We visited the small Las Guanas reserve today which lies just to the west of the Luna y Mares hotel. We always go here at least once during a trip but hadn’t managed it this time till now. There are little feeding stations along the trail where the fiddler crabs love to come and feed on what looks like crushed maize.
Fiddler crabs 8 Oct 2017 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
It was nice to see several Cuban Kite Swallowtail Eurytides celadon still. We have so far seen them on 15 of the 19 days and often in high numbers. There weren’t too many butterflies about but we found a Violet-banded Skipper Nyctelius nyctelius larva in a folded leaf shelter of grass which was a new species for the trip.
Violet-banded Skipper Nyctelius nyctelius larva 8 Oct 2017 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
And a few Florida Duskywing Ephyriades brunnea were nectaring high up on small white flowers of a shrub which I don’t know the name of. And I spotted some feeding damage on the foodplant Stigmaphyllon which contained both eggs and a small larva. It also had eggs of a Cyclargus but I can’t tell whether it’s Nickerbean Blue Cyclargus ammon or Miami Blue Cyclargus thomasi.
We also found a Clouded Sulphur Phoebis sennae larva on Senna occidentalis and two Concolorous Skipper Burca concolor larvae on Croton. There are lots of different reptiles here on the reserve and we saw seven species during the morning.
Clouded Sulphur Phoebis sennae 8 Oct 2017 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
At lunch there was a slow movement of whites and yellows flying east over the pool including a Lyside Sulphur Kricogonia lyside. We had arranged to meet Carlos later in the day where he took us to a friend’s garden near Holguin to look for reptiles. And what a great couple of hours it turned out to be. The owners kept a few chickens in cages that were moved around from time to time. Under various objects in the garden was a host of reptile food. There were lots of large cockroaches 2” long and lots of their eggs and young. We also saw two species of scorpion and several huge tarantula. This black scorpion was about 3” long and the other was smaller and more colourful.
But it was the reptiles that we came for and it didn’t disappoint. I didn’t know what many of them were at the time, and one of them I’m still not sure of, but others I have managed to identify since. And if I have got any wrong then I’m happy to be corrected. The list is:
Pholidoscelis auberi
Anolis argenteolus
Anolis jubar
Anolis lucius
Anolis porcatus??
Anolis sagrei
Hemidactylus mabouia
Leiocephalus carinatus
Leiocephalus macropus
Gonatodes albogularis
Sphaerodactylus argus
Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus
Sphaerodactylus notatus
You can see more pictures of all these on the reptiles page.
Pholidoscelis auberi
Anolis argenteolus
Anolis jubar
Anolis lucius
Anolis porcatus??
Anolis sagrei
Hemidactylus mabouia
Leiocephalus carinatus
Leiocephalus macropus
Gonatodes albogularis
Sphaerodactylus argus
Sphaerodactylus nigropunctatus
Sphaerodactylus notatus
You can see more pictures of all these on the reptiles page.
One that I have only just identified seems to be Jamaican Stippled Sphaero (or Ocellated Sphaero) Sphaerodactylus argus. I hadn’t considered this previously as although it occurs in 11 provinces including over in the east of Holguín province this seems to be the first time it has been recorded near the city of Holguín.
This is the anole that I’m not sure of. It might be Cuban Green Anole Anolis porcatus but it might be something else, and there was also a smaller one that is perhaps a juvenile of the same species. It wasn’t until I looked at the photos later that I noticed the long-dead one.
Under one board there were lots of small hatched reptile eggs - perhaps Gonatodes as they looked a little large for the Sphaeros.
8 Oct 2017 Holguin © Tim Norriss
There was even a tiny frog Eleutherodactylus sp that I haven’t yet identified but I hope to by going through Díaz & Cádiz (2008). I wish I had given him/her a clean-up before taking the picture but there was so much going on there wasn't time for that.
Eleutherodactylus sp 8 Oct 2017 Holguin © Tim Norriss
We also spent a while searching by torchlight for the Prehensile-tailed Jutía Mysateles prehensilis which occurs in the spiny cactus hedges here but we had no luck on this occasion. It is a species of rodent in the family Capromyidae, one of many species endemic to Cuba. It is an arboreal herbivore found in both primary and secondary forest. This and Desmarest's Jutía Capromys pilorides are the only two species that are said to be still widespread on Cuba, many are already extinct.
What a brilliant few hours so thank you Carlos for arranging.
What a brilliant few hours so thank you Carlos for arranging.
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