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William’s collection of plants ranges from orchids (just because they’re beautiful and fun) to a diverse selection of butterfly and moth host plants. On excursions to more natural areas, William collects orchids and bromeliads, especially from trees felled in land clearing. This butterfly orchid had just come into flower. |
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While the trees in the garden all have their various epiphytes, some naturally occurring, this rack of hanging wood slabs is his most recent attempt to display orchids such that they are easy to interpret to visitors. |
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Thurbergia grandiflora |
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Allamanda hendersonii
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William has three viveros but the public views only one. He had a few species that were not regularly grown by others. He also had a cage for pupae so visitors could see butterflies emerge. These are released into the vivero as breeding stock. Click here to see these and some of his butterflies. |
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Pierella has electricity so I was able to run the light for the three nights here. Not much came in because the whole area holds little resemblance to the original forest. Click here to see nocturnal insects, which were attracted, to the mercury vapor light and a Rothchildia that showed up at the porch light. |
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And as one might expect, the grounds serve as a magnet to birds and other wildlife, sometimes just to seek refuge from the farms on either side. Children next door brought in this red coffee snake, Ninia sebae, and I saw another under debris at the back of the property. The lizards most commonly seen enjoying the habitat William provides were the basilisk (Basiliscus americana) and slender anole (Norops). |
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And of course, the grounds had a variety of arthropod inhabitants. These turtle ants found a meal in a fresh bird dropping. The same Castniid seen at Billo's was also here and I even encountered the lighter-colored male on a guy-wire of the exhibit vivero. The gregarious larvae Chlosyne janais were found towards the back of the lot. DeVries says this species is commonly seen in disturbed open areas, fitting the bill here. |
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Sonpopas, the largest of leafcutting ants, Atta cephalotes also like this disturbed habitat, their huge nests readily visible. Randy Morgan has a couple of articles about this ant in SASI’s Casa Hormiga. |
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One morning after the bugs were serviced and all of the animals fed, William and I headed for the hills. As a moto (motorcycle) is his only transportation I put my life into his hands, and off we went to an area about 15 kilometers away and a hundred meters higher. Click here for a look at this area and some of the animals we encountered. |
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William and I had a lot in common and connected very nicely. We shared our life stories and dreams, watched Costa Rica lose a soccer game to the US, and grew in our mutual love of nature and gardening. Was I drawn to him because we went on a motorcycle ride for dinner each night, his introducing me to a number of friends and family who truly loved him, or was it my watching him be in love with a gringa, calling her in Wisconsin each night? |
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Or, was it because with only thirty minutes before the bus arrived he decided I should get a closer look at his stingless bees? I can’t say for sure. I do know that I’ll relish the opportunity to spend more time with William Camacho in the future. |
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