plain Longtail, Urbanus simplicius and let one of the coordinators at butterfliesandmoths correct me if they believe otherwise. These little detailed differences continue to be an ID challenge for me! 🙂 Here’s 2 shots, one side view & one top view . . .
Saltbush Sootywing is the common name and the scientific name is Hesperopsis alpheus. This is a new species for me. And my ID is based on the Glassberg book where it is an exact match, but my photos don’t match the ones on butterfliesandmoths.org for this species, so I will probably be flagged and if so, I hope whomever can give a good identification for this butterfly, IF this ID is not correct. Note that the two photos are of the same insect on the same leaf within seconds apart, but the changing light or capture of the camera has them as two different colors. 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
Pheraeus covadonga is the scientific name and the website uses “Covadonga Skipper” as the common name, while the Glassberg book uses “Etched Solar-Skipper” as the common name. The “etched” in that name refers to the black and white spot that is barely seen in my photo, but that’s what separates it from all of the other little yellow Skippers. And this is a new species for me! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
This is the first of three new species for me that I photographed in my garden on the 17th & 18th of this month! The other two coming in the next two days. At first glance, all brown Skippers seem to look alike, but there are so many variations and this is one of those! 🙂 Butterfliesandmoths.org just uses the scientific Latin name as the common name, Cobalopsis Nero, while the Glassberg book calls it the “Nero Brown Skipper” as a common name.
See all of my SKIPPERS Gallery to see some of the many variations in Skippers, 67 in my gallery alone and there are many more!
¡Pura Vida!