Butterflies of Cuba
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    • Species List >
      • Papilionidae : Papilioninae >
        • Battus devilliers - De Villiers' Swallowtail
        • Battus polydamas - Polydamas Swallowtail
        • Eurytides celadon - Cuban Kite Swallowtail
        • Heraclides andraemon - Bahaman Swallowtail
        • Heraclides androgeus - Androgeus Swallowtail
        • Heraclides aristodemus - Dusky Swallowtail
        • Heraclides caiguanabus - Poey's Swallowtail
        • Heraclides oviedo - Oviedo's Swallowtail
        • Heraclides oxynius - Cuban Black Swallowtail
        • Heraclides pelaus - Pelaus Swallowtail
        • Papilio demoleus - Lime Swallowtail
        • Papilio polyxenes - Black Swallowtail
        • Parides gundlachianus - Gundlach's Swallowtail
        • Pterourus palamedes - Palamedes Swallowtail
        • Pterourus troilus - Spicebush Swallowtail
      • 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 : 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
      • 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
      • Nymphalidae : Apaturinae >
        • Asterocampa idyja - Dusky Emperor
        • Doxocopa laure - Silver Emperor
      • Nymphalidae : Biblidinae >
        • Dynamine serina - Caribbean Sailor
        • Dynamine postverta - Mexican Sailor
        • Eunica heraclitus - Cuban Purplewing
        • Eunica monima - Dingy Purplewing
        • Eunica tatila - Florida Purplewing
        • Hamadryas februa - Gray Cracker
        • Hamadryas amphinome - Red Cracker
        • Hamadryas feronia - Variable Cracker
        • Lucinia sida - Caribbean Banner
        • Marpesia chiron - Many-banded Daggerwing
        • Marpesia eleuchea - Caribbean Daggerwing
      • 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 : 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
      • 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 otho - Southern Broken Dash
      • Hesperiidae : Eudaminae >
        • Aguna asander - Gold-spotted Aguna
        • Aguna claxon - Emerald Aguna
        • Telegonus anaphus - Caribbean Yellow-tipped Flasher
        • Telegonus cassander - Cuban Flasher
        • Telegonus habana - Frosty Flasher
        • Telegonus talus - Green Flasher
        • Telegonus xagua - Antillean Flasher
        • Telegonus cellus - Golden-banded Skipper
        • Autochton potrillo - Potrillo Skipper
        • 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
        • Cecropterus dorantes - Dorantes Longtial
        • Urbanus proteus - Common Long-tailed Skipper
      • 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
    • Download Species List
    • Thumbnails >
      • Papilionidae - Swallowtails
      • Pieridae - Whites & Yellows
      • Riodinidae / Lycaenidae - Metalmarks, Hairstreaks & Blues
      • Nymphalidae - Nymphalids
      • Hesperiidae - Skippers
    • Hostplants >
      • Picramnia pentrandra
      • Stachytarpheta jamaicensis
    • Other Wildlife >
      • Mammals
      • Reptiles
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Odonata
      • Moths >
        • Tineoidea
        • Gelechioidea
        • Tortricoidea
        • Pyraloidea
        • Bombicoidea
        • Geometroidea
        • Hedyloidea
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Antillean Blue - Pseudochrysops bornoi

18/1/2021

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Picture
Pseudochrysops bornoi 4 Jun 2016 Sierra de Bahoruco, DR © Pedro Genaro Rodriguez
Antillean Blue Pseudochrysops bornoi is a globally rare species that has been found on only three islands in the Caribbean - Cuba, Hispaniola and Puerto Rico and nowhere else. It has been very rarely seen, let alone photographed in the field and in fact I know of only a few occasions when it has (all in the Dominican Republic) including the above fabulous picture of a pair in cop. Thank you Pedro for allowing me to use it.
In Cuba it was first discovered back in October 1991 and I'm not aware that it has ever been seen or even looked for since until our visit in June 2016 though because it is in an area adjacent to a military zone there is considerable sensitivity in going there and I think it would require express written permission from someone senior in the army. Now that we know that it flies in winter we might try it sometime if we can get permission.
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Website Update

