Costa Rica Butterflies November 2024 - Part 2

It is difficult to know where to start with the butterflies I saw on this trip. As I said previously the weather was far from ideal for butterfly watching and we were unable to travel inland because the national parks were all closed and many of the roads were impassable because of flooding.

The hotel grounds were lovely, with about 25 acres of tropical gardens with swimming pools meandering through the site. There were quite a few mature trees in the grounds creating a variety of habitats.

We were very lucky with our room, having a corner balcony at the side of the resort, meaning that we were up amongst the trees. Not only did this mean that we had regular visits from Capuchin monkeys, but it gave me a great vantage point to look for butterflies!

On the first morning we were up at sunrise and within an hour I had seen ten different species of butterflies fly past. Not that I could actually identify them at that stage.

The first I saw was a Confusing Sister, Adelpha iphicleola. This had a really rapid flight and always tended to land high in the vegetation, just out of view! Over the holiday I saw quite a few of these and many of them were missing chunks from their hind winds, presumably from birds or lizards taking a bite out of them!

Next up was the Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis marcellina. I had seen quite a few medium-sized bright yellow butterflies flying around the resort and it was a few days into our holiday before one landed and allowed me to confirm its identification. This one is a male that I snapped on my phone from the pool!

These used to be thought to be a subspecies of Phoebis sennae, but were separated in 2020 following DNA barcode studies. Phoebis marcellina occurs from California to Argentina and sennae occurs from Florida across the Caribbean islands. The picture below is of a female.

I had also noticed another enormous white butterfly with a yellow flash on its wing flying around. It turned out to be the White Angled Sulphur, Anteos clorinde. This was one of the most common butterflies at the hotel and they would often be seen feeding high up on flowering trees and shrubs. They reminded me of a super-sized Brimstone!

I kept seeing a little brown butterfly flying around the shrubs and flower beds. They tended to be very active and easily disturbed. However, I did manage a few distant shots which allowed me to identify them. These were the Hermes Satyr, Hermeuptychia sosybuis. A species that was separated from the Carolina Satyr, Hermeuptychia intricata, in 2014. The former species is considered to be a South American butterfly and the latter North American.

Apparently the most common butterfly in Costa Rica is the Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima. It certainly seemed quite common around the resort and surrounding area.

I was really delighted on my first morning to see a Pale-banded Crescent, Phyciodes tulcis. These were a lot smaller than I had imagined when I had seen pictures of them, only having a wingspan of about 30 to 35mm.

I had read a lot in the past about Cracker butterflies. Something I had considered to be such an exciting tropical butterfly. I had heard that they make a cracking sound when two males are flying around disputing territories. In fact the first I knew of them was hearing a sort of electrical sparking sound above my head as I walked through some trees. They usually land on a favourite sunny tree trunk, usually head facing down. It wasn’t long before I learned which were their favourite trees that they returned to day after day. All of those I saw at the hotel were the Guatemalan Cracker, Hamadryas guatemalena.

As I said in my previous post you really need to take photographs of the butterflies in order to positively identify them, as there are so many similar species. Because there were so many butterflies flying during the sunny spells while we were there it isn’t surprising that I spotted a lot while I was swimming in the pools! With no time to rush back to get my camera, I had to try to study any butterflies I saw in order to try to remember any identifying features. It was interesting that it was quite easy to approach them, as I would be low in the water and they were often just above head height on the tropical plants surrounding the pools. Amongst those that I was able to remember well enough to positively identify were Thoas Swallowtail, Papilio thoas. This is very similar to the Giant Swallowtail, Papilio cresphontes, but it can be separated by the number of dots on the trailing edge of the fore wing. I also saw a Pink-spotted Cattleheart, Parides photinus, and my favourite the Queen, Danaus gilippus, which was like a less stripy Monarch, but with a more intense background colour.

I will continue with more butterflies from the hotel grounds in my next post.