Costa Rica November 2024

[NickMorgan]

I promised Pete Smith that I would post on here about my visit to Costa Rica, but it didn't turn out as expected, so apologies to everyone for this appearing to be a diluted version of Pete's visits.
Back in April 2023 we booked a two week holiday for March 2024, coincidentally in exactly the same hotel that Pete had visited in 2018, 19 and 22. Initial excitement was soon dashed when I contacted one of the main butterfly attractions in Costa Rica, who told me to be prepared to be disappointed. I was visiting the dry forest at the end of the dry season - the worst time for butterflies!!
However, opportunity knocked when KLM cancelled our flight to Liberia Airport and re-scheduled our flight to end in San Jose, a five hour drive from the hotel. They also downgraded our flight from Premium to Economy and wanted to charge us an additional £850 for the inconvenience!
A little research showed me that November was the cheapest time to visit Costa Rica, so we booked via TUI for two weeks in November 2024. An agonising 19 months after we initially booked the holiday! At least that gave me plenty of time to study the various second-hand butterfly books I had collected!
Fast forward to November and the captain of our aircraft informed us that the flight would be arriving half an hour late because we were taking a longer route to avoid a tropical storm over the Gulf of Mexico. I didn't really think anything of that, but unfortunately it impacted on the weather for the next two weeks.
The first three mornings were cloudy, with the occasional sunny spell. I was amazed that butterflies would appear as soon as the sun came out. About 11 o'clock or midday it would start to rain and rained for much of the afternoon. We spent most of the time at the hotel, which had extensive tropical gardens.

I also took a couple of short walks along a track leading from the hotel.

On the fourth day we took a day trip to Nicaragua where the weather was quite decent. On our way back our guide told us that he had been told that it had been raining all day back at the hotel and that the access road was flooded. Luckily we made it back OK, but it rained solidly for the next three days! This caused severe flooding, landslips and closure of the airport. The national parks were all closed for the remainder of our stay and the airport opened once the waters subsided, only for the runway to break up. It closed again for repairs, but these blew out when the first plane took off, so it was closed again for three more days for better repairs.
The remainder of our stay was a little like the first three days, with cloudy mornings and rainy afternoons. I did try the occasional walk out from the hotel, but often arrived back at our room soaked! Sadly, we were unable to visit any further afield, because of the weather.

Our return flight was delayed by a day and ironically the weather on that last morning at the hotel was lovely. I couldn't believe the number of butterflies I saw flying then. Everywhere I looked there were butterflies, mostly Pierids in various shades and sizes.

Despite the weather I think I managed to identify 68 species of butterflies. I say, I think, because there are so many species of butterflies in Costa Rica and most of them seem to have other very similar species that are difficult to separate.

[NickMorgan]

It is difficult to know where to start with what I saw. I'll start with the species I saw in the hotel grounds.
The first butterfly I saw from our balcony was a Confusing Sister, Adelpha iphicleola, although I didn't manage to get a picture of it until the following day to confirm its identity. These have a really rapid flight. They were a regular visitor to the trees next to our balcony and around the hotel grounds.

The Cloudless Sulphur, Phoebis marcellina, was pretty common. This was previously thought to be a sub-species of Phoebis sennae, but it was separated in 2020 following DNA barcode studies.

I think the most common butterfly I saw was the White-Angled Sulphur, Anteos clorinde. It was like a super-sized Brimstone and whenever the sun was shining they were seen flying around the hotel grounds and feeding on various flowering trees and shrubs.

The little Hermes Satyr, Hermeuptychia hermes, was found all over the grounds. Studies in 2014 separated various species of Satyr with this being the species now thought to occur in Costa Rica.

Apparently the most common species in Costa Rica, the Banded Peacock, Anartia fatima was regularly seen around the hotel grounds.

I was thrilled to see the Pale-banded Crescent, Phyciodes tulcis. This beautiful butterfly was a lot smaller than I expected, with a wingspan of less than 35mm.

As Pete suggested the best thing about the Guatamalan Cracker, Hamadryas guatemalena, was the crackling noise they make as they spar above you! It is a butterfly I have always wanted to see, because I have always thought of them as being very tropical.

This Orange-barred Sulphur, Phoebis philea, was on the beach the first day we were there. They are enormous and were often seen flying across the hotel grounds.

I saw three Lyside Sulphur, Kircogonia lyside, laying eggs on a couple of small trees at the hotel. Later I saw more out on the track next to the hotel.

And another butterfly I had always wanted to see in the wild was the Malachite, Siproeta stelenes. Costa Rica wasn't to disappoint, as they were quite common in the hotel grounds and surrounding area.

I had seen a few Florida Whites, Appias drusilla, on the track outside the hotel, but didn't manage to photograph them. This one obliged on our last morning. In fact that morning was amazing, being the first decent period of sun we had experienced. There were literally butterflies everywhere I looked, including some new species I hadn't seen until then.

