Let me start with a honest admission, when it comes to my love for Nature and the experience, I can be quite a greedy individual 😀
On my wilderness trips, I always try to imbibe as much of the Nature’s wonders as possible. I do not like to restrict myself to observing and enjoying just 1 or 2 categories of wildlife, like Birds or Mammals for example.
Though a particular trip will have a focus on say Birds or Mammals (which I love ofcourse), I believe that Nature has so much on offer and limiting ourselves would mean that we would be missing out on and be oblivious of so many amazing things transpiring around us.
Experiences, learning and memories can come from the anywhere, predominantly coming from the most unexpected quarters. Hence I try to keep an open mind.
While out and about photographing birds, when I notice a lovely butterfly flutter by, I cannot help but wonder at its beauty and try to capture that as well, in the interest of learning more about it later. On my trails into the jungles, my eyes constantly keep looking at the undergrowth for anything interesting, insects, spiders, frogs, lizards, snakes, fungi, anything at all that would catch my attention.
That is how this post came into being 😀
All right, let’s get to know some of the lovely butterflies that I managed to capture during my recent trip to Costa Rica, Pura Vida!
Just a quick info-bite before we start, the Spanish word for butterfly is ‘Mariposa’, derived from María and posar (“to rest/perch”), literally translating to “Mary who rests”. It symbolizes transformation, beauty, and freedom, as a butterfly truly does!
Let me begin with the butterfly which is tagged as the National Butterfly of Costa Rica, the Blue Morpho.
Couple of great places to see this butterfly and also observe, learn about its entire lifecycle are the SpirogyrA butterfly garden in San Jose and the La Paz Waterfall Garden
The one above, the Great Owl Butterfly is the largest butterfly found in Costa Rica with wingspans ranging from 11 cm to 18 cm.
An interesting tidbit about why the name, Postman - ‘These butterflies seem to follow the same daily routes to visit specific flower patches, much like a postal worker on a delivery route’.
Another interesting thing about these butterflies is that unlike most butterflies that live for only a few weeks, these can live up to six months. This is due to their rare ability to digest pollen as well as nectar, providing them with essential amino acids, a more protein rich diet!
Next up is a very, very striking butterfly, one that I had been wanting to see for a long time! During the trip to Costa Rica, this species was eluding me for a long time. When, I finally chanced upon it, I was truly elated!
As the name gives it away, this butterfly has glass like, completely transparent wings. Can there be anything more exotic ?!
These glasswing butterflies have developed this transparency as a way of camouflage, enabling them to disappear into their surroundings, thus evading predators.
Look how the flowers on the others side are seen through the butterfly’s wings, just amazing!
For many of the exotic miniature creations, the rain forest habitat is full of hungry predators. Some species use ‘aposematism’ - using striking bright colors to signal the prey of their toxicity.
While others use ‘cryptic coloration’, which helps them camouflage in with their surroundings. Their strategies may prove effective, but only if they stay on a matching background.
Glasswings are different. They have some special tricks up their sleeves that help them hide from their predators in the dense rain forest.
These evolved acts include having an anti-glare and nano pillar coating that alerts the predators and the “glass panes” that give them the transparent effect; thus allowing them to blend in with the background.
How cool is that! Wouldn’t we all love to have the ability of becoming invisible ?, am sure there were those moments when we wished for that 😉
The butterfly in the image below is the one I saw on a bird feeder set up at Laguna Lagarto Lodge, sucking up the juices from the bananas installed there for the birds.
While waiting for the lovely Snow-capped hummingbird to show up, noticed a few beautiful butterflies flying about.
That was just a little glimpse into the world of butterflies from the tropical rainforests and cloud forests of Costa Rica. There is so much more to explore in that country, hopefully next time 😅
To close, let me leave you with an image of the amazing wing pattern on the Great Owl Butterfly. It is truly mesmerising!!
Hope you enjoyed the post. Please do share your thoughts by dropping in a comment below.
See you on the next one.
2 comments
Gokul D
Ram