Costa Rica Butterflies November 2024 - Part 1

Where to start with our trip to Costa Rica last November? It wasn't exactly the holiday of a lifetime that we expected, but it was a fantastic experience nonetheless.

Maybe we should have realised when the pilot informed us that our flight would be landing a little later than expected because we would have to fly around Tropical Cyclone Sara. I never imagined that the deep depression over the Gulf of Mexico, which slowly moved west and north, would have such an impact on the weather in western Costa Rica. We didn't get much wind at all, but what we did get was rain! Lots of rain! The first few mornings were cloudy with occasional sunny spells turning to rain by about 11am which would continue for much of the day.

We visited Nicaragua on the fourth day of our holiday where the weather was reasonably dry, but on our drive back our guide informed us that it had rained all day in Costa Rica and that the road back to our hotel was flooded. Luckily the water had reduced enough by the time we passed to allow us to get back safely.

For the next three days the rain just didn't stop. We were told that in that time as much rain had fallen as would normally fall in a whole year in that area. There were mud slides and flooding causing great damage to the roads and airport. The weather slowly improved after that, but there wasn't a day without some rain and it was only on the last day of our two-week holiday that we had a sunny morning with cloudless skies!

I say two-week holiday, but the rain caused damage to the runway at the airport, so many flights in and out were cancelled. Luckily the airport opened the day after our flight was due, so we were only delayed by one day.

We were staying right up in the north west of Costa Rica, very close to the Nicaraguan border. This is a coastal area of "dry forest" - mostly deciduous trees. We were there right at the end of the rainy season and should have expected a heavy shower maybe every second afternoon.

Unfortunately, the weather also meant that the national parks were all closed, so we didn't have an opportunity to venture into the cloud forest or any other parts of Costa Rica. Therefore, butterfly viewings were restricted to what I saw in the mornings at the resort, or along a track opposite the entrance to the hotel.

However, the few sunny spells we had really showed the potential for butterflies. I was amazed that after a day or two of non-stop rain, as soon as the sun came out butterflies would take to the air. They must be expert at finding good sheltered spots. I also noticed that about ten minutes before the rain started all the butterflies would disappear, so they seemed to know when the rain was about to come.

In the mornings, when it wasn't raining there were almost always butterflies in view. The hotel had enormous grounds with meandering swimming pools surrounded by tropical gardens. It was mostly various shades of yellow, or white butterflies that were flying around there interspersed with all sorts of other shapes, colours and sizes. By the afternoon there were fewer butterflies around.

There was also an amazing variety of other wildlife that frequented the hotel grounds and surrounding forest. The air was always full of bird song and other strange noises, including the roar of Howler Monkeys. White-faced Capuchin Monkeys paid regular visits to the hotel and its grounds and I saw Spider Monkeys just outside the hotel. There were several other mammals and also various Iguanas, Lizards and Skinks all around.

Despite the weather and limited search area, I still managed to identify 68 different species of butterflies and I saw many more fly past that were impossible to identify. Given that over 1,800 species of butterflies have been recorded in Costa Rica along with over 12,000 moths, it is understandable that butterflies need to be clearly photographed in order to identify them. Further complication is added by the enormous number of mimic species of both butterflies and moths and that a number of species have wet and dry season forms and males and females that look completely different!

On that final sunny morning I couldn't believe the number of butterflies flying everywhere and I saw several species that I hadn't seen in the previous two weeks. And on the drive to the airport there were all sorts of amazing butterflies flying along the edges of the roads. I can hardly imagine how many more species I would have been able to see had the weather been better and we could have travelled to different areas of the country.

Over the next few posts I will show the butterflies I managed to photograph.

Lanzarote - Butterflies - July 2011

We went to Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, for two weeks' family holiday in July 2011. I have to admit that I wasn't expecting too much of the place, as I had been told that it was very dry and hot. Sure enough when we arrived I thought that we had flown to the moon. Much of the island is still just bare lava fields after a series of volcanic eruptions in the 1730s and a later eruption in 1824.

