Hypolimnas misippus male Punta de Maisi Dec 2020 © Jose Alberto Perez Hechavarria
The Mimic, also known as Danaid Eggfly in some parts of the world, has a widespread distribution across the globe. It originated in Asia but is now found across much of Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. In Cuba it has been known since about 1880 but is quite rare and I haven't heard of anyone seeing one in the last few years until a friend sent me a photo two days ago that he had just taken on his mobile phone near Gibara in the east of the island. When I put the photo on one of the local forums. I was immediately sent a picture of another taken in December at the lighthouse at Punta de Maisi which is the easternmost point of Cuba. It's rather odd that it is seen so rarely when the foodplants that it uses are not uncommon on the island. Larvae have been found in the past so it obviously has bred though the reasons for its current rarity need more study.
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