LL-2001 Day 2

[Mark Walker]

Mandeville - December 8th, 2001

Waking up on day 2, I looked forward to my breakfast.  I ate next to nothing
the day before, and I was looking at nothing until the following morning.
This breakfast would have to hold me over.  I was also worrying about the
rental jeep - no spare.  I called the rental company, and they gave me the
good news that I would have to buy two new tires.  It would cost me $240 for
them to drive tires down to me in Mandeville.  After some discussion, they
agreed to let me purchase the tires myself.  I had no idea what I would do,
so I decided to head on out and do some lepping.  Just out of my room, I saw
a bit fat skipper land on some flowers.  Pyrrhocalles jamaicensis.  Things
were looking up.

I didn't want to drive too far away from my happy home, seeing as how I
didn't have a spare, so I decided to do my lepping relatively close to
Mandeville.  I chose to check out the mountainous areas southwest of town -
along Perth Rd.  There was much good habitat in and around the dwelling
places here, and before long I was absorbed in my craft - oblivious to the
outside world.  One of the first leps that I noticed was Junonia  evarete -
or so called Cuban Buckeye.  This bug was quite common at this location, and
in fact turned out to be relatively common in all of the spots I checked in
Jamaica.  They behave just like our own common Junonia, but have a
distinctive appearance on both the dorsal and ventral sides.  There were
tons of Pierids on the wing as well, including all of the usual suspects.
Ascia monuste (Great Southern White) was common, though the females are
distinct here.  According  to "The Butterflies of the West Indies and South
Florida", by Smith, et al, the subspecies is A. m. eubotea.  Also common
were Pheobis sennae, Aphrissa statira, and so many other large Pierids that
I could never identify.  On one swing, I came down with a stunning specimen
of Anteos maerula, a very large and yellow angled sulphur.  There were
plenty of Eurema on the wing as well, including E. nise, E. lisa, E. dina
parvumbra, and E. daira palmira.  While trying to swing at one bouncing
Pierid, I tripped and started to fall.  Luckily for me, I was able to catch
my fall on the trunk of an exotic tree which was covered with huge two inch
spikey thorns.  Three of them put holes into my left hand, leaving behind
embedded slivers as souvenirs.  Oh, the joys of butterflying.

Another common lep in this forest, as well as all others I visited, was
Siproeta stelenes, ssp. stelenes (The Malachite).  A gorgeous green
butterfly the size of a grapefruit, it is truly a sight to behold.  I've
seen ssp. biplagiata in South Florida, but never so common.

Another bug that was quite plentiful is the gorgeous little Mestra dorcas -
very similar to it's cousin, Mestra amymone in both behavior and appearance.

One of the highlights of the day was my first specimen of the Calisto genus.
These Satyrids vary greatly across the West Indies, with just a single
species (as far as I can tell) endemic to Jamaica.  I would see this little
guy, Calisto zangis, everywhere I would travel over the next two days.

I also collected what appears to be an Erynnis species, though I can't seem
to locate one that should be found here.  Not too many other skippers were
collected, surprisingly, save for Nyctelius nyctelius, Panoquina sylvicola,
Wallengrenia vesuria, and Pyrgus oileus.

The special bug for the day was a beautiful hairstreak which appears to be
Rekoa bourkei or Allosmaitia coelebs, though the book claims the latter has
only been recorded from Jamaica only once.  I'll have to identify this
later, but it's quite a nice looking hairstreak, with blue on the ups and
the distinctive white M, though it's not P. m-album.

It turns out that many of the bugs that fly in Jamaica are quite distinct -
even from the other surrounding islands like Cuba and Hispaniola.  Several,
which I did not see, are quite fantastic indeed.  These include the fabulous
swallowtail Pterourus homerus and the incredibly unique checkerspot-like
Atlantea genus.  These are just a few of the reasons that I have to find a
way to come back to Jamaica.

I collected all day, and the weather remained pleasant until about 3:00
p.m., at which time I returned back to the tire shack to see what could be
done about the tires.  After many more hours with my friends driving back
and forth across Mandeville, I had managed to locate two tires of the right
size and had my jeep back on the road - in better condition than when I
rented it.  By this time I had spent all of my money, and was facing two
more days without cash and without food.  Along with Mikey, I bought a
salted fish from the old timer and proceeded to pick the small fish clean of
meat from it's bones.  I must have been quite a sight, sunburned, sweaty,
and starving, picking every last bit of flesh.  I wasn't about to waste
anything.  I looked around and realized that this was normal everyday life
for my Rastafarian friends of Mandeville.  And a great number of other folks
across the world as well.

Here's the list from Mandeville:

Calisto zangis
Mestra dorcas
Junonia evarete
Anartia jatrophae jamaicensis
Siproeta stelenes stelenes
Dryas iulia delila
Agraulis vanillae insularis
Rekoa bourkei?
Chlorostrymon simaethis jago
Electrostrymon pan
Hemiargus ceraunus
Leptotes cassius
Ascia monuste eubotea
Ganyra josephina
Eurema nise
Eurema daira palmira
Eurema lisa euterpe
Eurema dina parvumbra
Anteos maerula
Phoebis sennae
Aphrissa statira
Pyrrhocalles jamaicensis
Polygonus leo hagar
Urbanus proteus
Wallengrenia vesuria
Panoquina sylvicola
Nyctelius nyctelius
Pyrgus oileus


Mark Walker


 
 ------------------------------------------------------------ 

   For subscription and related information about LEPS-L visit:

   http://www.peabody.yale.edu/other/lepsl