The 2022 Honduras Butterfly Festival marked the first time that international visitors participated in this one-of-a-kind event.

For three straight years, the Pro Nature Honduras Foundation has operated the Honduras Butterfly Festival. It aims to promote the awareness of biodiversity protection by actively involving youth and highlighting the species-rich Lake Yojoa region. Combining these two aspects adds intrinsic value to the area and aids in showing nationals how to build sustainable tourism utilizing an areas’ finite natural resources.

Upon arrival, everyone traveled to Lake Yojoa and got settled in at the Bio Parque Paradise reserve. This would be ‘home’ for the next six nights. We were blessed with five days of great weather which brought out the multitudes of butterflies and we would record 300 species, including one country record and many rare species. 

On the first full day of the 2022 Honduras Butterfly Festival, we did some early morning birding on the hotel grounds. There was Lesson’s Motmot, Crimson-collared Tanager, Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Brown Jay, numerous migrant wood-warblers, and saltators. After breakfast, we made our way to Meambar N.P. which rises above the eastern flank of the Lake. We stopped along the entrance road to check out the activity as the sun started to warm the air. We found numerous species of brushfoots including the giant Harmonia Tigerwing and numerous smaller species. A variety of skippers appeared including the lovely, and rare, Orange-spotted Skipper. One is lucky to even find one of these a year! We eventually reached the visitor’s center and climbed the nearby canopy tower. Although there weren’t many large butterflies we did see many smaller species, including one that represented a country record. A confiding Keel-billed Motmot also perched on a nearby tree and allowed for some great photography. Before Honduras entered into the ‘world of birding’ this was considered a difficult bird to see. Some Collared Aracaris also swung by and put on a show before continuing on. We had lunch then continued our visit to this beautiful mountain area. The Porterweed flowers were attracting a large number of showy species including True Cattleheart, Green-celled Cattleheart, Iphidamas Cattleheart, and Dyar’s Swallowtail; all of which are flashy swallowtails. Partway up a trail, we were totally surprised to see the exquisite Black-bellied Anteros at ground level and several Rusted Clearwing-Satyr. At the end of the day, we returned to Bio Parque for a delicious dinner.

The following day we remained at Bio Parque all day. After some birding we had breakfast then began to look for butterflies. Robert and Olivia have been working with the owner of Bio Parque in helping them augment their butterfly gardens by providing mistflower plant stock and it is starting to pay off. Several large mistflowers around the parking lot stole the show this day. As the air started to warm they literally filled with butterflies and the participants began to see the real meaning of “Mistflower Power.” The sheer number of species is too large to list here, but the following are some of the highlights: Tiger Mimic-White, Orange White (the rarest species observed), Lisus Hairstreak, Lyra Metalmark (this one took the show that day!), Great Emesis, Rusty-tipped Page, Gaudy Checkerspot and Yellow-spotted Telemiades.

Everyone was literally blown away at the sheer number and amount of species that were being attracted to just a few mistflower bushes. We kindly reminded everyone to ‘hold on to their hats’ as what they were witnessing would be multiplied exponentially at Emerald Valley during the next few days. The action continued all day all the way until the sun set behind the trees. The grand finale came when three Cell-barred Metalmarks showed up and perched under some Hibiscus leaves below eye level. This is a species that is very difficult to observe up close and what a treat it was. We ended the day with a nice dinner and a presentation on the “Birds, and now, the Butterflies of Honduras.”

Day 5 2022 Honduras Butterfly Festival

Days 3 and 4

The next two days were spent at Emerald Valley where Robert and Olivia have been working for several years in creating one of, if not, the most incredible butterfly gardens in the region. This was brought about by the ‘discovery’ of the first mistflower shrub behind their house together with the occurrence of a phenomenal amount of species that have been recorded there. To date, nearly 700 species have been documented on only fifty acres of rainforest. This includes nearly 120 country records, two species that exist only there in all of Central America and then ‘reappear’ in South America, and a newly described, endemic metalmark. There are numerous mistflower and porterweed gardens which are augmented by lantana, zinnias a suite of native wildflowers. All are connected with rustic and cement paths. The overall effect is a butterfly lover’s paradise.

At Emerald Valley, the international participants were joined by some Honduran nationals. There were 2 ½ days of non-stop action as everyone spread out on the premises to enjoy and take pictures of the winged beauties. Banana baits were also put out to attract beauties such as Blue Morpho, satyrids, crackers, and Tiger Beauty. As with Bio Parque, the list of species observed at Emerald Valley is long, but some of the highlights include: Ruby-spotted Swallowtail, Tiger Mimic-White, Costa-spotted Mimic-White, Golden White, Pearly Hairstreak, Meton Hairstreak, Thales Blackstreak, Silver-banded Hairstreak, White-striped Groundstreak, Inca Metalmark, Orange-stitched Metalmark, Cramer’s Metalmark, Five-spotted Longwing, Northern Nessaea, Blue-and-orange Eighty-eight, Astala Eighty-eight, Pearly Leafwing, Stub-tailed Morpho, Thermus Skipper, Confusing Phanus, Emerald Aguna, Frosted Flasher, Cryptic Skipper, Northern Eyed-Skipper, Variable Blue-skipper, Onaca Skipper and the Litana Skipper.

On Sunday, the last day of the 2022 Honduras Butterfly Festival came the grand finale. We all assembled outdoors where the results of the photography contest were to be revealed. A well-known artist from San Pedro Sula was also present as she had donated two original pieces to the contest. Everyone who participated received some sort of prize or recognition and it was a wonderful way to end the Festival.