The second permit that we obtained yesterday morning was to visit La Belen near Najasa, SE of Camagüey. We had heard that the place had been closed for much-needed refurbishment so it was a pleasant surprise to find it open again. Although Doug had been here before we had not so didn't really know what to expect. It is a bit of a way off the beaten track but well worth it and it was a shame that we hadn't been able to find out whether it was open while we were in the UK or we would have certainly stayed here for a couple of nights rather than in Camagüey. But at least we now have contact details for Ecotur staff to be able to make bookings in the future.
Before we set off I took a picture of a Gecko high up on the wall at the casa. I thought at the time it was a Tropical Gecko Hemidactylus mabouia but looking at the pictures I'm not so sure. The tail is rather thick and there are faint lines down the body and tail that I don't seem to match any pictures I can find on the internet. I've said before that it amazes me the lack of a decent Field Guide on the reptiles of the Caribbean. I believe there is one in prep called the Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Caribbean Islands but I don't know its anticipated publication date.
There is also an excellent guide Guía taxonómica de los anfibios de Cuba (2008) which is free to download from the ABC Tax website. You can download audio calls of 59 species too and this is a fantastic resource by Luis M. Díaz and Roberto Cádiz from the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba and the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana respectively. A further volume on the reptiles of Cuba is preparation. Can't wait....
Before we set off I took a picture of a Gecko high up on the wall at the casa. I thought at the time it was a Tropical Gecko Hemidactylus mabouia but looking at the pictures I'm not so sure. The tail is rather thick and there are faint lines down the body and tail that I don't seem to match any pictures I can find on the internet. I've said before that it amazes me the lack of a decent Field Guide on the reptiles of the Caribbean. I believe there is one in prep called the Guide to the Amphibians and Reptiles of the Caribbean Islands but I don't know its anticipated publication date.
There is also an excellent guide Guía taxonómica de los anfibios de Cuba (2008) which is free to download from the ABC Tax website. You can download audio calls of 59 species too and this is a fantastic resource by Luis M. Díaz and Roberto Cádiz from the Museo Nacional de Historia Natural de Cuba and the Facultad de Biología, Universidad de La Habana respectively. A further volume on the reptiles of Cuba is preparation. Can't wait....
Hemidactylus sp 28 Sept 2017 Camagüey © Tim Norriss
It took about an hour and a quarter to get to La Belen. It seems to be a comparatively affluent area and there is a gated entrance at which we showed our permit and continued on listening to the strangely melodic calls of Cuban Crow through the open windows. The first thing we saw at the centre was a zebra - not the butterfly but a mammal.
There were several people swimming in the attractive pool and I checked out one of the rooms briefly which was sizeable and had all the basics. We spent a few minutes photographing the moths on the reception windows before setting off for a walk with our guide Jorge across the horse paddock where there were lots of butterflies feeding on the flowers. The middle one is interesting, and my thanks to Iain Outlaw for identifying it as one of the Tussock moths (Erebidae) in the genus Halysidota. The only species in this genus on the Cuban list is H. cinctipes Florida Tussock Moth and it is a very close match to this. Worldwide 39 species of Halysidota have so far been described. At the time I didn't note which sex it was and perhaps I should start doing that as there can be significant sexual dimorphism in some Erebidae.
There were quite a few butterflies nectaring on the flowers and we saw Orange-washed Sulphur Phoebis avellaneda and a single Cuban Peacock Anartia chrysopelea. I spotted an anole on a post which I thought at the time that was a Central Pallid Anole Anolis centralis but Luis Manuel has subsequently suggested that it might be Anolis terueli Yellow-fanned Pallid Anole. This species was only described in 2001 by Navarro, Fernández and Garrido and I have now read that paper and am sure that he is correct so thank you Luis. The features distinguishing it from A. centralis are its more compact body. shorter snout, yellow dewlap (not red), swollen tail base and conspicuous supra-scapular black spot. It is endemic to Cuba and is only found in a small narrow band through central Camagüey and Las Tunas provinces. I can find no other pictures on the internet so it was a really good find and I'm grateful to the Cuban Brown Anole that appeared and made the A. terueli adopt the threat posture and extend its dewlap. The Navarro paper has much useful information and after reading it I have also corrected the identification of another anole that we saw in 2016 which was actually Anolis litoralis Oriente Pallid Anole.
Anolis terueli Yellow-fanned Pallid Anole 28 Sept 2017 La Belen, Najasa © Tim Norriss
But back to the butterflies.. We had good views of a Malachite Siproeta stelenes and Lynn spotted a Dingy Purplewing Eunica monima.
Several of the endemic Palm Crow were flying around and we also saw 15 Cuban Parakeet and both Cuban and Blue-gray Gnat-catcher. We walked along the main track and found several butterflies taking moisture on the ground, best of all was a Cuban Mercurial Skipper Proteides mercurius but there was also White-angled Sulphur Anteos clorinde and Boisduval's Yellow Eurema boisduvaliana.
