New Thead - 2 day count from Belize

[Shueyi at aol.com]

In the spirit of changing discussions, I though I'd mention the following:

I just returned from a couple of weeks in Belize where John Calhoun and I
spent some serious time sampling butterflies.  Out of interest, we compiled a
quick accounting from Blue Creek Caves, in southern Belize (Toledo District),
where we spent just two short days.  The working total of species for the two
days is 126 species - and I estimate that I have at least 20 species of
skippers, metalmarks and hairstreaks that still need to be added to the list. 

For Belize, this looks like it should be an amazingly rich site.  For
comparison, Valerie Giles and I have been working off and on for the last 4
years at the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area in extreme
northwestern Belize, and the grand total species is about 400.  I'm guessing
that this represents about 80% of the species present at Rio Bravo (although
this is purely a guess).  So to pick up around 150 species from a single site
in two days just blows my mind.  

John Shuey