9/1/2021

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Following the publication of the new Butterfly Field Guide (see below) I have just finished updating the names of some of the species here on the website so that they are aligned. Some changes I had been aware of but others were new to me. The changes are:
1) The three Aphrissa species have now been placed back in the genus Phoebis where Bates placed them back in 1935.
Phoebis orbis Orbis Sulphur male 11 Dec 2014 Viñales, Pinar del Río © Douglas Fernández
Phoebis neleis fem 1 Feb 2013 © Francisco Rodriguez
Phoebis statira fem 27 Jan 2014 Zapata © Rayner Núñez
2) Caribbean Sailor Dynamine egaea is a junior synonym of Dynamine serina and not the other way round so I have amended.
Dynamine serina male 29 Jun 2015 Soroa © Tim Norriss
Dynamine serina fem 24 Mar 2015 nr Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
3) It has now been determined that the single species of Hamadryas in Cuba is in fact in the lineage of Gray Cracker Hamadryas februa and not Hamadryas amphichloe as previously thought.
Hamadryas februa Gray Cracker female 12 Nov 2015 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
Hamadryas februa Gray Cracker female 14 Nov 2015 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
4) The Chestnut Leafwing Cymatogramma echemus has had quite a few name changes over the years and has now been placed in the genus Cymatogramma rather than Memphis where it had been previously. It used to be considered to be the same species as the Hispaniolan Leafwing C. verticordia which is a bit strange as that has large white spots on the wings, but that was corrected a few years back.
In the latest Field Guide Anetia cubana has been called the Florida Leafwing which is not very sensible as it doesn't occur in Florida and is endemic to Cuba, so I have called this Cuban Leafwing.
In the Field Guide they have named C. echemus as Cuban Leafwing but as this common name is used for A. cubana I have used Chestnut Leafwing for C. echemus just as other websites like Butterflies and Moths of North America.
Cymatogramma echemus Chestnut Leafwing fem ups 24 Mar 2015 nr Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
Cymatogramma echemus Chestnut Leafwing fem uns 7 Dec 2014 nr Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
Cymatogramma echemus Chestnut Leafwing male ups 16 Nov 2015 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
5) It had been previously thought that Ephyriades arcas occurred on Cuba as well as E. zephodes but it is now believed from DNA work that has been done (pers. comm.) that the only species of this tricky pair to occur on Cuba and Hispaniola is Ephyriades zephodes. So that brings the total Cuba butterfly list back down to 200 species although it has to be said that a small number of these are of vagrants that have turned up just once or twice a long time ago, even as far back as the 19th century, and for which there is no physical evidence in the form of a specimen. It's fair to say that some of these species would probably not stand up to modern scrutiny for inclusion on a Category A list for a country. I haven't counted up the number of species included in the new Field Guide but that's why it is less that the number detailed here on the website.
Picture
Ephyriades zephodes Zephodes Duskywing male 8 Jan 2014 nr Baracoa © David Kohl
I have also updated the thumbnail pages and the downloadable species list that you can find here on the website. Enjoy!
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White-collared Swift

1/1/2021

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Happy New Year everyone and may you all have a wildlife-filled 2021.
Picture
White-collared Swift at Ciudad de Trinidad_Sancti Spiritus © Ernesto Reyes Mouriño
Swifts are remarkable birds and amongst my favourites. There are 92 species around the world including the Swiftlets and in Cuba there are three resident species - Antillean Palm-Swift, Black Swift and the White-collared Swift. This last is amongst the largest of them all with a wingspan of 450-550mm! In summer they are known to nest in caves and areas close to waterfalls in the mountains in central and eastern Cuba, while in winter they range more widely and can be found at lower elevations. There is an interesting note in the Birds of Cuba (Garrido & Kirkconnell, 2008) that they also nest in hollow Royal Palms. The amazing photo above was taken by Ernesto Reyes Mouriño in the city of Trinidad. Thank you Ernesto for allowing me to use it.
We have only seen them on three occasions in Cuba. All have been during the winter months and all were rather fleeting. Until recently there had been no study of White-collared Swift in Cuba but that changed in 2019 when Dr Rosalina Montes Espin published her doctoral thesis on their Reproductive Biology and Conservation which I have only just come across although I knew she was working on it. It's in Spanish so it will take me a while to read!
I also come across this paper regarding the observation of a pair at a waterfall nest site in neighbouring Dominican Republic.
Range map of White-collared Swift (Streptoprocne zonaris) (CC BY-SA 4.0)
White-collared Swifts Richard Crossley, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Chuck-will's-widow

