With five years of living on our property, I appreciate that every season shows me a new wonder. The "dry season" is still kinda wet. Almost every day clouds burst with rain at unexpected times. Though the showers are short and usually at night. Most mornings the sky is a cloudless blue while I sit on the 2nd floor deck enjoying a coffee. This time of year, the butterflies appear. They flutter from hibiscus flower to plumeria like snowflakes dancing on swirling breeze. The smallest are white or yellow. There's a dramatic black with neon green highlights or black with a splash of red. Occasionally, I see one that resembles a monarch. The largest and most spectacular is the giant Blue Morpho. During the dryer months, I often see a morpho flit past flashing its brilliant cobalt blue wings. I have tried to capture its image with my camera with no luck.
This lovely creature, the Owl Butterfly or Buho in Spanish. was perched on the wall of the terrace this morning. It is one of the largest of butterflies in Costa Rica. Notice the large eye-like dots on its lower wings. It rests with its wings closed in hopes that a predator will either be scared that it's an owl or will attack the "eye." Giving the butterfly a better chance at escape.
As M walked by the green house, he noticed a couple of butterflies hanging under the leaves of a guanábana sapling. Looking closer, he saw dozens of dried pupa attached to the underside of the many ellipsis shaped leaves. We watched as butterflies emerged from the pupa. Metamorphosis is a wonder to witness.
It is a beautiful conclusion to a cycle that started a couple of weeks ago. The greenhouse has a passion fruit vine that spread across the entire structure. The leaves were thick and created a deep, cool shade inside the greenhouse. Last year, the vine produced a few fruits but sadly it was infested with an industrious insect that ate the flowers before they could fruit. This year, M had hope that the vine would flourish until the caterpillars showed up. The dark brown multi-legged devourers, about 3" long, were crawling all over the vine vigorously munching the leaves. Once the caterpillars were fed, they migrated under the leaves of the guanábana to spin themselves into pupa.
I believe that this species of butterfly is malachite. From my search of the World Wide Web, I feel that the butterflies emerging under the leaves reflect most of the characteristics described.
These two appear to be hanging out as their wings dried in the morning sunshine. Often the caterpillars crawl across the terrace in their search for food. Last week, I found one crawling up the laundry room's door jamb. Many of the caterpillars here are toxic to the touch and I am very careful in relocating a renegade to a plant. I don't want to harm or kill it as I know that it is on its journey from creeping along the earth to floating in the air. These aerodynamic jewels are not just eye candy. In their search for sustenance, they pollinate. Doing their part to continue the cycle of life.
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