It is amazing, though, when you walk across these lava fields and look more closely, there is a surprising amount of life trying to colonise little crevices and hollows. Many of the rocks are covered in lichen and small succulent plants are finding nutrients and moisture in shaded corners. 

What I found even more amazing was that people were managing to make a living out of growing vines and other crops in this desolate environment. I am told that many of the areas have a good display of wild flowers in the spring. Some areas to the north of the island have more plants growing amongst the sharp larva rock.

I wasn't expecting to see much in the way of butterflies. Only 16 species have been recorded there and I imagine that the spring would be a better time to visit.

A butterfly that I was hoping to see in Spain was the African Grass Blue, Zizeeria knysna, but unfortunately I didn't see it there. It also occurs in Lanzarote and one day a little grey butterfly flew across a promenade I was walking along, briefly landed on a rock and then flew off. I saw it long enough to recognise it as an African Grass Blue. I was delighted to see it, but disappointed that I didn't get a photograph. A few days later I saw another one on a weed at the side of the pavement outside the resort we were staying at and this time I did manage to get a photograph.

The next day, I noticed that there were two or three of them in a small flower bed close by.

There was one Plumbago bush in the grounds of the resort, where I saw a Lang's Short-tailed Blue, Leptotes pirithous. It was regularly in this same shrub, but I suppose that there wasn't much choice for it! It also seemed smaller than those that I had seen in Spain in the past.

Next to the pool a regular visitor to the Lantana plants was a Monarch butterfly, Danaus plexippus. It was amazing how it turned up regularly and patrolled the shrub bed for most of each day.

Strangely what I assume was the same individual turned up day after day, but it was always alone. It didn't turn up on the second last day of our holiday and on the last day I saw a smaller, paler Monarch on the shrubs. I hope that they managed to meet up at some point!

This little butterfly had me confused and it still does! Initially I thought I saw a Brown Argus land in a bush outside our bungalow. I took a quick picture and then noticed that it had the under-wing markings of a Common Blue, Polyommatus icarus. That made more sense, as the Brown Argus isn't meant to occur there. The upper wings were brown, which is what confused me, but that is common for a female Common Blue. However, I have since read on the excellent UK Butterflies Forum that the Canary populations of the Common Blue are in fact Polyommatus celina. I'm not doubting the words of wisdom on that web site, but to add further confusion the female celina is said to have a lot of blue on its upper wings and this butterfly was definitely brown! Apologies for the poor picture - it was all I could manage.

The other butterflies I saw were:

Small White, Pieris rapae, on waste ground next to the resort.

Geranium Bronze, Cacyreus marshalli, on a pot of geraniums in the resort.

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, which flew over the resort we were staying at.

7 species in total, which was quite amazing considering the arid environment on the island. However, I only saw them at, or close to, the resort where there were plants in flower. 

Alicante, Spain - Butterflies - April 2011

After a long and exceptionally snowy winter we headed for the sun of southern Spain for a week. We rented an apartment in Torrevieja, which unfortunately didn't prove to be a particularly good location for butterflies.


These little Geranium Bronzes, Cacyreus marshalli, have spread along much of the Mediterranean after being introduced from Southern Africa on geranium plants. They were enjoying the pot plants at the apartment.

I've never had any luck photographing the upper side of the wings!

Most of the area around the apartment was quite built-up and the surrounding landscape was very flat. I had been recommended a walk along a river - the Rio Segura, where there may have been more butterflies. Unfortunately the day I was there it was quite windy, so there were very few butterflies about. Of course, I saw the ubiquitous Small White butterfly, Pieris rapae.

