Hetaerina cruentata (Highland Rubyspot)

I saw my first Rubyspot in Richmond, Virginia, on a trip to visit an old friend but I was smitten by them before that just from photographs. Costa Rica has 9 species of rubyspot and ya just gotta love ’em. Distinguishing some of those species can be tricky from photographs because it can revolve around whether all four wings or just the hindwings have a reddish spot on the wingtips. The wings are often held together at rest making that distinction tricky to see.

This was my first Costa Rican rubyspot seen at our first stop, Hotel Villa Zurqui. Hetaerina cruentata (Highland Rubyspot) helpfully has a metallic green triangle on the thorax side just below the wing roots.

male