Butterflies of Cuba
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    • Species List >
      • Papilionidae : Papilioninae >
        • Battus devilliers - De Villiers' Swallowtail
        • Battus polydamas - Polydamas Swallowtail
        • Heraclides andraemon - Bahaman Swallowtail
        • Heraclides androgeus - Androgeus Swallowtail
        • Heraclides caiguanabus - Poey's Swallowtail
        • Heraclides oviedo - Oviedo's Swallowtail
        • Heraclides oxynius - Cuban Black Swallowtail
        • Heraclides pelaus - Pelaus Swallowtail
        • Heraclides ponceana - Dusky Swallowtail
        • Neographium celadon - Cuban Kite Swallowtail
        • Papilio demoleus - Lime Swallowtail
        • Papilio polyxenes - Black Swallowtail
        • Parides gundlachianus - Gundlach's Swallowtail
        • Pterourus palamedes - Palamedes Swallowtail
        • Pterourus troilus - Spicebush Swallowtail
      • Hesperiidae : Eudaminae >
        • Aguna asander - Gold-spotted Aguna
        • Aguna claxon - Emerald Aguna
        • Autochton potrillo - Potrillo Skipper
        • Cecropterus dorantes - Dorantes Longtial
        • Chioides marmorosa - Cuban Longtail
        • Epargyreus zestos - Zestos Skipper
        • Phocides pigmalion - Mangrove Skipper
        • Polygonus leo - Hammock Skipper
        • Proteides maysi - May's Skipper
        • Proteides mercurius - Cuban Mercurial Skipper
        • Telegonus anausis - Caribbean Yellow-tipped Flasher
        • Telegonus cassander - Cuban Flasher
        • Telegonus cellus - Golden-banded Skipper
        • Telegonus habana - Frosty Flasher
        • Telegonus talus - Green Flasher
        • Telegonus xagua - Antillean Flasher
        • Urbanus proteus - Common Long-tailed Skipper
      • Hesperiidae : Hesperiinae >
        • Asbolis capucinus - Monk Skipper
        • Atalopedes mesogramma - Mesogramma Skipper
        • Calpodes ethlius - Canna Skipper
        • Carystoides mexicana - Mexican Ruby-eye
        • Choranthus radians - Radians Skipper
        • Cymaenes tripunctus - Three-spotted Skipper
        • Euphyes cornelius - Cornelius Skipper
        • Euphyes singularis - Singularis Skipper
        • Holguinia holguin - Holguin Skipper
        • Hylephila phyleus - Fiery Skipper
        • Lerodea eufala - Eufala Skipper
        • Nyctelius nyctelius - Violet-banded Skipper
        • Oarisma bruneri - Bruner's Skipperling
        • Oarisma nanus - Nanus Skipperling
        • Panoquina corrupta - Corrupt Skipper
        • Panoquina lucas - Purple-washed Skipper
        • Panoquina ocola - Ocola Skipper
        • Panoquina panoquinoides - Obscure Skipper
        • Parachoranthus magdalia - Magdalia Skipper
        • Perichares philetes - Caribbean Ruby-eye
        • Polites baracoa - Baracoa Skipper
        • Pyrrhocalles antiqua - Caribbean Skipper
        • Rhinthon cubana - Cuban Rhinthon
        • Saliana esperi - Perching Saliana
        • Synapte malitiosa - Caribbean Faceted Skipper
        • Wallengrenia misera - Cuban Broken-dash
      • Hesperiidae : Pyrginae >
        • Anastrus sempiternus - Common Anastrus
        • Burca braco - Braco Skipper
        • Burca concolor - Concolorous Skipper
        • Burca cubensis - Cuban Skipper
        • Burnsius crisia - Antillean Checkered Skipper
        • Burnsius oileus - Tropical Checkered Skipper
        • Chiomara gundlachi - Gundlach's Duskywing
        • Eantis munroei - Munroe's Sicklewing
        • Eantis papinianus - Cuban Sicklewing
        • Ephyriades brunnea - Florida Duskywing
        • Ephyriades zephodes - Zephodes Duskywing
