We had left the moth trap on overnight but a power cut meant that there wasn't much left in the trap in the morning. I know the first five and just working on the last one.
There was also another Cicada of the same species we had a couple of days ago, and also another Mantis sp. which seems to be the same species as one that we found here in Feb 2014.
Our plan today was to walk up the wooded trail to the top of the hill on the east side of the road. I had read years ago a paper that had been written about the wonderful anoles that could be found in this area (which you can read here) and this hill was was also recommended to me by Peter Bruce-Jones with whom we had shared a butterfly-watching tour to Ethiopia with the late Torben Larsen and others back in November 2010.
It wasn't a hard walk but it was quite warm. On the way a lady stopped to show us a video she had taken at the top of some butterflies using her phone and asked what they were. Androgeus Swallowtails - which spurred us on even more. Butterflies hill-topping like this is always exciting as there are often some unexpected surprises.
But firstly there were some anoles on the way up. Anolis homelechis is pretty widespread but Anolis mestrei is restricted to the hills here in the west of Cuba so we have only seen it once before.
It wasn't a hard walk but it was quite warm. On the way a lady stopped to show us a video she had taken at the top of some butterflies using her phone and asked what they were. Androgeus Swallowtails - which spurred us on even more. Butterflies hill-topping like this is always exciting as there are often some unexpected surprises.
But firstly there were some anoles on the way up. Anolis homelechis is pretty widespread but Anolis mestrei is restricted to the hills here in the west of Cuba so we have only seen it once before.
Doug also found a Polydamas Swallowtail Battus polydamas larva on an Aristolochia which I think is A. ringens.
When we reached the top the views were terrific but the butterflies stole to show with Red-striped Leafwing, Androgeus Swallowtail, Oviedo's Swallowtail. and Cuban Black Swallowtail. The best of the rest were Caribbean Banner and Zephodes Duskywing. All were males and it was great to find several of the latter which we have only seen twice before.
And there were more finds on the way down
In the afternoon we took another trip up the hill on the west side of the road past the Orchidarium. A Cuban Black Swallowtail Heraclides oxynius was giving us the run around along the tracks near the top until Yosiel managed to follow it as it flew deep into the forest and settled.
A moth larva which I originally thought was a Sphinx/Hawk-moth because of the spine near the rear end is in fact one of the Notodontidae called Elasmia insularis which is thought to be endemic to Cuba. And some dragonflies presumably attracted by the water on the edges of the road in which there was lots of frog spawn. The Regal Darner Coryphaeschna ingens was a species that we hadn't come across before.
And finally a Cuban Tree Frog Osteopilus septentrionalis was outside our room after dark, and what at first glance I thought was a Tropical House Gecko on the ceiling until I noticed that it had the distinctive round suckers of a Sphaerodactylus at the end of each of its toes. This is Sphaerodactylus elegans.
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