Ecuador: Day 8 - Coca (Province of Orellana)

It was a rainy day again and Oli decided that we should head to Coca to look for the Helicopis cupido at Lake lla Kucha.

On our drive in to the Lake, Oli informed us that are many refineries on the eastern side of Ecuador, being a country of the largest oil producing countries in Latin America. These are the pipe lines for the oil to reach the refineries.

Upon reaching the lake, we quickly got ready to look for the star butterfly that Oli said he has already seen when he walked near the lake. Notably, the lake was inhabited by piranha fish, and Oli had arranged for us to have our the fishes for lunch.

This is the host plant for the Halicopis cupido and the habitat is well establised for this species. It was so exciting to see them and we just spent the whole afternoon chasing them to photograph.

Seeing so many of the species flying about around the host plants, I was quite certain that I would b able to find the caterpillar. True to my expectation, I was delighted to see a caterpillar and subsequently found many of them inside the folded leaves.

Please click for more Butterflies of Ecuador

Once we captured all the shots we desired, it was time to indulge in our piranha fish lunch. Timing was perfect as we saw the arrival of the gentleman who had gone fishing for them. This marked the first occasion I had ever savored the flavor of a piranha fish!

We left the lake to try look for the Caria on our way, although Oli found one, we could not take any photos as it flew away when a motorcycle approached. Nevertheless, we had a marvelous time observing the flowers and enjoying the ripen red native banana trees and the Carludovica palmata,

Oli showed us how to take the banana and eat them in the wild!

Similarly Oli showed us how to take the young stem and eat the Carludovica palmata, or Paja Toquilla, which is a palm-like plant which is used for weaving Panama hats and is native to South America.