Archaeoprepona demophon centralis

Thanks goes to our great friend and national Lepidoptera expert, Isidro Chacon, for helping me to identify this butterfly, photographed feeding on papaya in the garden at LCO. It is Archaeoprepona demophon centralis (Nymphalidae: Charaxinae). The distribution of this species ranges between Mexico and the Amazon Basin, 0 - 1,600 meters above sea level, and in association with all forest types and old second-growth habitats.

Insy Winsy Tarantula

Having said that we known nothing about the taxonomy of Arachnids, we know enough to be able to identify this beastie - that I very nearly put my hand on, when opening the kitchen door one night - as a small Tarantula.

Charlotte's Web

We know nothing about the taxonomy of Arachnids, but here's an image of a beautiful silver metallic-backed spider. This species is common at Los Charcos. Normally, these spiders weave the central area of their web in a much thicker stitch, and in the shape of an "x", but, one evening recently, I happened to spot that this spider had woven her web in the shape of a heart.

Hamadryas laodamia saurites Part II

This image shows the female of Hamadryas laodamia saurites. It can be easily distinguished from the male of this species by the broad white bands on the fore wings.

Hamadryas laodamia saurites Part I

One of my favorite butterflies visiting Los Charcos, Hamadryas laodamia saurites. Reminiscent of Van Gogh's starry nights. This is the male of the species. This species ranges from Mexico to the Amazon Basin, from 0 - 1,000 meters above sea level, and is associated with all forest types, but most commonly those of the Atlantic lowlands.

Smilisca sordida

Here's what I think (?) is a cute little Smilisca sordida (Hylidae), commonly known as "rana de río".

Smilisca phaeota

Here's a gorgeous frog, the Masked tree frog, Smilisca phaeota (Hylidae). We found this beauty sharing a Heliconia leaf near the house with an individual of the much smaller species Smilisca sordida

The Terraces

Work has begun to install a series of terraces on the lower slopes of the garden, which will help to make better use of the space available in that area. Progress will surely be slow, as all "earthworks" at LCO are done by hand.

Ananas ananassoides in flower

Reinaldo took this photo of Ananas ananassoides (Bromeliaceae), which is flowering now in the LCO native plants garden. This plant is one of what may possibly be the only two remaining individuals of this species on the entire Osa Peninsula.

Bilbergia macrolepis

Last week, Reinaldo discovered Bilbergia macrolepis (Bromeliaceae). His discovery represents yet another new register for the flora of the Osa Peninsula. Until now, this species was known to Costa Rica on the basis of a single specimen collected by the celebrated swiss born botanist Henri Pittier (1857-1950) more than a century ago , from the vacinity of Buenos Aires in Coto Brus. Bilbergia macrolepis is easily distinguished by its characteristic and unusual bulb-like rhizomes, as can be seen here.

Ananas ananassoides

Bromelia plumeri is not the first species Bromeliad to be hit by beach front development in the town of Puerto Jimenez. A critical patch of Ananas ananassoides (Bromeliaceae) once existed in town. Reinaldo happened to have photographed it in 2005, but these majestic plants are now gone and in their place is a beach front concession, a cafe. This was the only example of this species known to us on the Osa Peninsula. Fortunately, we managed to rescue two individuals, these plants are currently flowering in the LCO garden, and we're hoping that they might reproduce.

An important wildlife habitat

One might think - as Costa Rican government officials (from the municipality of Golfito and... believe it or not... the ministry for energy and the environment) overseeing the said development at Preciosa and Platanares beaches clearly did - what difference do a bunch of outsized spiny pineapples make? Well, apart from their intrinsic natural beauty, and the fact these plants help to buffer the coastline, Bromelia plumieri (Bromeliaceae) forms dense, at times almost unpenetrable stands, creating a micro-habitat that provides shelter and protection to a variety of local fauna, such as this fabulous Black Iguana (Ctenosaura similis) known locally as "Garoba", that we found amidst one of the mountains of now destroyed bromeliads.

Bromelia plumieri

The battle to get to the bottom of what happened last week at the Preciosa and Platanares beaches continues. For our part, we are developing information about the flora of this unique habitat and hope to make this, and other site-based ecology files, available via our official LCO website. This is not going to change the unnecessary damage that has already been done, but could help to prevent similar ocurrances elsewhere in the future. This image shows the impressive stands of Bromelia plumieri (Bromeliaceae), which are a distinctive element of the coastal ecosystem in this particular location. It is just one of a number of plant species that were affected last week, when the Municipality of Golfito cleared out vast swathes of the local vegetation in order to make way for what, from the size of it, looks to be a future highway on the beachfront.

Dacnis cayana

On a more joyous note... Providing that it's not pouring down with rain, the LCO garden is filled with the sounds and colors of so many birds right now, with the highlight being at around 7am. The Blue Dacnis (Dacnis cayana) also known as the blue honeycreeper, and locally known as "Mielero azulejo" is one such jewel that is visiting currently. The bird in the image was documented drinking from the liquid-filled inflorescences of Heliconia latispatha. A clear example of the benifits that planting native species has for local wildlife!

No tan preciosa!

We spent the day checking out the damage done by the municipality of Golfito during the past couple of days at Playa Preciosa, an important wildlife habitat and one of our favourite beach spots on the Peninsula. We hope to follow this post with more information shortly, so watch this space!

Heliconia irrasa

Just so it's clear that we do have a hand in with plants (and not just with reptiles and amphibians!) here is a recent shot of Heliconia irrasa (Heliconiaceae), a small growing (to ca. 70cm tall) member of this much-loved and highly ornamental genus. This species is flowering currently in the LCO native plants garden and throughout its natural range on the Osa Peninsula.

The big one!

The bushmaster (Lachesis muta) is the largest pitviper in the New World tropics and confined to tropical lowland wet forest, ranging from southern Central America to northern South America. It is a pale fawn color with some fairly distinctive black triangular markings. Check out the webpages of Digimorph at UT Austin (under the all too aptly named "Deep Scaly Project") for some sobering craneal models and more information relating to this species.

The Bushmaster Lachesis muta

... and this was what was coiled in waiting at the base of the plant! A near 3 meters long Bushmaster pitviper (Lachesis muta) known locally as "Matabuey" (meaning "Bull killer") or "Plato Negro" ("Black Plate" - pressumably in reference to the coloration of the head). This is the only individual of this species that Reinaldo has seen in his 20 some years of field work, and we hope that's how it will stay!

On the road to San Juan

Back to the year 2002. I was pregnant with Nilo, so stayed home (at that time home was a very civilized second floor apartment in Santo Domingo de Heredia) whilst Reinaldo was in the field in Osa for 3 weeks. During that trip, whilst he was on the road for San Juan (arriba), he spotted Heliconia irrasa (a small, attractive understory forest species, which happens to be in flower currently in the LCO native plants garden and elsewhere on the peninsula). The red arrow in this image shows the position of the individual plant in question, on a steep roadside embankment ....

Los Mogos

Inspite of the fact that the rainy season is well underway, yesterday was just like a Summer's day. We were out in the field, collecting near Los Mogos. Here, several excellent miradors exist (such as the one featured in the image above) overlooking the Golfo Dulce and other parts of the Osa Peninsula.