Cuban Mercurial Skipper Proteides mercurius 28 Sept 2017 La Belen, Najasa © Tim Norriss
A search in woodland next to the track produced Monk Skipper Asbolis capucinus and several larvae and a pupa of Caribbean Faceted Skipper Synapte malitiosa. Jorge was fascinated by anything to do with natural history and like many guides knew a small number of the butterflies but due to the shortage of literature on the subject his knowledge was limited. It was great to see him soaking up the knowledge from Doug and he was soon finding S. malitiosa larvae on his own.
We headed back towards the car to have a short break and eat our picnic lunch and found our twelfth skipper of the day, a May's Skipper Proteides maysi on the track.
May's Skipper Proteides maysi 28 Sept 2017 La Belen, Najasa © Tim Norriss
The camera was kept busy today as there was so much to see. Slender Cliff Anoles Anolis lucius can be found on tree trunks as well as on cliffs and are often quite approachable.
Slender Cliff Anole Anolis lucius 28 Sept 2017 La Belen, Najasa © Tim Norriss
Jorge then took us to where he sometimes sees Giant Kingbird but there was no sign today. But on the way we noticed several Cuban Peacock Anartia chrysopelea. We stopped to watch them and saw that there were females slowly fluttering about near the ground looking for somewhere to lay eggs. Doug had only ever seen a larva once many years before and had never seen eggs or bred them through so this was an opportunity not to be missed. Over the next half hour we watched five eggs being laid, amazingly all on different plant species.
Doug later recalls that:
"In 1994 I went to Havana to meet Luis R. Hernández, who later wrote the Field Guide of Cuban - West Indian Butterflies, to confirm the identity of my specimens of Gray Ministreak Ministrymon azia. As we talked about butterflies, I mentioned to him among many other things that I had once, many years before, found a larva of the Cuban Peacock A. chrysopelea but I didn’t remember clearly how it looked, nor even dare to dream of owning a camera at that time. I did however remember one feature consisting of a conspicuous white collar on the neck. I was just another young amateur lepidopterist at the start of his career so wasn't sure if I would be believed or not but he did in fact include this detail later in his book published in 2004. Now that we had the chance to find the eggs of Cuban Peacock during our latest trip together, and to rear the larvae, it was extremely exciting for me to confirm that the white collar is actually present and that the only characteristic that I remembered was correct! At rest, the collar remains hidden from view as the larva retracts the neck but can be seen in the photo of the larva while feeding. The A. chrysopelea larva differs from White Peacock A. jatrophae in having off-white inter-segmental transverse bands and also some whitish speckling. Superficially, the pupa is simillarly shaped in both species but I notice that the cremaster (silken pad) where it is attached is whitish in A. chrysopelea and reddish in A. jatrophae."
Thank you Doug for sharing.
"In 1994 I went to Havana to meet Luis R. Hernández, who later wrote the Field Guide of Cuban - West Indian Butterflies, to confirm the identity of my specimens of Gray Ministreak Ministrymon azia. As we talked about butterflies, I mentioned to him among many other things that I had once, many years before, found a larva of the Cuban Peacock A. chrysopelea but I didn’t remember clearly how it looked, nor even dare to dream of owning a camera at that time. I did however remember one feature consisting of a conspicuous white collar on the neck. I was just another young amateur lepidopterist at the start of his career so wasn't sure if I would be believed or not but he did in fact include this detail later in his book published in 2004. Now that we had the chance to find the eggs of Cuban Peacock during our latest trip together, and to rear the larvae, it was extremely exciting for me to confirm that the white collar is actually present and that the only characteristic that I remembered was correct! At rest, the collar remains hidden from view as the larva retracts the neck but can be seen in the photo of the larva while feeding. The A. chrysopelea larva differs from White Peacock A. jatrophae in having off-white inter-segmental transverse bands and also some whitish speckling. Superficially, the pupa is simillarly shaped in both species but I notice that the cremaster (silken pad) where it is attached is whitish in A. chrysopelea and reddish in A. jatrophae."
Thank you Doug for sharing.
Cuban Peacock Anartia chrysopelea 5th instar larva ex ova 15 Oct 2017 La Belen, Najasa © Douglas Fernández
The excitement wasn't over as I watched a female Malachite Siproeta stelenes fly down out of the canopy and lay a single egg on the terminal shoot of a small Ruellia blechum.
There was a herd of magnificent long-horned cattle grazing this piece of woodland and we had very close views of an Ovenbird.
Ovenbird 28 Sept 2017 La Belen, Najasa © Tim Norriss
And if you're an arachnophobe then look away now..
28 Sept 2017 La Belen, Najasa © Tim Norriss
What a brilliant day at a great site. 45 species of butterflies which isn't the highest but included five Swallowtails including a Poey's Swallowtail Heraclides caiguanabus, 14 species of Skipper, several Dusky Emperor Asterocampa idyja and one Silver Emperor Doxocopa laure unfortunately seen by Doug only.
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