26/12/2020

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Picture
Chuck-will's-widow 20 Dec 2020 Baracoa © Roberto Jovel
I've never seen a Chuck-will's-widow but I would love to. This was a really great find recently in the Yara-Majayara Protected Area at Baracoa by Roberto Jovel and his friends Juan Carlos Lobaina and Noel Coutin Lobaina. There are five species of the Family Caprimulgidae that have been recorded in Cuba. Antillean Nighthawk and Cuban Nightjar are the only two that breed whilst the other three are transients although Chuck-will's-widow does over-winter in small numbers. They have a distinctive onomatopoeic song but of course that is no help to finding them in winter. They are the largest of the five with a broad flat head and Nils Navarro has said that this is a female from the barring under the tail. Thank you Roberto for letting me use your photos.
Picture
Chuck-will's-widow 20 Dec 2020 Baracoa © Roberto Jovel
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Perichares philetes - Caribbean Ruby-eye

26/12/2020

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Picture
Caribbean Ruby-eye Perichares philetes Dec 2020 Holguin © Karlos Ross
We have only very occasionally come across adult Caribbean Ruby-eye Perichares philetes and when I saw this photo taken recently by Karlos Ross near Holguin I couldn't resist adding it here as it is the best photo of the species I have seen. Because they really only seem to fly at dusk unless disturbed it is necessary to use flash and that tends to burn out the eye on the photo. So well done to Karlos on a great photo.
On this website I have continued to use the long-held traditional position of what is a butterfly - and what is a moth. But these days butterflies are now understood to comprise the superfamilies Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea. Otakar Kudma explains "This is a pragmatic solution. The superfamily Hesperioidea are now regarded as the sister group of the butterflies. Bearing in mind that all butterflies (Papilionoidea) have apposition eyes evolved specifically for daylight whereas all skippers (Hesperioidea) have super-position eyes, evolved originally for better night vision, and in some instances later adapted for daylight, the skippers are better regarded as day-active moths".
And one simple example of this can be seen in the shape of the antennae which resemble those of Zygaenidae, a family that we consider to be moths not butterflies even though they fly in daylight.
Caribbean Ruby-eye is usually seen only first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening but perhaps it also flies during the night too - we just don't yet know. It can of course be found if disturbed during the day from its resting place in forest shadow but the speed of flight makes it very hard to follow. And of course the larvae can be found at any time of day hidden within a folded grass blade secured closed with silk.
Perichares philetes Caribbean Ruby-eye final instar larva 17 Nov 2015 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
Perichares philetes Caribbean Ruby-eye final instar larva 17 Nov 2015 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
And I will just make mention of one other group that I have not included in the butterflies here on the website. That is the Hedylidae which was for a while placed in the Papilionoidea but which is now placed in a superfamily of its own Hedyloidea. There are just 35 species all found in the Neo-tropics that are now placed in a single genus called Macrosoma. There is just one species in Cuba Macrosoma rubedinaria which we have never seen though we did find another species in Bolivia last year that I have not yet identified.
Macrosoma rubedinaria 14 Sept 2018 Costa Rica © Steven Easley (CC BY-NC)
Macrosoma sp 10 Nov 2019 Coroico, Bolivia © Tim Norriss
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Mariposas de Cuba - a new Field Guide