        • Erynnis zarucco - Zarucco Skipper
        • Gesta gesta - Impostor Duskywing
        • Ouleus fridericus - Fridericus Spreadwing
      • Pieridae : Colladinae >
        • Abaeis nicippe - Sleepy Orange
        • Anteos clorinde - White-angled Sulphur
        • Anteos maerula - Yellow-angled Sulphur
        • Colias eurytheme - Orange Sulphur
        • Eurema amelia - Cuban Yellow
        • Eurema boisduvaliana - Boisduval's Yellow
        • Eurema daira - Barred Yellow
        • Eurema elathea - Banded Yellow
        • Eurema lucina - Smudged Yellow
        • Kricogonia cabrerai - Cuban Sulphur
        • Kricogonia lyside - Lyside Sulphur
        • Nathalis iole - Dainty Sulphur
        • Phoebis agarithe - Large Orange Sulphur
        • Phoebis argante - Apricot Sulphur
        • Phoebis avellaneda - Orange-washed Sulphur
        • Phoebis neleis - Neleis Sulphur
        • Phoebis orbis - Orbis Sulphur
        • Phoebis philea - Orange-barred Sulphur
        • Phoebis sennae - Cloudless Sulphur
        • Phoebis statira - Statira Sulphur
        • Pyrisitia chamberlaini - Chamberlain's Yellow
        • Pyrisitia dina - Bush Sulphur
        • Pyrisitia larae - Confusing Yellow
        • Pyrisitia lisa - Little Yellow
        • Pyrisitia messalina - Whitish Yellow
        • Pyrisitia nise - Mimosa Yellow
        • Pyrisitia proterpia - Tailed Orange
        • Pyrisitia venusta - Pale Yellow
        • Zerene cesonia - Southern Dogface
      • Pieridae : Dismorphiinae >
        • Dismorphia cubana - Cuban Mimic-White
      • Pieridae : Pierinae >
        • Ascia monuste - Great Southern White
        • Ganyra menciae - Cuban White
        • Glutophrissa drusilla - Florida White
        • Melete salacia - Black-striped White
        • Pontia protodice - Checkered White
      • Riodinidae >
        • Dianesia carteri - Caribbean Metalmark
      • Lycaenidae : Polyommatinae >
        • Brephidium exilis - Pygmy Blue
        • Cupido comyntas - Eastern Tailed-Blue
        • Cyclargus ammon - Nickerbean Blue
        • Cyclargus thomasi - Miami Blue
        • Hemiargus ceraunus - Ceraunus Blue
        • Leptotes cassius - Cassius Blue
        • Leptotes hedgesi - Hedges' Blue
        • Pseudochrysops bornoi - Antillean Blue
      • Lycaenidae : Theclinae >
        • Allosmaitia coelebs - Cuban Hairstreak
        • Chlorostrymon maesites - Amethyst Hairstreak
        • Chlorostrymon simaethis - Silver-banded Hairstreak
        • Electrostrymon angelia - Fulvous Hairstreak
        • Eumaeus atala - Atala Hairstreak
        • Ministrymon azia - Grey Ministreak
        • Nesiostrymon celida - Caribbean Hairstreak
        • Strymon acis - Bartram's Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon bazochii - Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon istapa - Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon limenia - Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon martialis - Martial Scrub-Hairstreak
        • Strymon toussainti - Toussaint's Scrub-Hairstreak
      • Nymphalidae : Apaturinae >
        • Asterocampa idyja - Dusky Emperor
        • Doxocopa laure - Silver Emperor
      • Nymphalidae : Biblidinae >
        • Dynamine postverta - Mexican Sailor
        • Dynamine serina - Caribbean Sailor
        • Eunica heraclitus - Cuban Purplewing
        • Eunica monima - Dingy Purplewing
        • Eunica tatila - Florida Purplewing
        • Hamadryas amphinome - Red Cracker
        • Hamadryas februa - Gray Cracker
        • Hamadryas feronia - Variable Cracker
        • Lucinia sida - Caribbean Banner
