Butterflies of Iguazu Falls, Argentina

September 7, 2014 tiffany
10 Comments
Argentina

I like going to natural places where the park description reads, “there are innumerable species of insects” and then further clarifies “some of them still not identified.” That is my kind of place, especially if there are butterflies.

In an earlier post, we just touched the surface of Iguazu Falls. This wildlife hotspot is one of the richest natural areas in Argentina. Constant warm temperatures and humidity make the 67,620 hectare park one huge green house. For this reason, Iguazu is a favorite spot for invertebrates and has become a special draw card for butterfly enthusiasts. One of the most spectacular species are those of the genus Morpho (like the Blue Ulyssess), a Latin name meaning beautiful.

Being in Iguazu was a real life butterfly sanctuary. Over the course of days we visited the park, we spent hours watching butterflies. Here is a look at what we saw:

1447 camera

Along the board walk to the upper falls, the butterflies were so numerous.

1454 front view

With the English translations for the photos, this one was called the Para Mini.

1463 green

Malachite

1465 gr eyes

I liked what looked like an “X” over their eyes.

1474 tounge

Dry leaf or Isidora

1479 brown

I love the stance of this butterfly – reminds me of an Irish setter hunting dog.

1514 brown

The Blue Leaf

1520 brown 2

Mentioned earlier, these butterflies have a flashing deep, blue when they open their wings. Although we got to see their beautiful color, it was extremely difficult to capture the quick opening on film, which is part of the reason I think they are so special.

1531 gr

Malachite

1534 long view

The wings are so slender.

1540 black eye 2

I am not certain of this one.

1542 black eye

042 yellow dots

Spotted Velvet

1607 orange circle

Small Round

028 t w lots

These butterflies are from the family pieridae.

1724 lots

They are often referred to as whites, yellows or sulphurs.

1728 c walking

These types of butterflies seemed to have little sections they liked to congregate in which was cool to walk past.

029 b w flower

Red Princess

1743 two

Edged Drop – small white one in front

1745 lil whitie

I love its two little legs

1747 whitie head on

Check out those antennae!

1741 red eye fly

I am not sure of the exact names of these flies, but look at them!

1737 fly

1739 fly feet

1765 fly3

Remember those old time scary fly horror movies?

1763 fly eating

I think this is where they got their inspiration from. If this fly was gigantic, would you want it eating you?

1764 fly 2

Look at those yellow feet! I was fascinated to watch these flies munching their way down the railing.

1773 green things

I am not positive on identifying this one, but I do like it’s snazzy green proboscis, which is how they feed.

1808 purple and green

Turqoise

The amount of wildlife, flora and fauna at Iguazu gave me warm fuzzy feelings. It’s a well managed park and animals go there to seek refuge and live their life. To see so many different varieties of butterflies in one place was reason to create a national park alone. The roaring falls were just a bonus.

*     *     *

If you go:
Everyone knows where Iguazu Falls is and finding transportation there is not hard. There are plenty of buses going to and from, just make sure you don’t cut yourself short on time, say for example you’re leaving Iguazu back to Buenos Aires to catch a flight. All the buses pretty much go on one main route and if there is an accident or road damage, you (and everyone else) will be waiting until you can get through. It was $1280 ARS for both of us to Puerto Iguazu from Buenos Aires.
We stayed at Camping Maristo, 175 Maristo Street (walking distance from bus station). It’s a place you can sleep. Here’s the deal, after our second night of staying there and deciding it wasn’t worth our time to move, Chris and I both started to talk at the same time: Can you think of any immediate family member we have who would even consider staying in this place? Without hesitation our response: No.
We concluded that if most of our family had to choose between staying in this dirty campground or taking their chances with a zombie apocalypse, they would choose to take their chances with the zombies.
An older lady runs the campground, who deep down, is nice and probably a little lonely. She loves to say NO! and has rules with giant NO! signs all over the campground. We stayed four or five nights there, and it was a place to sleep, but it was not the cleanest campground we’ve ever stayed at.
There’s plenty of places to eat, sleep and shop in Iguazu and you can find decent internet in town. We really enjoyed:
Jack Bucks Coffee and Friends
235 Missiones St., www.facebook.com/jackbucks, three dudes formed together to run this place and it’s cool, funky, has great wifi and great coffee.
El Mariachi Loco
257 Missiones, great Mexican food, but salads were not their thing.
Park entrance: $170 ARS pp. Get your ticket validated before you leave the park that day, and the your second day visiting the entrance is half price. Most people go two days to comfortably see everything in the park. We went three days, but on the third day you have to pay full price again.
A regular bus runs back and forth from Iguazu town and to the park about every thirty minutes: $35 ARS pp.

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10 Responses to “Butterflies of Iguazu Falls, Argentina”

  • jim
    10 years ago

    Wonderful post about Iguazu butterflies!!! I forget what a HUGE variety there are all around the world. Thanks for the reminder…

    • tiffany
      10 years ago

      There were so many butterflies. It was so cool because they seemed to congregate in this one area of the board walk which made for great photo opportunities. I just loved the variety of colors!

  • Best holiday destinations
    10 years ago

    Wonderful views about butterflies!! thanks for sharing nice views.

    • tiffany
      10 years ago

      Thanks. We could have spent so much more time watching all these different butterflies. It was a pretty neat experience.

  • Laura
    10 years ago

    What beautiful insects. The butterflies that is. The flies are definitely from a scary movie.

    • tiffany
      10 years ago

      Aren’t those flies so sweet! I love the hairy texture of their feet. And yes, the butterflies are pretty too.

  • debbie
    10 years ago

    beautiful butterfly pics love it fantastic photographer u r wunderbar

    • tiffany
      10 years ago

      Thanks! We really enjoyed taking photos of these butterflies. On the third day I insisted to Chris we had to go back to the butterfly spot for one more round of pics. Glad you enjoyed! 🙂

  • Sally @ thewinetraveller
    10 years ago

    Wonderful opinions about butterflies!! The goes are definitely from a terrifying film. thanks for discussing awesome images.

    • tiffany
      10 years ago

      Thanks Sally. Those flies were something mixed in with all those beautiful butterflies. Thanks for sharing.