Back in 2016 whilst preparing for a trip to the east of Cuba, Rayner Núñez told us about a new unidentified Skipper that he had found near Baracoa in May 2012. He suggested that we should go and look for it, and sent me pictures of the specimen, an all brown skipper that was possibly in the genus Euphyes. In June 2016 when we were there we tried to reach the area that Rayner had described but found that we could not get through on the narrow tracks in our vehicle. You can read about what we saw that day here.
Wind on to November 2021 and July 2022 and more specimens of both sexes were collected by Yosiel Álvarez at the site that Rayner had found initially.
We had seen and photographed both the known Euphyes species, Singularis Skipper and Cornelius Skipper at Villa Maguana a few days before on 17 June, but little did we know but both Doug and I had seen and photographed the new skipper that day too. I hadn't included photos in the blog for that day because I hadn't worked out what they were - silly me!

But now the paper describing the species Serrano Skipper Choranthus serranorum as new to science has just been published and you can read it here. Well done to all involved.

We were told today that there had been an explosion at one of the large fuel storage tanks in Matanzas, 60 km outside Habana, following a lightning strike on the storage facility. Today is Sunday and the fires started on Friday evening. The facility comprises I think eight tanks in close proximity and yesterday the fire engulfed a second tank. Many people lost their lives including many firefighters who were on hand to stop the spread. On the following day, Monday, a third tank was also engulfed in flames spreading very toxic smoke into the atmosphere meaning that many people had to be evacuated from their homes. The fuel supply system is already critical leading to a permit system to buy fuel and long waits at petrol stations so this is a huge disaster for the country. In a place that has many storms every year it shows the importance of maintaining the lightning conductors on such critical infrastructure!
But on to happier more wildlife-centred things. We spent the day on foot walking SW into the National Park.

But even before we got there there were great butterflies just outside the hotel perimeter fence.  We had never seen Emerald Aguna Aguna claxon before but here there were several nectaring on a flowering shrub just outside the fence. But getting pictures was tricky using my Sony RX10 bridge camera because of the slow focus, quite frustrating. The larval foodplant is Bauhinia and there was a plant close by that we searched for eggs or larva without success.

Doug found some Neleis Sulphur Phoebis neleis eggs on a Lysiloma bush and we also saw a Cuban Hairstreak Allosmaitia coelebs which is rare but widespread in Cuba and this is the first time it has been recorded west of Soroa which is about 135km to the north-east. A Tailed Cecropian Historis acheronta flew past but luckily settled again, and there was a Tropical Buckeye larva feeding on a small Stachytarpheta jamaicensis.

A beautiful but not uncommon moth called Urainia boisduvalii came and landed nearby and we also found some moth larvae - as yet unidentified.

And finally, we saw a beautiful damselfy and dragonfly. The first is a male Blue-striped Spreadwing Lestes tenuatus, another first for us. And the other I think is a heteromorph female Band-winged Dragonlet Erithrodiplax umbrata which lacks the band marks on the wings.

Before breakfast we went down to the beach where Lynn had a swim and I watched a Green Heron hunting for its breakfast along the shore. There was a also significant NE passage of Rough-winged Swallows.

A Wilson's Plover was resting a little further along the beach. They can be found around much of the coast of Cuba.

We then went to the Centro de Visitantes Guanahacabibes, paid the small fee and picked up our guide Osmani for the day to take us into the National Park heading towards the lighthouse at Faro Roncali. Our first stop was by a shallow pool on the north side of the road where there was an immature White Ibis feeding. A Killdeer was running around on the edge and there were several Seaside Dragonlet Erythrodiplax berenice.