      • Nymphalidae : Charaxinae >
        • Anaea cubana - Cuban Leafwing
        • Archaeoprepona demophoon - Two-spotted Prepona
        • Cymatogramma echemus - Chestnut Leafwing
        • Hypna clytemnestra - Silver-studded Leafwing
        • Siderone galanthis - Red-striped Leafwing
      • Nymphalidae : Cyrestinae >
        • Marpesia chiron - Many-banded Daggerwing
        • Marpesia eleuchea - Caribbean Daggerwing
      • Nymphalidae : Danainae >
        • Anetia briarea - Many-spotted King
        • Anetia cubana - Cuban King
        • Anetia pantherata - Great King
        • Danaus eresimus - Soldier
        • Danaus gilippus - Queen
        • Danaus plexippus - Monarch
        • Greta cubana - Cuban Clearwing
        • Lycorea halia - Tiger Mimic Queen
      • Nymphalidae : Heliconiinae >
        • Agraulis vanillae - Gulf Fritillary
        • Dryas iulia - Flambeau
        • Eueides isabella - Isabella's Heliconian
        • Euptoieta claudia - Variegated Fritillary
        • Euptoieta hegesia - Mexican Fritillary
        • Heliconius charithonia - Zebra Heliconian
      • Nymphalidae : Libytheinae >
        • Libytheana carinenta - American Snout
        • Libytheana motya - Cuban Snout
        • Libytheana terena - Antillean Snout
      • Nymphalidae Limenitinae >
        • Adelpha iphicleola - Iphicleola Sister
        • Limenitis archippus - Viceroy
      • Nymphalidae : Nymphalinae >
        • Anartia chrysopelea - Cuban Peacock
        • Anartia jatrophae - White Peacock
        • Anthanassa frisia - Cuban Crescent
        • Antillea pelops - Antillean Crescent
        • Atlantea perezi - Cuban Checkerspot
        • Colobura dirce - Mosaic
        • Historis acheronta - Tailed Cecropian
        • Historis odius - Stinky Leafwing
        • Hypanartia paullus - Antillean Mapwing
        • Hypolimnas misippus - The Mimic
        • Junonia coenia - Common Buckeye
        • Junonia neildi - Mangrove Buckeye
        • Junonia zonalis - Tropical Buckeye
        • Phyciodes phaon - Phaon Crescent
        • Polygonia interrogationis - Question Mark
        • Siproeta stelenes - Malachite
        • Vanessa atalanta - Red Admiral
        • Vanessa cardui - Painted Lady
        • Vanessa virginiensis - American Lady
      • Nymphalidae : Satyrinae >
        • Calisto aquilum - Cuban Dark Calisto
        • Calisto bradleyi - Bradley's Calisto
        • Calisto brochei - Broche's Calisto
        • Calisto bruneri - Bruner's Calisto
        • Calisto disjunctus - Western Cuban Calisto
        • Calisto dissimulatum - Mimic Calisto
        • Calisto gundlachi - Gandlach's Calisto
        • Calisto herophile - Cuban Common Calisto
        • Calisto israeli - Israel's Calisto
        • Calisto lastrai - Lastra's Calisto
        • Calisto muripetens - Guamuahaya Calisto
        • Calisto occulta - Hidden Calisto
        • Calisto sharkeyae - Sharkey's Calisto
        • Calisto siguanensis - Sand Calisto
        • Calisto smintheus - Cuban Rusty Calisto
        • Calisto torrei - Torre's Calisto
    • Download Species List
    • Thumbnails >
      • Papilionidae - Swallowtails
      • Hesperiidae - Skippers
      • Pieridae - Whites & Yellows
      • Riodinidae / Lycaenidae - Metalmarks, Hairstreaks & Blues
      • Nymphalidae - Nymphalids
    • Hostplants >
      • Picramnia pentrandra
      • Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
    • Other Wildlife >
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        • Schreckensteinioidea
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Day 9 - 21 Mar - Sierra de Codina

