We thought the meadow would have the highest species richness for lepidopterans, but in fact the primary forest at Las Cruces had a higher species richness for lepidopterans as compared to meadow and coffee farm. We speculate that the monoculture of a coffee farm is poor habitat for birds and lepidopterans even during pollination season. The meadow seems to have some good habitat for lepidopterans with grasses, forbs, sedges, and a few small scattered trees, but there is little tree habitat for birds. A few grassland birds were found. Historically, Costa Rican birds did not evolve in a grassy habitat so only some can utilize grasslands.
Rainforests are good habitat for birds because of the availability of food and shelter.
The microclimate in the rainforest is more humid and dark than the meadow or coffee plantation. Because of the conditions rainforests are good for moths and butterflies. Limitations to our study include variations in sight distances. In the meadow, we had long sight lines and in the primary forest we had limited vision. To compensate for this, we used bird calls in the primary forest.