21/12/2020

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Well here it is - the big day has arrived! Carlos Mancina and his editorial team Rayner Núñez and Betina Neyra along with many other writers and contributors have been working very hard on this for quite a while and the result is a fantastic achievement and the first of its kind for Cuba. Its purpose is to raise awareness and the knowledge base in the Cuban population and so is a not for profit publication. You can download a pdf copy here. It is about 17Mb. So exciting and it will create a huge surge of interest that I'm sure will quickly lead to new discoveries.
It is a huge leap forward on what has gone before and great to see such a high quality of photos from many of the great local photographers.
Who will be the first to photograph Great King Anetia pantherata in the wild in Cuba? and to discover its foodplant and photograph its larvae? I had the breath-taking privilege to watch an adult fly past me at close range on 23 June 2015 at Guanahacabibes and would love to go back and see it again- and photograph it!
Who will be the first to find and photograph the larvae of Holguin Skipper Holguinia holguin?
And will Cuban Purplewing Eunica heraclitus be rediscovered or is it really extinct?
I expect the first two of these challenges will be achieved in the fairly near future but the latter is a very long shot as it has been more than a century since one was seen and Cuba has changed a lot in that time.
And what will be the next in this new series of Guías de Campo? I don't know but there are lots of candidates - mammals, reptiles, dragonflies and amphibians. And the great thing about doing them as pdf's means that they can be updated and reissued regularly at hardly any cost as new knowledge is gained.
And finally I would also like to say a big thank you to Luis Roberto Hernández because he was the forerunner of this with his book in 2004. A lot of things have changed since then and much knowledge has been gained by some great science being done on the island, not least that a further 14 species of Calisto have been discovered. His book and the fact that it was unavailable in Cuba was the catalyst to the creation of this website which was done partly so that the Cuban people could access information on butterflies as internet access became more readily available. That went well until my host provider, which I hadn't realised at the time was a US company, decided that Cuba was a security threat and banned access from Cuba in 2018. Hopefully now that the criminal occupant of the White House is on his way out then things might change in the not too distant future.
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Anolis loysiana

16/12/2020

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All except one of the approx. 64 species of Anolis lizards found in Cuba are endemic to the island. The exception is the ubiquitous Anolis sagrei Cuban Brown Anole though a couple of other species have also been introduced into other locations. The lack of a complete Field Guide to the Anolis of Cuba does a huge disservice to our knowledge and understanding of this group. The last publication which attempted it was back in 1999 by Rodríguez Schettino, Lourdes with publication of The Iguanid Lizards of Cuba by the University Press of Florida. It was good start but very incomplete and there were no photos of live specimens but just one artists illustration per species covered.
In 2013 the Smithsonian Herpetological Information Service published the Reptiles of Cuba:
Checklist and Geographic Distributions by Lourdes Rodríguez Schettino, Carlos A. Mancina & Vilma Rivalta González. It has detailed distribution maps and localities for all the Cuban reptiles and is a great piece of work but its not a Field Guide. It is available as a downloadable pdf which is the best way for Cubans since the purchase cost of a hardback copy is prohibitive to most. The distribution map for Anolis loysiana Spiny Anole shows that it is widespread and I've taken the liberty of copying it below.
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It is odd therefore that there are no photos of this species on the internet - that I can find anyway. Until very recently that is. In August of this year Alexis Callejas Segura who lives at Santiago de Cuba posted some pictures on iNaturalist and just recently on one of the Facebook groups.
Picture
Anolis loysiana 4 Aug 2020 Santiago de Cuba © Alexis Callejas Segura (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Perhaps this is due to the fact that although people have taken pictures of them they haven't been able to identify them so do not put the pictures in the public domain. What I do know is that there are several species (pumilus/centralis/litoralis) that look very similar, and at this stage I, and I suspect most other people, don't know what the subtle differences are.
Anolis loysiana 4 Aug 2020 Santiago de Cuba © Alexis Callejas Segura (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Anolis loysiana 4 Aug 2020 Santiago de Cuba © Alexis Callejas Segura (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Anolis loysiana 4 Aug 2020 Santiago de Cuba © Alexis Callejas Segura (CC BY-NC 4.0)
I've said it before but I'll say it again that I think the way forward has to be to publish what is known as an open source pdf and then as more knowledge is gained the pdf can be revised and reissued. But in the mean time the dissemination of knowledge and the stimulation of interest would be huge. A big thank you to Alexis as although the pictures are fairly low res it is a great start, not to mention a first.
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Sphingidae now complete

