Animals on the Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica
The adult Io Moth from the previous page in her evening dress.
-> Io moth caterpillar
The most famous butterfly in Costa Rica is the Blue Morpho with its bright neon-blue iridescent wings
and a wingspan of up to 15 cm.
To the right: This thick striped caterpillar is a baby Morpho.
Butterflies and Moths
Costa Rica harbors near 1.500 species of butterflies and 12.000 moths in the Lepidoptera order. The best time to observe butterflies in Costa Rica is during rainy season, from June to November.
The difference between a butterfly and a moth isn't only that the first ones fly by day and the second at night. The butterflies feed when adults, the moths dont't as they ate the necessary while they were larvae. The butterflies also rest with their wings folded and the moths do it with open wings. The butterflies form a pupa that hangs, the moths form a bud that rest on the floor.
