Our next destination was on the Osa Peninsula in the south-west of the country. The journey took an hour by road, followed by a boat transfer of 12 miles. We were kitted up with life jackets and capes and set off down a wide river towards the sea. Pausing only to inspect a 4-metre crocodile, sunning...

Hi Jon, I bought a copy and then sent it straight back as I thought the illustrations too small to be of any use. I do have to wear glasses for reading, so you may do better... There are better, more modern books on the market. If possible, i would certainly get a look at the book before you get you...

Mine too - good luck,

Tony M.

===================================================================== There were many skippers flying around the flowering bushes including: Plain Longtail ( Urbanus simplicius ): 1-DSC08201_edited-1.jpg Teleus Longtail ( Urbanus teleu s) 6-DSC08251_edited-13.jpg and Esmeralda Longtail ( Urbanus esm...

The 'Longtail' Skipper above is Dorantes Longtail (Urbanus dorantes).

Dot Moth (Melanchra persicariae. (green form)

Hi David - my feelings entirely. It was just so amazing.

I'm now working on any possibility to get out there again (including trying to find my wife a job at San Jose University

Tony.

Last butterfly is apparently Heliconius pachinus on very good authority from the Singapore Butterfly Site.

T.

The next day saw some sunshine and the butterflies and hummingbirds soon appeared. While waiting for a Leodonta dysoni to settle, 13-DSC08408_edited-12.jpg a hummingbird sat not two metres away. 9-tretre.jpg A small clearing had been cut in the edge of the forest and flowering shrubs planted to enco...

Just back from Costa Rica, which must be one of the finest wildlife destination on the planet. The Costa Ricans appear to have realised in time what an incredible natural rescource they have and are taking great care to protect what is left. Vast tracts of the country are now national parks and the ...

Thanks, Peter, I'll keep trying...

Tony.

Have we stopped having Spring and Summer competitions? Did I miss something?

Tony M.

I saw a purple Emperor similarly vanish into a Sallow a couple of years ago. I subsequently spent three hours searching every leaf! . I found one egg on the last branch examined...

Tony M.

Thanks, Wurzel, for the kind comments. Here is another photo from the trip. Crab Spiders and their depredations were common, but this one seems to have left the remains of its last meal hanging up as bait. It appears to have only bothered to eat the abdomen :mrgreen: 1-DSC07784_edited-1.jpg . Tony M.

Thanks, Chris, I was rather afraid that that might be the case... Rose-tinted specs again. .

Tony.

Just found this one and realised that I have no idea what it might be..
dryas? ferula? Please help.

Tony M.

A stack of 62 files of Large White ova on Nasturtium:

I watched the female deposit these eggs. She hung underneath the leaf and produced an egg about every 10 seconds until I disturbed her, when she moved to an adjacent leaf and continued.

Tony M.

Thank you for the input, Roger - I'll have a look at my maps and try and give you an accurate position. What did you think of the gracea ab in the post? I'm not used to this stuff, but it looked pretty astonishing to me.

T.

Hi Guy, The reason the FHF didn't look right was because it isn't one - I posted the wrong photo after struggling with my posting for 40 minutes - d'oh! It should have been this one: 1-DSC07931_edited-1.jpg Which, I hope, is nearer... Thank you for your opinion on the graeca ab. - I hope there will ...

I spent the second half of the holiday at the Hotel de la Vallière at St-Martin d'Etraunes. Although the hotel bit is a little tired, it's cheap and the food is stunning – if you're in the area, look nowhere else. End of Commercial Breakl! There were plenty of Erebias to be seen and most were Almond...