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 >
      • Mammals
      • Reptiles
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Odonata
      • Moths >
        • Tineoidea
        • Gelechioidea
        • Alucitoidea
        • Pterophoroidea
        • Schreckensteinioidea
        • Urodoidea
        • Choreutoidea
        • Tortricoidea
        • Sesioidea
        • Zygaenoidea
        • Pyraloidea
        • Lasiocampoidea
        • Bombicoidea
        • Geometroidea
        • Hedyloidea
        • Noctuoidea
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Day 14 – 29 June – Soroa last day

30/9/2015

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Our final day had arrived and we had just the morning left to explore before heading off for the airport.
In the stream near the hotel there was another Anole, perhaps the most interesting of all the species here and certainly unique. It was the Cuban Stream Anole Anolis vermiculatus. It is endemic to Cuba and found only in Pinar del Rio in the Cordillera de Guaniguanico. It is semi-aquatic and only found near streams usually in deep shade and so is not easy to photograph. I had to use flash to get any pictures at all. They are very wary and will jump into the water at the slightest disturbance. They can either stay submerged or run bipedally across the surface on their hindlegs to escape. Alternatively called the ‘crocodile anole’ they even have a tooth pattern along the sides of the jaw! They feed on fish, crustacea and aquatic insects as well as fruit. They don’t possess a dewlap and so males display using head-bobbing movements. The photo on the right looks as if it might be a pregnant female - either that or it had a very large breakfast!
Anolis vermiculatus 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Anolis vermiculatus 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
We also looked again for the adults of Perching Saliana Saliana esperi soroa, without success this time, but whilst we were looking I heard a whoop of excitement from Rayner not far away. He had found a skipper larva in a leaf fold on a low plant and didn’t recognise it. Further searches produced several more in a small area. A couple were retained for breeding through and this confirmed that they were indeed, as Rayner had suspected, Saliana esperi. This is the first time that larvae have ever been found in Cuba. The plant was Costus spiralis (Costaceae) which is not native in Cuba, being an introduction from Central America. This raises the question - was it brought in to the country originally on this foodplant? The Cuban subspecies S. e. soroa differs from those on the continent which perhaps indicates that it has been here a considerable time. Or is there another native foodplant still to be discovered? The feeding damage on some of the leaves was very distinctive looking as if they had simply been cut off at the end with a pair of scissors!
Costus spiralis feeding damage 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Costus spiralis and larval leaf shelter 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Perching Saliana small larval shelter on Costus spiralis 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Perching Saliana small larva (opened shelter) on Costus spiralis 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Perching Saliana large larval shelter on Costus spiralis 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Perching Saliana final instar larva (opened shelter) on Costus spiralis 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Picture
Perching Saliana - Saliana esperi soroa 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
We also had fabulous views of a Red-striped Leafwing Siderone galanthis by the bridge below the hotel entrance. It flew round slowly at close range below eye level for about half a minute but only settled once very briefly so no pictures unfortunately. What a fabulous end to our two week trip! We will certainly come to Soroa again and the only question is how long to stay, it will have to be for at least a week and maybe longer. Our thanks again to Rayner and our drivers Duviel and Vollo for making it so enjoyable.
Picture
Rayner Núñez
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day 13 - 28 June - Soroa