19/6/2017

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Next to our rooms was a row of large fruiting palms that were a great attraction to a flock of Scaly-naped Pigeons which is a widespread species but I've never had such close views of them though they were surprisingly wary considering that there are always people around the hotel.
Scaly-naped Pigeon 21 Mar 2017 Escambray © Tim Norriss
Scaly-naped Pigeon 21 Mar 2017 Escambray © Tim Norriss
As arranged we set off in a jeep after breakfast with our guide Alex for the day to go to the Sierra de Codina. This is at a higher elevation and was quite cool when we arrived and slightly damp underfoot. We soon saw Orange-washed Sulphur Phoebis avellaneda, Orange-barred Sulphur Phoebis philea and White-angled Sulphur Anteos clorinde. We had a coffee at the hacienda and a look around the gardens where there were Cape May Warblers, Cuban Tody, Cuban Emerald and Cuban Trogons everywhere.
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Cape May Warbler 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
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Cuban Trogon 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
There were many fruit trees in the garden including quite a lot of oranges. Alex explained that the West Indian Woodpeckers are not liked by the locals because they have a habit of eating and destroying the oranges. While he was telling us this we watched one fly across into an orange tree and do just that.
hacienda 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
West Indian Woodpecker 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
There are various trails from here but we opted for the Magic Carpet trail which was a fairly easy 7km.
There are lots of orchids in the area, 132 to be precise, though at this time of year not very many of them are in flower but we did see some that were epiphytes and some that were not.
There were quite a few warblers about too and we saw Black-throated Blue, Prairie, Black-throated Green, Parula, Black & White, Ovenbird plus Cuban and Black-whiskered Vireos. There weren't many adult butterflies but Doug was always on the lookout for larvae and found Caribbean Faceted Skipper Synapte malitiosa, Caribbean Ruby-eye Perichares philetes and a pupa of Perching Saliana Saliana esperi. But it was a larval shelter on a vine that caught his eye and proved of most interest as he didn't recognise the plant. On opening it there was a black and yellow striped larva inside that looked just like an Antillean Flasher Astraptes xagua larva but the foodplant was wrong. There are four other Astraptes species in Cuba and Doug guessed that it was going to prove to be Green Flasher Astraptes talus which indeed turned out to be the case. A further careful search provided another larva and several hatched eggs. And the vine foodplant has proved to be Mucuna urens - Thank you Eddy for the id.
Green Flasher Astraptes talus larval shelter 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
Green Flasher Astraptes talus eggs 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
Green Flasher Astraptes talus larva 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
Green Flasher Astraptes talus larva 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
Mucuna urens 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
Mucuna urens 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
Black-striped White Melete salacia feeds on mistletoes in the larval stages so when we found some mistletoe sp we made a point of searching it carefully - but no luck this time.
mistletoe sp 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
mistletoe sp 21 Mar 2017 Sierra de Codina © Tim Norriss
We walked back along the river in a limestone gorge past a huge strangler fig to where the day trekkers were going to be feeding on roast pig later in the evening. A great day out with the very knowledgeable Alex.
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Day 8 - 20 March - Topes

15/6/2017

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My 'traveling' moth trap comprises a cardboard box (kindly given to me by Chris Manley) that folds up into the bottom of my suitcase. The bulb is an energy-saving bulb that I brought from Canada as it operates on 110v and doesn't need a heavy choke. It is mounted on a wooden bar with a rainguard. Inside I put a few egg cartons or large dry leaves. There were about a dozen species in the trap this morning which we spent time photographing before releasing. I haven't yet managed to identify any of them! One of them is a Eublemma unless I'm very much mistaken. There are three species on the Cuban list - cinnamomeum, minima and rectum (recta?) and it isn't any of these as far as I can make out.
Crambidae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Crambidae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Eublemma sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Larentiinae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Noctuidae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Noctuidae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Pyraustinae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Pyraustinae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Tortricidae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Tortricidae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Tortricidae sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
After breakfast we were collected by Rafael Giraldo and transferred to the main hotel as promised. Rafael is the Sales Manager at the hotel and organises the tours so we arranged to have a jeep trip tomorrow with a guide to go to Sierra de Codina. Douglas then found a larva of Cuban Rhinthon Rhinthon cubana on the Hedychium plants growing just behind our rooms. An excellent find this as it is a rare skipper that we had looked for before but not found. It has been recorded here just once before.
Cuban Rhinthon Rhinthon cubana 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Cuban Rhinthon Rhinthon cubana 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
There are quite a few roads and trails around the hotel so we set off to explore.
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The colour of the dewlap is an important identification feature for anoles. Both of these two are quite common but its always useful to see the dewlap to clinch the id as body colour is very variable on these two and Cuban Coast Anole Anolis jubar which you can see on the reptiles page.
Cuban White-fanned Anole Anolis homolechis 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Cuban Brown Anole Anolis sagrei 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
At the bottom of the hill is a small stream where we disturbed a Little Blue Heron and just above that was a patch of Lablab purpureus, a type of bean, which Doug explained was the foodplant of Caribbean Yellow-tipped Flasher Astraptes anausis. We searched the leaves and found a larval shelter but unfortunately it was empty. Close - but no cigar.
Caribbean Yellow-tipped Flasher Astraptes anaphus larval shelter 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Lablab purpureus 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Little Blue Heron 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
damselfly sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
We searched the Costus spiralis plants for larvae but only found a pupal exuvia of Perching Saliana Saliana esperi. As we left the restaurant after supper a group of people were photographing a Cuban Tree Frog Osteopilus septentrionalis high up on the wall. These are large frogs and it's amazing how they cling on to a vertical surface with their suckered feet. The other frog we have seen before but still not sure of the id.
Perching Saliana Saliana esperi pupal exuvia 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Perching Saliana Saliana esperi pupal shelter 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Frog sp 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Cuban Tree Frog Osteopilus septentrionalis 20 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
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Day 7 - 19 Mar - Hanabanilla to Topes de Collantes