12/12/2020

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Following the last blog I wrote to Prof. Jean Haxaire to see if he had any photos of the final Sphinx moth that occurs on Cuba called Cocytius haxairei and he kindly sent me a photo of a set specimen that he has in his collection. He has also corrected me on the identification of another species which I had down as Callionima parce but which is in fact Callionima falcifera. The former does not occur on Cuba. Thank you Jean. I hope that having photos of all the Cuban species in one place will make it easier for anyone finding a Sphinx in Cuba to work out what it is.
Picture
Cocytius haxairei fem 20 Jul 1996 la Gran Piedra © Jean Haxaire
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Sphingidae update

6/12/2020

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I have just done an update to the Sphinx moths (Hawk-moths) here on the website. 59 species have been recorded in Cuba, though it could well be more now as the list was compiled back in 2012. I had previously added the species for which I had photos, both those that I had taken and those from our friend Douglas Fernández on the island. We have also come across a few larvae on our travels there and had included those too. I was pleasantly surprised, when I put my mind to searching for other open source material to fill in the gaps, how many people actually allow their pictures to be used on the web for a non-profit purpose. Full marks to them and I'm very grateful as this website now features 58 of those 59 species. Not all of the pictures have been taken in Cuba but I have chosen ones that have been taken from as near to Cuba as possible like Florida, Mexico or Hispaniola. There are some wonderfully striking species like this Eumorpha mirificatus which is endemic to the island.
Picture
Eumorpha mirificatus 14 Jan 2020 Bartolome Maso, Turquino NP © Jean Haxaire (CC BY-NC 4.0)
The above was taken by Jean Haxaire who is an associate professor of biological sciences and a researcher. He specialises in the Sphingidae of the world with a special interest for their systematics and evolutionary history. He has traveled all over the world in his quest and has so far discovered/described about 100 new species of the family. The one species on the Cuba list that I am missing is actually a species that was named after him. It is another endemic called Amphonyx (Cocytius) haxairei (Cadiou, 2006). Perhaps I'll contact him to see if he has a picture of it that I could use.
The Pluto Sphinx Xylophanes pluto is more widespread though we have not come across it yet. The adults are a handsome cryptic green but I was particularly struck by this photo of one of the larval instars that is such a wonderful snake mimic. That sure would give a small bird a hell of a fright.
Xylophanes pluto 18 Aug Florida © pondhawk (CC BY)
Xylophanes pluto larva 11 Dec 2015 Costa Rica © Paola Carrera (CC BY-NC 4.0)
And check out this Giant Sphinx Cocytius antaeus. The name says it all I guess.
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Giant Sphinx Cocytius antaeus 21 Jun 2019 Santiago de Cuba © Alex Alfil (CC BY-NC)
As always if any readers have photos of Cuban species especially if they were taken on the island and you would be happy to share them then please do get in touch.
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Cuban Coast Anole - Anolis jubar

2/12/2020

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Cuban Coast Anoles Anolis jubar males Oct 2020 Holguin © Karlos Ross
Karlos Ross the bird guide at Holguin posted some lovely pictures of these two male Cuban Coast Anoles Anolis jubar that he found fighting in his yard at Holguin. They are similar to Anolis sagrei but have a different dewlap pattern with more yellow at the base. I haven't yet figured why we sometimes see them commonly at Guardalavaca and at other times they seem absent. In threat posture they raise the crest along the neck and back but the jagged crest along the tail is fixed. Karlos says he watched them fighting ferociously for 23 minutes before the local male drove off the intruder. Thank you Karlos.
Cuban Coast Anoles Anolis jubar males Oct 2020 Holguin © Karlos Ross
Cuban Coast Anoles Anolis jubar males Oct 2020 Holguin © Karlos Ross
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