There are twenty species in the genus Hamadryas, also known as Crackers, and found mainly from Mexico through Central and South America and the Caribbean, though some species venture as far north as southern Texas. They get their common name from the cracking noises that the males make in flight when interacting with others, probably other males, of the same species.
In Cuba there is only one resident species - the Hamadryas februa Gray Cracker and Hernandez (2004) stated that "in Central and South America these butterflies make a cracking sound in flight, but in Cuba they are silent." In fact this is not correct as we have heard Hamadryas februa make a cracking sound in Cuba so perhaps it just depends on the hearing of the observer.
Nine species of Hamadryas are found in Costa Rica and when we were there earlier in the year we saw two species Guatemalan Cracker H. guatemalena and Brownish Cracker H. iphthime. Both were on the edge of the mangroves of the NW Pacific coast at La Ensenada Lodge on the mainland coast of the Gulf of Nicoya, we had seen no others during the first two weeks of the trip. One morning a Guatemalan Cracker H. guatemalena flew down from its typical face down perch on a mangrove trunk and chased off another that was flying close past us. There were several loud cracking sounds as it did so - so loud in fact that it made us jump!
Nine species of Hamadryas are found in Costa Rica and when we were there earlier in the year we saw two species Guatemalan Cracker H. guatemalena and Brownish Cracker H. iphthime. Both were on the edge of the mangroves of the NW Pacific coast at La Ensenada Lodge on the mainland coast of the Gulf of Nicoya, we had seen no others during the first two weeks of the trip. One morning a Guatemalan Cracker H. guatemalena flew down from its typical face down perch on a mangrove trunk and chased off another that was flying close past us. There were several loud cracking sounds as it did so - so loud in fact that it made us jump!
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