12/6/2017

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The large pine tree outside our room attracted various birds early in the mornings including White-winged Doves. Greater Antillean Grackles with their strange tails would sit preening in the sunshine and Tawny-shouldered Blackbirds looked for insects. Their orange shoulder patches are often hidden but the slightly smaller bill and more slender appearance distinguishes them from Cuban Blackbird which are far more common.
Greater Antillean Grackle 19 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Tawny-shouldered Blackbird 19 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Great Lizard Cuckoo are widespread and common but are rather skulking so when one approached us in scattered scrub on the path down by the lake this morning I stood still and waited for it to come to me, which It did in rather spectacular fashion
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Great Lizard Cuckoo 19 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Common Ground Dove 19 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Hanno Blue Hemiargus hanno 19 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
We set off for Topes de Collantes this morning which lies to the south of Lake Hanabanilla and is higher in elevation. On the way we stopped at a viewpoint for a short break with its wonderful view to the north with the southern arm of Lake Hanabanilla in the distance. 
We had arranged to stay at Los Helechos Hotel for eight nights but when we arrived it looked as if it had seen better days!
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Only joking! In fact the hotel is quite nice and the standard has been raised a lot since we were last here. This was an old apartment block from which, when the hotels were built here, they moved people out into various cities. The hotel has good food, pleasant rooms and a very smart brand new swimming pool that Lynn used every day. In fact we were treated like honoured guests during our stay, and we couldn't figure out why until the end. It turned out that in all the years that the hotel had been open nobody had ever stayed for eight days - usually its just one or two nights as part of a whistle-stop tour of Cuba. As the main hotel was full for the first night we were given a spacious little bungalow for the night at Villa Caburni which is a short way up the road with the promise that we would be moved down the next day.
Villa Caburni
Los Helechos
Los Helechos
Los Helechos is run by Gaviota which is in effect a part of the military so the transport for tours and day trips is in old military vehicles - lorries and jeeps depending on how many of you there are. We had tried to arrange our own vehicle and driver to stay with us here to give us more flexibility but had been told this wasn't possible but were never given a reason why. I suspect this is just Gaviota maintaining a monopoly on tourist transport in the area as I can't think of any other reason. And in fact that worked out just fine as some days we wanted to walk locally and others we arranged a jeep plus driver and guide to take us out. After getting set up in our rooms we went out for a walk and soon found larvae of Orange-washed Sulphur Phoebis avellaneda and Orange-barred Sulphur Phoebis philea on Senna spectabilis amongst the bushes in front of the concrete shell of the apartment block. There were also eggs of White-angled Sulphur Anteos clorinde. We searched the Passiflora for Heliconiinae eggs and larvae but couldn't find any.
White-angled Sulphur Anteos clorinde egg 19 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Orange-barred Sulphur Phoebis philea 19 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Orange-washed Sulphur Phoebis avellaneda 19 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Passiflora sp 19 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Doug pointed out the distinctive feeding damage of Red-striped Leafwing Siderone galanthis on Casearia with the tell-tale brown leaf fragments left hanging in a line along the midrib, and also of Perching Saliana Saliana esperi on Costus spiralis with the rather straight-cut edges where the larva had been feeding on the leaves. Both these species have been recorded here before but we didn't see adults of either during our stay.
feeding damage of Perching Saliana Saliana esperi on Costus spiralis 19 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
feeding damage of Red-striped Leafwing Siderone galanthis on Casearia 19 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
Red-legged Honey-creepers and Cuban Orioles were feeding in a large flowering Erythrina tree but the distance was to great for any reasonable pictures of these with my camera set-up. Having checked with the security guard that it would be ok to run the moth lamp outside the bungalow overnight we set it up running the cable out through an open window. There were plenty of trees just outside so we looked forward to seeing what there would be in the morning.
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Erythrina sp 19 Mar 2017 Topes © Tim Norriss
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May 2017 Butterfly migration