One of them was this Giant White, Ganyra josephina.

This Ruby-patched Swallowtail, Heraclides isidorus, inspected a shrub next to one of the swimming pools before choosing a spot to lay eggs.

And I eventually managed to catch up with this Mimosa Yellow, Pyrisitia nise. I had seen a few small, yellow butterflies earlier during our holiday, but they just flew past without stopping.

There were a number of other butterflies that I saw when I was without my camera. These included Thoas Swallowtail, Papilio thaos, Julia Heliconian, Dryas iulia, Broad-banded Swallowtail, Heraclides pallas, Pink-spotted Cattleheart, Parides photinu, Queen, Danaus gilippus, Zebra Heliconian, Heliconius charithonia and the Apricot Sulphur, Phoebis argante. There were many others that flew past, or I couldn't identify without taking a picture or two.

[NickMorgan]

There was a track that lead from opposite the entrance of the hotel, past some helipads. This was the start of one of the hotel's nature walks, which we went on one day. As it climbed the surrounding hills it turned into more of an "It's a Knockout" style mud slide! So, thereafter I just stuck to the level 700 metre section. That more than satisfied me with the number of butterflies I saw!
It was interesting how different the butterflies were there, immediately outside the hotel grounds. The first butterfly I saw was a White Peacock, Anartia jatrophae.

There were a few Ceraunus Blue, Hemiargus ceraunus. The only Lycaenidae I saw in Costa Rica.

I saw a couple of Black Patches, Chlosyne melanarge. They fly quite slowly, but their wings flap quite quickly. After I had seen them on the track I saw more in the hotel gardens.

And the gorgeous wee Elf, Microtia elva. These were really small, about 30mm wingspan, and they appeared to drift about like spots in your eyes!

When reviewing my pictures I had taken there, I noticed that what I thought were Hermes Satyrs turned out to be One-pupil Satyrs, Cissia similis.

And some of them were Two-pupil Satyrs, Cissia themis! Interesting I didn't see these two species in the hotel grounds and didn't see a Hermes Satyr along the track!

One of the most common butterflies along there was the Theona Checkerspot, Chlosyne theona. They are about the size of a Small Tortoiseshell and there were hundreds of them!

One butterfly I was expecting to see was the Bordered Patch, Chlosyne lacinia. However, I only saw it on two occasions and both times it was the black form I saw. These are a very variable species, Pete having shown some of the variants in his posts.

The Large Orange Sulphur, Phoebis agarithe, as it name suggests is large, with a wing span of about 100mm. This one was feeding on the same plant as some Orange-barred Sulphurs.

The Barred Yellow, Eurema diara, was also commonly seen along the sides of the track.

A few years ago I spent a lot of time trying to figure out the difference between the Mangrove Buckeye and the Tropical Buckeye, Junonia genoveva and evarete. It seems that some books even transpose the names and descriptions. Whilst looking into which butterflies I may see in Costa Rica I was relieved to read a study that concluded that both Junonia genoveva and evarete are considered to be South American Species. The species that is found in Central America and the Caribbean is Junonia zonalis. It certainly seems to be a very variable butterfly.

I saw this lovely little Metalmark on a few occasions. It is a Scintillant of some kind, but it is almost impossible to tell which species. Possibly it is the Laverna Scintillant, Calephalis laverna.

There were a few Tailed Oranges, Pyrisitia proterpia, flying along the edges of the track, too. This was the only one I managed to photograph, as they hardly ever stopped. I also saw a similarly-sized intensely orange butterfly, which I am wondering if it was a male Tailed Orange.

On my last walk along the track I saw a lighter coloured Cracker, which I am assuming was a Glaucous Cracker, Hamadryas glauconome. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get any photographic evidence, but it was certainly different from the Guatemalan Crackers I had seen at the hotel.
Butterflies that I saw here and also at the hotel included Florida White, Cloudless Yellow, Orange-barred Sulphur, Banded Peacock, Pale-banded Crescent and Lyside Sulphur.
While I was photographing Barred Yellows I took this picture. It looks a little like a Tailed Orange, but it was smaller, the size of the Barred Yellow. I would be interested if anyone has any idea what it could be.

As for the Skippers. There were so many, both at the hotel and along the track.

[NickMorgan]

Probably the easiest thing to do is list the Skippers alphabetically. I saw so many of them along the track, but also quite a few in the hotel grounds. I have spent hours trying to identify them all. I have so many pictures of slightly different butterflies, which I am assuming are just variations on the number of dots and other markings. Initially I was thinking that all of the Longtails I had been seeing were all the same species, but going through my pictures afterwards I see that I saw six different species of Longtails!
Any corrections to my attempts at identification would be welcomed.
Aztec Sootywing, Staphylus azteca. These seemed quite variable and I have pictures of them with different numbers of white dots on their wings.