Part way along the river I spotted a track heading up towards a farm where there was a scrubby knoll that I thought looked promising. On one small sheltered, sunny spot I saw some blue butterflies amongst the wild flowers and herbs. They turned out to be Black-eyed Blues, Glaucopsyche melanops. They are stunning little butterflies. The the upper side of the males are two shades of blue with a black surround and narrow white edge. The females are mostly brown with a few blue flecks. The under-sides of the wings are grey with lovely black markings.

I spent some time just watching the small colony of these beautiful little creatures. I had a very brief view of these in Portugal a couple of years earlier, but it was fantastic being able to watch them so closely.

On the drive back to the apartment I saw a small white butterfly at the side of the road, so I stopped and tried to get a closer look. It turned out to be a Bath White, Pontia daplidice, but it wasn't keen on stopping for a picture. This was the best I could manage. I did see them later in the holiday in a couple of places, but never managed a picture.

Another day I headed for the distant hills, thinking that there may be more butterflies there. However, the hills seemed to be further away than I thought and I got a little lost and ended up by a reservoir. Initially there didn't seem to be many butterflies there, but after I had been there a while they started to appear. This is a Spanish Marbled White, Melanargia ines. There were a couple of them arguing over a sunny spot. I kept trying to follow them to take a photograph, but every time one settled the other would fly past and disturb it. I noticed that they always came back to the same point and so I just sat and waited with my camera ready and before long one flew into shot!

Other butterflies that I saw on the trip were:

Painted Lady, Vanessa cardui

Large White, Pieris brassicae

Swallowtail, Papilio machaon

Clouded Yellow, Colias crocea

Southern Swallowtail, Iphiclides feisthamelii

Speckled Wood, Pararge aegeria aegeria

Wall Brown, Lasiommata megera

Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

13 butterflies in total. I was expecting to see more, but I was thrilled to get good views of the Black-eyed Blues and Spanish Marbled Whites and I was particularly pleased to see the Bath Whites, a butterfly I hadn't seen before.

Wall Brown - Lasiommata megera

When I had been down in the Borders looking at the Small Blues I briefly saw a couple of Wall Brown butterflies, Lasiommata megera. It struck me that the area was very similar to a section of the coastal path in East Lothian and as I heard that Wall Browns had been extending their range northwards I thought I should have a look at an area near Bilsdean.
I was involved with the construction of this section of the coastal path, called the John Muir Way, so I knew it well and also knew that I had never seen Wall Browns there before.
In June 2010 I went to Bilsdean one lunch hour and walked along the path and very soon a small butterfly flew up and over my head. When it landed I was delighted to see it was a Wall Brown!

This is a female ...

... and this is a male.
I saw five that day and returned later in the year to find that they had obviously bred and produced a second generation. As far as I am aware, the only other record of a Wall Brown in East Lothian was one that was seen in 2005. These, though are breeding and established in East Lothian.

I returned in 2011 and was pleased to see good numbers and that they have moved slightly further up the coast. In fact I also saw one about 20 miles up the coast and heard a report that they had been seen in John Muir Country Park about 30 miles from the original site, so I think that they are well and truly established here now.

Portugal - Butterflies - October 2008

Prior to going to Portugal in March, we had always taken our holidays in Scotland or Ireland while the kids were young. However, we had such a good time in the Algarve that we returned for two weeks in October 2008.

These little Geranium Bronzes, Cacyreus marshalli, are found along much of the Mediterranean Coast, having been introduced here on geraniums imported from South Africa.

This is a very faded Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera. These are now classified as a separate species from the Brown Argus.

This is a Large White, Pieris brassicae.

This Long-tailed Blue, Lampides boeticus, kindly posed for me on a Lantana plant.

And this is a Small White, Pieris rapae, which was in the abandoned orange grove next door to the villa.

The other butterflies I saw during this holiday were:

Clouded Yellow - Colias crocea

Swallowtail - Papilio machaon

Red Admiral - Vanessa atalanta

Monarch - Danaus plexippus

Queen of Spain Fritillary - Issoria lathonia

Speckled Wood - Pararge aegeria

Eleven different species for this holiday!