I have been adding to the Odonata featured here on the website mainly by using iNaturalist. So far I've now got 66 of the 87 species featured which comes to 75%. And there are still more that I can use from that source too so I will keep adding as time permits. The hardest ones to get I think will be the remaining endemics but we'll see. There are six of these, all in the Zygoptera or damselflies and I've so far got pictures of three of them but the remaining three are very rare. This is one of the endemics - Cuban Hypolestes Hypolestes trinitatis which we have come across a couple of times in the Alejandro de Humboldt NP in the east.
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I monitor several wildlife Facebook pages and its wonderful to see the heightened interest in lepidoptera created in large part by the new Field Guide to the Butterflies of Cuba. This lovely picture of a Red-striped Leafwing Siderone galanthis was taken by Jehovanny Rodriguez who lives at Sabanilla a few km to the SE of Baracoa. It is a lovely area and he has been finding and photographing some great anoles near his home too but I'll post about those separately. We have seen this species occasionally on our travels and once at Santa Clara we even found one feeding on a papaya which allowed a close approach to within a couple of inches! Larvae feed on the leaves of Casearia aculeata (Salicaceae) leaving distinctive small tell-tale segments of leaf attached to the foodplant (see below). When moving the larvae have a distinctive forward and backward rocking motion. And you can see why in the left-hand photo below where the small larva sits on the midrib of the leaf and the dead segments around it provide a good camouflage.
Another wonderful photo from Karlos Ross, the bird guide at Holguin, this time of an Antillean Nighthawk - a male I think from the white band on the throat. They are common summer residents in Cuba before departing to S America it is presumed for the winter months.
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Here we will post interesting news about what we and others have seen in Cuba. Archives
November 2024
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