Clouded Skipper, Lerema accius.

Common Glassywing, Pompeius pompeius, seen in the hotel grounds.

Coyote Cloudywing, Achalarus toxeus.

Dark-spotted Polythrix, Ectomis asine.

Dorantes Longtail, Urbanus dorantes.

Dusted Spurwing, Antigonus erosus. These were common both in the hotel grounds and in the surrounding area.

Fantastic Skipper, Vettius fantasos.

Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus. Quite common at the hotel.

Glassy-winged Skipper, Xenophanes tryxus.

Hammock Skipper, Polygonus leo. I saw this one down on the beach.

Hecebolus Skipper, Panaquina hecebolus.

Laviana White-skipper, Helioptes laviana. The books and internet are not very clear about this and two other similar species.

Liris Skipper, Lerema liris.

Mexican Sandy-Skipper, Zopyrioin sandace.

Mimosa Skipper, Cogia calchas,

Morning Glory Pellicia, Pellicia dimidiata.

Mottled Longtail, Cognia undulatus.

Obscure Bolla, Bolla brennus.

Obscure Skipper, Panoquina panoquinoides.

Pale Mylon, Mylon pelopidas.

Plain Longtail, Urbanus simplicius.

Rounded Sootywing, Bolla imbras.

Rusty Skipper, Lerema micythus.

Saturnus Skipper, Callimormus saturnus.

Tanna Longtail, Spicauda tanna.

Teleus Longtail, Spicauda teleus.

Tropical Checkered Skipper, Pyrgus oileus, was by far the most common Skipper outside the hotel grounds. There were hundreds of them!

Variegated Skipper, Gorgythion begga.

Violet-banded Skipper, Nyctelius nyctelius.

I think I have met my picture limit!!

[NickMorgan]

White Enops, Polyctor cleta.

All very much a theme of brown! I was hoping to see some of the spectacular blue Skippers, but not this time! Of course, these were just the ones I was able to photograph. There were a lot more species that flew past and didn't land for a picture!
A couple of fuzzy pictures to finish off my account. Both Metalmarks and both taken on full zoom from our balcony. They tend to land high up in the trees, so are tricky to photograph.
The Rusty Metalmark, Synargis mycone.

And the Curved-winged Metalmark, Emesis emesiaq.

I was astounded by the number of butterflies I managed to see in such rainy conditions. As I said at the start, as soon as the rain stopped and the sun came out there would be butterflies everywhere. I saw quite a number of species laying eggs, as I guess they had limited time in which to do so.
I can only imagine how many more species I would have seen if the weather had been better and especially if I had been able to travel into the rain forest and other area. All of the pictures above were taken within one kilometre!

I certainly want to go back again. I feel there is a lot of unfinished business. The little I saw of the country looked fantastic and there was all sorts of other wildlife we saw. Sadly, my wife is not so keen. She had food poisoning early in the holiday and with the horrible weather she didn't enjoy the holiday, which is such a shame.

[petesmith]

Hi Nick,

What a great selection of butterflies! Thanks for taking the time to post these. Given that your visit coincided with such a shocking and unseasonably dire period of weather, I think you did amazingly well to photograph such an excellent range of species.

Your report has taken me straight back and generated a great deal of nostalgia! The area around the hotel really is butterfly paradise and you managed to see and photograph several species that we missed during our three visits out there.

Such a shame you didn't get the opportunity to travel further inland to the rainforest proper.

I sincerely hope that you get the chance to go back and conclude your unfinished business!

All the best.
Pete

[NickMorgan]

Thanks Pete,
There were so many big spectacular rain forest species I was hoping to see, but I am more than happy with all that I did see. I have to admit that it was frustrating travelling all that way and being thwarted by the weather.
I was amazed that so many species were quite amenable and would stop for a while for a picture! Essential to identify most of the species I saw. I suspect that although the weather was far from ideal, the butterflies activities were concentrated into those few sunny spells we experienced. So, when they were able to fly they would be feeding or laying eggs, rather than just flying about. Possibly if the sun had been shining constantly the butterflies would have been more active and I wouldn't have had the opportunity to see so many for long enough to identify them.
It would have been great to have seen Blue Morphos, Glass-wings and other rain forest species. It would also have been great to have had pictures of the Queen, Swallowtails and Heliconians I saw, but which just didn't stop flying.
Interestingly we had very little wind, which I remember you commenting about, so that wasn't an issue.
I really need to see if there is some way of persuading my wife that we should go back in a year or two! I feel that had we been able to visit the rain forest and see the butterflies and other creatures there then I would be satisfied and not have the desire to go back. I don't know if that is true, though. Possibly I would want to go back even more to experience them again!!

[Stevieb]

Excellent stuff Nick.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Always enjoy these exotic trip reports.