August 2007 March 2008 May 2008
One of my Stanford colleagues and fellow Guanacaste researchers, Beth, asked me one day if I would be interested in collecting butterflies in Costa Rica in March. She was looking to collect ants (her particular forte) and could use the company (the fact that we would split much of the travel expenses may have figured in as well). I didn’t think March would be a great time to find Chlosyne given how dry it would be but figured it was impossible to say without actually going. Next thing I knew, here I was:
The goal was to collect as many ants and butterflies as possible in 10 days. We started out back in familiar Guanacaste (pictured above) and did a lot of driving afterwards. Our next stop was Palo Verde south of Guanacaste but still near the Pacific coast. There was not a whole lot in the way of butterflies as it was very dry. Here and there I would slam on the brakes (or yell at Beth to do so) and we would take a look at something like the below skipper… in my excitement at having found a live butterfly I appear not have focused my camera.
Afterwards we headed inland and up towards the Monteverde cloud forest. One advantage to travelling in the dry season is that is typically easier to see big wildlife (less leaves in the tree) like this howler hanging out on the side of the road on the way to Monteverde.
We spent a couple of days in Monteverde. Specifically we drove up and down the mountain searching for ants and butterflies… no luck with the butterflies but we found lots of ants. We allowed ourselves a morning to hike a bit and check out the preserve. Most of our time was spent searching roadsides and agricultural wastelands so the cloud forest preserve was a nice break.
Afterwards we headed to La Selva, an OTS (Organization for Tropical Studies) field site to look for ants. Its reputation preceded it as one of the premier and most popular field stations in Costa Rica. More inland than any of the previous sites, La Selva is much greener and wetter than the west during the dry season.
I took a hike on one of the trails one day and very nearly stepped on a fer-de-lance (Bothrops asper). I wasn’t terribly concerned at the time with getting close enough to get a good picture as they are sometimes considered the most dangerous snake in Costa Rica.
There were butterflies every once in a while too including this Heliconius hecale.
Afterwards we went south a bit towards Turrialba. I was stunned and shocked one day when on the road I found Chlosyne! Not lacinia, it was Chlosyne janais. But nonetheless, I was ecstatic. There were at least 20 of them hanging out on some flowers on the side of the road.
We finished the day in a coffee plantation. Beth found some of her ants there and is pictured below examining an ant home… there are none there… if there were she would not be so patiently examining them but would instead be trying to escape their bites as they would be fleeing their homes to attack the intruder.
All in all it was fun trip. No lacinia but I did find Chlosyne. But more importantly I learned what the habitat and country looks like when lacinia isn’t numerous.