30/9/2015

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Today we again went to the top of the hill and walked down a short way before a shower sent us back to the vehicle for shelter. Somebody had left a cut guava beside the road and on it was feeding a Dusky Emperor. We had seen these on three previous days of our holiday though they were never fresh and never close so it was nice to be able to get prolonged views of this one as it fed at close range.
Dusky Emperor 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Dusky Emperor 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Silver Emperor Doxocopa laure 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Dainty Sulphur 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Picture
As we walked further down the road a couple of men arrived to remove a palm frond that had fallen across some overhead cables. They didn't seem to be terribly safety conscious in fact there were so many things that could go wrong any time in the next 30 seconds that we hurried on down !
We decided to explore the edges of the hotel garden and Rayner quickly spotted a Perching Saliana Saliana esperi settled on broad-leaved low vegetation as they often do. They can also settle on the underside of leaves as several of the skippers do. This butterfly is found in Central and South America but in the Caribbean it is found only on Cuba, where it was discovered as recently as September 1991, and Trinidad which is only a stone’s throw from Venezuela. It has been given subspecies status Saliana e. soroa. The foodplant is unknown in Cuba and the larvae have never been found on the island till now but…  see the next blog! Rayner also managed to see Perichares philetes Caribbean Ruby-eye here too but although I was only yards away each time I missed it on both occasions and it didn’t reappear. They are found only in the deepest shade and often very close to streams. This was a lesson to me as I had never thought of looking in such deep shade for butterflies before.
Perching Saliana 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Perching Saliana 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Next to the hotel was a small weedy field with sugar cane growing in part of it, and quite a few wild flowers. It looked promising and on entering we immediately saw Antillea pelops Antillean Crescent. This was a good start and the only one we saw during the whole holiday. Then we found both Caribbean Sailor Dynamine serina and Mexican Sailor Dynamine postverta with males and females of each. They were taking moisture from the stems of the sugar cane and sunning themselves on the leaves. We also later in the day watched Siderone galanthis Red-striped Leafwing do the same thing.
Antillean Crescent 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Red-striped Leafwing 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Dynamine serina 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Dynamine serina 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Dynamine postverta 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Dynamine postverta 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
We found a Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe pupa in the grass and there were also several skipper species nectaring on the flowers here including two or three Euphyes cornelius Cornelius Skipper. They weren’t in the best condition unfortunately but still nice to see as we had only seen one once before some 15 months previously. They breed on sugar cane and I suspect this field was never sprayed so presumably they were breeding here.
female Cornelius Skipper 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
female Cornelius Skipper 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
female Cornelius Skipper 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Cornelius Skipper 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Sleepy Orange pupa 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Fiery Skipper 28 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Bauhinia is a flowering shrub/tree with several species in Cuba belonging to the family Fabaceae. They are a good nectar source for several species and a larval foodplant for two skippers Emerald Aguna Aguna claxon and Gold-spotted Aguna Aguna asander. Whenever we saw Bauhinia we made a point of searching for feeding damage and larvae. There were some Bauhinia bushes on the edge of hotel garden which were buzzing with activity with Oviedo’s Swallowtail Heraclides oviedo, Polydamas Swallowtail Battus polydamas, Statira Sulphur Phoebis statira and Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae and a search here provided one Aguna egg and quite a bit of feeding damage but despite much searching, no larvae. Rayner wasn’t sure to which of the two species the egg belonged. It was also interesting to see how variable the male Cloudless Sulphur Phoebis sennae were.
Bauhinia 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Bauhinia 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Oviedo's Swallowtail 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Oviedo's Swallowtail 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Cloudless Sulphur 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Cloudless Sulphur 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Statira Sulphur 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Aguna sp egg on Bauhinia 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
I have mentioned before that here at Soroa there are 25 species of lizard including a remarkable 11 anole species. Whilst photographing a West Indian Woodpecker that was nesting in a hole drilled in a telegraph pole I noticed a movement at my feet. It was a female Cuban Green Anole Anolis porcatus being chased by a male who eventually grabbed her by the head before mating with her.
West Indian Woodpecker 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Cuban Green Anole Anolis porcatus mating 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
At the top of the hill above the Orchidarium is the Castillo en Las Nubes that was severely damaged by the hurricane in 2009. When we saw it last in February 2014 it was derelict and we said then that it would be great if it was done up because of the fabulous location. It is owned by the government and is part of the hotel group in which Hotel Villa Soroa is run. While we were there on this occasion it was being renovated to a high standard and wasn’t far off being finished. The floor layer was working at nights to lay the internal and external tiles as it was cooler than doing it during the day. The security guard told us that in the mornings there were hundreds of moths attracted to the light that was being used and suggested that if we came up late one evening we could see them, so we did! We stayed for about an hour and there were lots of moths as well as other fascinating insects coming to the twin fluorescent light that they had hung temporarily on the outside for us.
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Callopistria floridensis 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Nemoria lixaria 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Sphingidae sp 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Spodoptera latifascia 28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
And four species of longhorn beetle were attracted to the light.
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
28 June 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Another amazing day with lots of great wildlife sightings and a total of 53 butterfly species seen today – one up on yesterday!
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website update - more photos added

