Rio de Janeiro and the immediately surrounding region is home to an amazing number of neo-tropical Butterflies which range in sizes from the smallest Grass-skippers, Metalmarks and Hairstreaks through to the Admirals, Fritillaries and Adelphas and on to the large neo-tropical Swallowtails, and finally to those Giants of the butterfly world the dusk flying Caligos and those spectacular blue, green and white sun-loving Morphos. Richard is now an expert field-researcher of the Butterflies of this region and he knows the correct seasons and the places in which to search to track them down. His valuable knowledge will afford us the very best chances with encounters. We will also be using baits and other tricks & proven methods to attract and encounter our insect targets, and this will further guaranteed us the very best chances of seeing and photographing them.
Custom designed Butterfly Photography trips can be made to your particular requirements but Richard also hopes to offer some Fixed Itinerary ideas listed below and these are timed to coincide with some of the region’s spectacular and annual butterfly hatchings.
Please contact Richard with your requirements and dates at rrabybrasil@gmail.com.
Fixed Itinerary Butterfly photography trips.
After some time in preparation, Richard is now offering, starting from January 2023, Two popular Butterfly Group trips to South-eastern Brazil during the months of January and February, the hot season (literally!) for Lepidoptera in South-eastern Brazil.
Depending on demand it may be possible to offer two or more different programs.
The first, in the month of January, will visit 3 localities and mix between the lowlands, the 600-900metres intermediate, zones. The December rains produce much brooding in the lowlands towards their finish in early January.
The second, in February, will be based in Two intermediate level and one High level elevation localities (generally considered the best time of year for these higher altitudes).
We would aim to start the lower level group as soon after the new-year as practical. The second Trip will commence at approximately mid-month. The maximum number of participants for each itinerary will be set at 6 people per group.
Both trips will be of 14 days duration and will be priced competitively & be semi- inclusive (not including occasional evening meals, eaten out at restaurants). Due to the variable transportation calculations final pricing costing will depend upon the number of participants, but will be somewhere between the $175-$235 per night value.
As a rule of thumb a minimum number of 6 persons will be required to finalize each group.
In the event of lower numbers of participants a different daily rate would need to be applied.
January Trip
- 3 nights spent in the Angra dos Reis coastal region at sea level. Lowlevel jungle.
- 5 nights at 900meters altitude in the serra da Bocaina, jungle-edge habitat.
- 5 nights at the 600-1000 meters mark in the Itatiaia massif. Jungle interior habitat
February trip
- 4 Nights spent at the Serra da Bocaina, set at 900meters altitude, forest edge habitat.
- 2 Nights spent at the upper Itatiaia national park in the Cloud-forest zone (circa1600-1900meters).
- 4 Nights spent at the Campos do Jordao super-high altitude region of Eastern Sao Paolo state.
- 3 Nights spent at the Itatiaia lower park circa 800 meters altitude, forest interior.
Both of these trips will concentrate on the field photography and identification of Lepidoptera and allied insects which are abundant, especially at altitude (where seasonality is more developed) during the Brazilian summer months.
NB* great investment in expensive DSLR semi-pro. equipment IS NOT essential to participate and to record this trip. In this age of Digital Photography, excellent results can be obtained from many readily affordable, consumer level cameras with macro capability.