On the other side of the road we found a Cuban Knight Anole Anolis equestris. This is a variable species that has many different forms in different parts of the country. We'd never seen a pale one like this before. Unfortunately there is no modern book covering all the reptiles of Cuba most of which are endemic. A book has been in preparation for many, many years but there is still no indication of a publication date. As a result only a handful of people in the country know what they are looking at and unless you can increase the awareness amongst the general population about how wonderful these creatures are most people will remain in ignorance and they will not be protected. In my view this is wrong and what should have been done years ago is that a pdf should have been produced as a 'work in progress' that could have been updated every year or two with a new revision number as more research is done. This would have the effect of educating the people in conservation and also the many amateurs with cameras. This would stimulate a huge interest and would greatly increase the knowledge of the range of the different species. Yes I understand that more research needs to be done on certain species groups to understand their relationships and that can continue before issue of the hard copy book. But how long do the Cuban people have to wait for even the basic information - another ten years? There really is a complete lack of critical thinking here.
Let's face it, very few people will ever own the hard copy of the book. But they would use a free pdf that they can store on their phones or laptop. A few years ago the first Field Guide to be written on the Butterflies of Cuba was published by Carlos A. Mancina, Director of the Institute of Ecology and Systematics in Habana. Although a few hard copies were printed the main advantage of the book is that it is available as a free pdf. It was produced with the purpose of raising awareness and as a learning aid for the population of Cuba. This is what should have been done years ago for the reptiles.

Osmani soon found a Bee Hummingbird that was perching on top of the dead bare branches of nearby trees but they were beyond the capabilities of my camera. There was also a dragonfly which was one of the Saddlebags but I couldn't pin it down to species and the photos weren't great. A Cuban Black Hawk also made an appearance overhead. Other things of interest seen today were Blue-gray Gnat-catcher, a gelechiid moth called Ethmia phylacis, lots of Jutia droppings and the reptiles Pholidoscelis auberi Cuban Whiptail and Cyclura nubila Cuban Iguanas.

And along the track by the hotel in the evening there were lots of Adelpha iphicleola Iphicleola Sister and Libytheana motya Cuban Snout.

In Cuba there are six endemic damselfies. These are:
Coenagrionidae - Cuban Bluet Enallagma truncatum
Megaopdagrionidae - Cuban Hypolestes Hypolestes trinitatis
Protoneuridae - Orange-sided Threadtail Neoneura carnatica
Protoneuridae - Cuban Blue Threadtail Neoneura maria
Protoneuridae - Black-fronted Threadtail - Protoneura capillaris
Protoneuridae - Blue-and-orange Threadtail - Protoneura caligata
All of them are on the IUCN Red List.
We have only seen one of them before and that is Hypolestes trinitatis. I think I'm right in saying that this is the largest of the six and we have seen it a couple of times in the Alejandro de Humboldt NP in the east. The others are small and easily overlooked.
I have recently been sent some great photos by Ana Hernandez of three of these species. The pictures were all taken at Las Terrazas Nature reserve, Sierra del Rosario, Pinar del Rio province in the far west of the country. Ana monitors the communities of these three endemics there, studying the habitat characteristics, and gathering data to try to ensure that they are included in the nature reserve  management plans. There is almost no insect included in the list of priorities for conservation in the nature reserves and natural parks in Cuba. Thank you Ana for allowing me to use your photos. Keep up the good work.

I don't have pictures yet of one of the endemics - Enellagma truncatum for which there seems to be little if any information on the internet. But for the other - Protoneura caligata which is vulnerable and known I think from just five sites in the Escambray Mountains, I have just found a picture which is reproduced under licence below. I have just read that it is known from a waterfall just to the east of Topes de Collantes. We have walked past the path down the river to the waterfall as it is sign-posted on the road! I wish I had known that when we were there and would have made the effort to go and look for it.

The Dwarf Green Anole Anolis isolepis is a rare endemic. It is green with pale diagonal stripes on the side of the abdomen and dark feet. They are trunk/canopy anoles and move slowly along twigs and leaves as they search for their insect food. They are found in mountainous areas mainly in the east of the island in a triangle between Cabo Cruz, Punta de Maisi and Gibara on the north coast but they are also found in the Escambray Mountains and in the hills between Yaguajay and Moron. The photo above was taken recently by Juan Daguerre in the Sierra Maestra and the picture below was taken near Gibara by our friend Felix Bermudez who sadly passed away after contracting Covid at the start of the pandemic. The species in the Anolis isolepis subgroup are A. altitudinalis, A. isolepis, A. oporinus, A. toldo and A. viridulus and all are endemic to Cuba.