8/9/2015

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I am indebted to Douglas Fernández for sending me lots more top quality photographs to use on the website. Doug lives at Camagüey in the centre of Cuba. Doug has been breeding Cuban butterflies and studying their life-cycles for many years, many of them bred in his garden where he has planted a wide selection of larval foodplants. This brings the total illustrated on the website to 162 species - thank you Doug. All his images are now loaded and I include a selection below.
Danaus eresimus Soldier © Douglas Fernández
Papilio demoleus Lime Swallowtail © Douglas Fernández
Allosmaitia coelebs Cuban Hairstreak © Douglas Fernández
Aguna claxon Emerald Aguna © Douglas Fernández
Calpodes ethlius Canna Skipper © Douglas Fernández
Rhinthon cubana Cuban Rhinthon © Douglas Fernández
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Day 12 – 27 June – Soroa

3/9/2015

 
Soroa is a wonderful place for wildlife. We were up early for a walk around the gardens to see what birds were about first thing. I spent some tome photographing both west Indian Woodpecker and Northern Flicker that were finding insects probably ants along the edge of the paths and at the base of one particular tree Roystonea regia or Royal Palm, the national tree of Cuba. Many of the trees in the hotel grounds are huge, this one included.
Northern Flicker © Tim Norriss
West Indian Woodpecker © Tim Norriss
On our previous visit here we had spent an afternoon in the Orchid Garden next door but the weather wasn’t great and we had therefore seen few butterflies. We had previously been told that the area at the top hill behind the Orchidarium was excellent so we planned to go up in the vehicle and walk down looking to see what we could find on the way. The view at the top was fabulous and while waiting for the weather to warm up a little we found several Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe larvae.
Soroa hilltop view
Sleepy Orange Abaeis nicippe larva 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
At the top here I also found a larval shelter on a low plant about a foot off the ground which when opened we thought was Common Long-tailed Skipper Urbanus proteus. It was only a few days ago when going through and checking the pictures that I started having doubts - especially the hairy head that just didn't seem right. A few emails with the guys in Cuba and it looks like we seriously slipped up at the time. It looks like the larva of the the rare and endemic Cuban Longtail Chioides marmorosa! If you click here you can read more about this fabulous butterfly that was only rediscovered in 1993 and for which larvae were first found in 2014. If I had realised that at the time I would have kept it and bred it through to be sure and the plant it was on doesn't appear to be Hebestigma cubense which adds to the mystery. Maybe it is just a Common Long-tailed Skipper Urbanus proteus larva as they are very similar. An attractive Pyralid Diaphania sp. was sitting in the grass. It was a female and releasing pheromones to attract a mate.
Diaphania sp 27 Jan 2015 © Tim Norriss
Chioides marmorosa Cuban Longtail 27 Jan 2015 © Tim Norriss
As soon as the temperature rose a little there were Dusky Emperor, Iphicleola Sister and Silver Emperor flying about and settling to warm up in the sun. There were also a few White-fanned Anoles Anolis homolechis up here and the males were displaying to each other by flicking out their dewlap. In this species it is white as the name suggests but each species differs. Here at Soroa there 25 species of lizard including a remarkable 11 anole species. We only saw three but included one of the most remarkable - more on this later! If you click here you can read a very interesting paper on the habitat niches adopted by the different Anolis at Soroa and how this might serve to reduce competition. 
Picture
Anolis homolechis White-fanned Anole Soroa © Tim Norriss
On our way down we saw four Swallowtail species including Cuban Kite E. celadon and about six Polydamas nectaring on the Tournefortia flowers. All were very worn as can be seen below. You can also see the fuller more rounded wings of the females (above) as this one was pursued relentlessly by a male. We also saw a male Atalopedes mesogramma Mesogramma Skipper. We have seen females a couple times previously, which differ in having a white bar on the underside hindwing, but never a male .
Polydamas Swallowtail 27 Jun 2015 © Tim Norriss
male Mesogramma Skipper 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
La Sagra's Flycatcher is a common permanent resident endemic to the Caribbean found only on Cuba, Bahamas and Grand Cayman. We saw it quite often but today whilst photographing the polydamas one came down to dustbathe behind me and then sat up panting in the heat - it was over 30⁰ by now.
