See my Malachite Gallery.
¡Pura Vida!
Malachite Butterfly
Conservancy Butterflies
The Butterfly Conservancy in the village of Castillo on Lake Arenal near Arenal Observatory Lodge is very good with multiple greenhouses for the different butterfly habitats plus outside natural butterflies with all being native to Costa Rica. And for the history-lovers, this is the little town that was once called Nuevo Arenal after the lake was flooded to make electricity and covered the original town of Arenal. 🙂
I only got useable photos of 14 species with 15 photos here because the White-spotted Prepona is so different with folded wings and open wings. 🙂 And I will just start with him as the first two photos followed by 13 more:
Archaeoprepona amphimachus (above)
Mammals & 1 Insect from Corcovado-Drake Bay
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| Malachite Butterfly Drake Bay, Costa rica |
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| White-faced Capuchin Monkey Drake Bay, Costa rica |
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| Red-tailed Squirrel Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica |
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| White-nosed Coati Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica |
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| Agouti Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica |
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| White-lined Bat Mangrove Forest, Drake Bay, Costa rica |
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| Proboscis Bat (said guide) or Gray Sac-winged Bat Mangrove Forest, Drake Bay, Costa rica |
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| Land Crab Mangrove Forest, Drake Bay, Costa rica |
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| Spotted Dolphin Near Cañon Island, Drake Bay, Costa Rica |
My TRIPS Photo Gallery on this Drake Bay Trip
About Corcovado National Park (Wikipedia) and About Drake Bay (Wikipedia)
Malachite Butterfly As Houseguest
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| Malachite Butterfly
Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
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| Malachite Butterfly
Inside My House, Roca Verde, Atenas, Costa Rica
NOTE: The bottom or wings-folded side is always lighter in color
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And see my Butterfly Gallery with 50 species photographed here.
A few of the BUTTERFLIES at Monteverde
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| Isabella Tiger Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Owl Butterfly Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Malachite Butterfly
Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Bluewing or Blue-Banded Purplewing
Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Colubura Dirce
Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Thoas Swallowtail
Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Postman
Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Heliconius Sara
Monteverde Butterfly Garden, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Blue Morpho Butterfly on Charlie Doggett Selvatura Park, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
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| Heliconius Hecale Zuleika
Selvatura Park, Monteverde, Costa Rica |
The Selvatura Adventure Park Butterfly House was bigger and fancier and maybe landscaped better or prettier but did not have as many species as the smaller, family-run Monteverde Butterfly Garden which also had a more lively insect exhibit, again not as big, but with more live insects shown up close by one of the owners. If you can go to only one of the butterfly gardens, I would recommend Monteverde. Plus if you go hiking in the Cloud Forest Reserve or Curi-Cancha you will see lots of butterflies in the wild.
Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder.
-Henry David Thoreau
-Henry David Thoreau
My Costa Rica Butterflies PHOTO GALLERY