We didn't stray far from the hotel today and again I spent a bit of time at the balcony near the Mares pool. Again it turned up trumps with another rarity Cuban Hairstreak Allosmaitia coelebs. And this was on top of the Cuban Longtail Chioides marmorosa which I saw here yesterday but forgot to mention as I hadn't got a photo. Today was different though. I was interested to see that like several of the hairstreaks and blues they have not only fake antennae at the rear but also fake eyes formed by the tornus of the hindwing turning out. The colour of these on Bartram's Scrub-Hairstreak Strymon acis is bright red but on A. coelebs is blue. Butterflies can see well to the front and sides but from directly behind is their weakness so having a pair of 'eye's that move from side to side when the hindwings are alternately moved up and down is their strategy to deter attack from the rear.
Cape May Warbler 03 Dec 2018 2018 Guardalavaca © Tim Norriss
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