10/6/2017

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Great Southern White Ascia monuste 6 Nov 2015 Gibara © Tim Norriss
On 30 May a friend at the Sol Rio Luna y Mares hotel near Guardalavaca north of Holguin wrote to say that for the past three weeks there had been an amazing migration of thousands of butterflies. He described this as an incredible sight which he had never previously witnessed. He also added that there has been no rain yet!
 
I sought further information from our Cuban friend Félix, a butterfly enthusiast in Gibara a few miles to the west, and his reply the same day was very interesting. He confirmed that a huge migration had been taking place. He said that migrations occur most years between May and July often lasting between three and five days followed by a gap. The most abundant species are Great Southern White Ascia monuste and Lyside Sulphur Kricogonia lyside, with Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae, Large Orange Sulphur Phoebis agarithe and Cuban Snout Libytheana motya present in smaller numbers.
 
This year he says that in April there was a large migration of Great Southern White Ascia monuste with a few Lyside Sulphur Kricogonia lyside - unusual so early in the year. During the last twelve days of May there was a huge migration of mainly Great Southern White Ascia monuste from the NE which has also been seen in Holguin, Banes, Guardalavaca and Puerto Padre mainly between 8am and 1pm. This migration also included some Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae, Large Orange Sulphur Phoebis agarithe and Lyside Sulphur Kricogonia lyside but these were scarcer.
 
Thank you Félix for your insight and to Ronald for first alerting us to this – just a shame we aren’t there to witness it for ourselves.

Postscript - I have since heard from Douglas Fernández who lives at Camagüey in the centre of the island who tells me that on 25 May in his neighborhood he and his wife Noris watched many Great Southern White Ascia monuste flying north after midday at a rate of about 100 per minute. And again on 27 May he and his son Douglas saw many flying north over the savanna grasslands at Albaiza, a few km outside Camagüey. Thank you Doug for sharing.
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Day 6 - 18 Mar - Cienfuegos Botanic Garden

10/6/2017

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Because of the dry weather we've been struggling to find good habitat locally with butterflies flying other than around the hotel so we decided to go back to Cienfuegos Botanic Garden again today. Soon after we arrived we saw a Gundlach's Hawk briefly circling over the trees above us. This rare endemic, though widely distributed, is far from easy to see and this is only our second sighting. Another good find was a Barn Owl sitting low down in one of the large trees.
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Barn Owl 18 Mar 2017 Cienfuegos Botanic Garden © Tim Norriss
The Scaly-breasted Munias were again in evidence feeding in the bamboos with Yellow-faced Grass-quits.
Scaly-breasted Munia 18 Mar 2017 Cienfuegos Botanic Garden © Tim Norriss
Scaly-breasted Munia 18 Mar 2017 Cienfuegos Botanic Garden © Tim Norriss
But other than that we saw little new today in the Botanic Garden and our search for the two Hairstreaks drew a blank. A fly over White-collared Swift late in the day near the hotel was a good sighting and only the second time I have seen one in Cuba. They are a rare permanent resident in the mountains of the island though they are also widespread in Central and South America. We saw them, again only briefly, in the Sierra Maestra mountains in the south-east in March 2015.
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Day 5 - 17 Mar - Hanabanilla Boat Trip