La Sagra's Flycatcher Soroa © Tim Norriss
La Sagra's Flycatcher Soroa © Tim Norriss
And then a Red-striped Leafwing Siderone galanthis appeared and flew round before settling on a bush about ten metres away. Panic - I took two slow steps towards it and it flew again before settling in the same place. We had seen this species first in March in the Sierra Maestra but only very briefly, and again on the Guanahacabibes peninsular last week but got not a sniff of a photo. While it flew the second time a rattled off a few pictures on the off chance of getting something in flight and I got a couple more this time when it settled before it shot off down the track and didn't reappear. Not great shots but it was something and the best views we had had so far. They belong to the Sub-Family Charaxinae in the Nymphalidae - what a stunner!
Red-striped Leafwing 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Red-striped Leafwing 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Red-striped Leafwing 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Red-striped Leafwing 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
By the side of the road was a small hut that was being built of blockwork, the mortar for which had been mixed by the roadside and on which various butterflies were taking moisture and minerals including several very smart freshly emerged male Marpesia chiron Many-banded Daggerwing.
Marpesia chiron Many-banded Daggerwing © Tim Norriss
Marpesia chiron Many-banded Daggerwing © Tim Norriss
And further down lots more butterflies appeared on the verge, several species of Skipper, a Malachite Siproeta stelenes and the ubiquitous Anartia jatrophae White Peacock.
female Magdalia Skipper 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
male Magdalia Skipper 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Baracoa Skipper 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Caribbean Skipper 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Malachite 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
White Peacock 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Tropical Checkered Skipper 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Antillean Checkered Skipper 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
As we neared the bottom of the hill a group of people were walking up and I got chatting to the father of a small boy that I thought was holding a plastic snake so I didn't pay much attention. It was only as they were leaving that I realised that it was alive - and of a species that we hadn't seen before Cuban Lesser Racer Caraiba andreae. I hope he let it go safely. We also found more Oviedo's Swallowtail larvae of all sizes feeding on Piper peltatum. Most interesting was the final instar that when seen head-on showed a remarkable resemblance to a snake - isn't evolution amazing!
Picture
Oviedo's Swallowtail larva Heraclides oviedo 27 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
All in all a fantastic day with 52 butterfly species seen, that's about 30% of all the resident species in Cuba in one day - and all within about one mile!

hurricane erika update

2/9/2015

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Many of you will have seen the news on Friday of the devastating floods that occurred in Dominica and Haiti that day as a result of Hurricane Erika which was then predicted to travel across Cuba towards Florida. So it was good to hear on Saturday 29th August that Erika had been down-graded to “a trough of low pressure”.

The tropical storm had killed 20 people in Dominica and at least one person in Haiti. These two countries form the island of Hispaniola which lies just to the east of Cuba.  Still posing a threat of wind gusts and flash floods, the remnants of Erika were then expected to move over central Cuba, potentially providing welcome relief from the recent drought.

Today we received an email from our friend Orlando confirming that the tropical storm had not been a problem where he lives at Bañes, Holguin. Although there had been very heavy rain at Baracoa in the far east it had not brought the much needed rain to Bañes that they had hoped for, so many reservoirs, wells and rivers remain dry causing severe water shortages. And this is meant to be the wet season!

We are always interested to get weather reports from Orlando and our other friends in Cuba not only because it can create great hardship for the local population but, just as here in England, butterflies and their habitats are also greatly affected by the weather. Lets hope things improve soon for all.
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