6/6/2017

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I ran the moth lamp on the balcony last night but there were only a couple of moths as it was very windy. One is a Pyrausta but there are nine species in Cuba and I only know a few of them so far.
Geometer sp 17 Mar 2017 Hotel Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Pyrausta sp 17 Mar 2017 Hotel Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
The hotel lies in the Escambray mountains at the edge of a large reservoir called Lake Hanabanilla that has several 'arms' and islands. There are boat trips on the lake in a varied assortment of boats. We opted today for one of the smaller ones as it afforded better viewing and photographic opportunities, but with a covered awning.
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17 Mar 2017 Hotel Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
On the water were lots of American Coots, a few Lesser Scaup, and Least and Pied-billed Grebes. Osprey are very common here and we saw a single Snail Kite catching apple snails which are very abundant.
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American Coot 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Snail Kite 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Molluscs 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
We stopped for lunch at a small privately run restaurant on the opposite side of the lake after disturbing a Limpkin as we approached. These long-billed water birds are quite common here and, like the Snail Kites, feed mainly on the apple snails as well as other invertebrates.
17 Mar 2017 Hotel Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Restaurant view 17 Mar 2017 Lake Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
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Limpkin 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
The eggs of White-angled Sulphur Anteos clorinde were quite common on Senna spectabilis laid distinctively on the edge of the leaves whereas those of Orange-barred Sulphur Phoebis philea and Orange-washed Sulphur P. avellaneda are laid on the young leaf tips. Doug found larvae of Common Long-tailed Skipper Urbanus proteus and Caribbean Skipper Pyrrhocalles antiqua.
White-angled Sulphur Anteos clorinde egg 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Orange-barred Sulphur Phoebis philea egg 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Caribbean Skipper larva 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Common Long-tailed Skipper larva 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
But best was finding several larvae of Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon limenia on Malachra sp. growing by the waters edge. The larvae had used silk to hold the flower buds closed and were feeding on the developing seed pods inside.
Malachra sp 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Malachra sp 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon limenia larva 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon limenia larva 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon limenia larva 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Limenia Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon limenia larva 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
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Tropical Checkered Skipper Pyrgus oileus 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
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Ischnura ramburii 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
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Parula Warbler 17 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
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Day 4 - 16 Mar - Hanabanilla

2/6/2017

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Yesterday I'd had a quick look around the hotel to see if there were any suitable outside sockets to plug in a moth lamp but couldn't find, any and our room on the second floor wasn't really suitable either. So this morning we resorted to collecting up a few moths from the around the hotel lights to photograph. Douglas knew the name of one of them but that's as far as we've got at the moment.
Pareuchaetes insulata 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Euscirrhopterus poeyi male 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Pyralidae sp 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
In the morning we went out in the vehicle to explore the local area but there were hardly any butterflies flying as it was so dry so we returned for lunch and gave Jose the afternoon off. Later we went for a walk from the hotel past the small sewage settling ponds that serve the hotel. There was always a good variety of warblers here (nine species today including Black-throated Green that we don't see that often) and always a few waders and Louisiana Waterthrush. On this occasion there were two Solitary Sandpiper as well as the ubiquitous Killdeer. I spent a few minutes trying to photograph a Limpkin with little success and Lynn told me afterwards that a Killdeer had been feigning a broken wing behind me (I'd been to busy watching the Limpkin to notice). This meant only one thing - that it had a nest close by. It took me only a moment to find it so a quick photo and then we retreated to a safe distance and the female quickly returned to the nest which was a relief.
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Killdeer nest 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Douglas showed us an insignificant-looking Umbellifer in the Apiaceae (celery, carrot and parsley family) that he said was a foodplant of the Black Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes. This is the only resident Swallowtail that we haven't yet seen. In fact nobody has recently, and very little is known about it in Cuba, and there are no photographs of it alive taken on the island as far as I'm aware. There were also lots of Cardiospermum but no sign of Silver-banded Hairstreak Chlorostrymon simaethis larvae or adults though its good to know the plant for the future. Núñez (2004) compiled a list of the Lepidoptera of Topes de Collantes (555 species) based on a study of old records and further fieldwork in 2002-3. We added several new species to this list during our two week stay including one yesterday that I forgot to mention - Orange-washed Sulphur Phoebis avellaneda. We saw adults on five separate days during our trip and also found larvae. We watched an Antillean Flasher Astraptes xagua darting about amongst some young coffee plants nectaring on the flowers. Until I got good views of it I was hoping it might be the similar Cuban Flasher Astraptes cassander as that had been found here by Núñez in 2002-3 but sadly that wasn't the case.
Apiaceae sp 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Antillean Flasher Astraptes xagua 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Cuban Sicklewing Eantis papinianus pupal exuvia 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Leptotes cassius Cassius Blue 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Douglas pointed out several butterfly foodplants including Senna occidentalis for Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae, and Senna spectabilis for Orange-barred Sulphur Phoebis philea.
Phoebis philea larva 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Phoebis philea larva 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
Phoebis sennae larva 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
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Sunset 16 Mar 2017 Hanabanilla © Tim Norriss
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