Mexico – Southern Tamaulipas, 25-30 October 2007

Trip Report Southern Tamaulipas  25 – 30 October 2007

WINGS Birds and Butterflies Jim Brock and Rich Hoyer, co-leaders

Author: Jim Brock

The trip started off with a bang at the Los Indios border crossing. Among the several Clouded/Lerema accius and Fawn-potted Skippers/Cymaenes odilia nectaring on a white morning glory was one fresh Double-dotted Skipper/Decinea percosius (photo on Mariposas Mexicanas).

Traveling south, hundreds of Giant Whites/Ganyra josephina were viewed along the roadside in scrub habitats. A brief stop for lunch at the Rio Corona north of Victora was uneventful as food was consumed and little time was spent watching bugs although participants got their first taste of the tropics with Band-celled Sister/Adelpha fessonia, Malachites/Siproeta stelenes and Cryptic Skipper/Noctuana lactifera.

We arrived late afternoon at Canyon del Novillo just outside of Victoria. We parked at the gravel pit and never made into the canyon. It was that good. A clump of three or four blooming Eupatorium odoratum provided us with a virtual who’s who of Tamaulipan skippers and other butterflies for nearly an hour. It wasn’t necessary to move. Lounge chairs would have come in handy as easily 60 species of butterflies were frequenting this clump of flowers. Creamy Whites/Melete lycimnia were everywhere with good numbers of Florida Whites/Appias drusilla mixed in. Skippers included Tailed Aguna/Aguna metophis, Falcate Skipper/Spathilepia clonius, Mottled Bolla/Bolla clytius, Common Bentwing/Ebrietas anacreon, Hermit Skipper/Grais stigmaticus, numerous Glazed Pellicias/Pellicea arina, Red-studded Skipper/Notuana stator, Starred Skipper/Arteurotia tractipennis, and Dark Mylon/Mylon maimon. Metalmarks included Walker’s/Apodemia walkeri, Red-bordered/Caria ino and Curve-winged/Emesis emesia.

In a gully below the odoratum flowers were a number of blooming seep willows (Baccharis sp.). They were sprinkled with both sexes of Silver and Pavon Emperors/Doxocopa laure and D. pavon plus numerous spectacular hairstreaks. No less than 15 species were found on two of the larger plants. The better finds were six Mexican Cycadians/Eumaeus toxea, two male Schaus’ Streaklets/Ipidecla schausi, Damo Hairstreak/Pseudolycaena damo, Goodson’s Greenstreak/Cyanophrys goodsoni, Gold-bordered Hairstreak/Rekoa palegon, Strophius Hairstreak/Allosmaitia strophius and an unidentified species of Erora (posted on this website). In all we had 109 species in under two hours in about 2000 square feet! That’s the way this canyon can be with the right nectar in bloom!! We drove to Ciudad Mante, our base for the next two days.

Our first day below the Tropic of cancer we followed Richard Lehman’s hot tip and checked the flowering vine on the way into Canon de la Servilleta just off the road to Ocampo. We were rewarded with face to face views of Regal Hairstreak/Evenus regalis (see Mariposas Mexicanas) and no less than eight Arcius Swordtails/Rhetus arcius. Other choice bugs soon arrived with the highlights being Potosi Skipper/Anatrytone potosiensis, both sexes of Painted White/Pieriballia viardi, a female Black-patched Bluemark/Lasaia aegesilas, Great Tanmark/Emesis mandana, Lycortas Skipper/Orthos lycortas, Valde Skipper/Morys valda and Frosted Flasher/Astraptes alardus.

We made our way past Ocampo to km 24 on the road to Tula. Butterflies were everywhere. In addition to the flying horde of Monarchs/Danaus plexippus and Creamy Whites/M. lycimnia there were scads of crescents, nymphalids and pierids. Our lunch spot featured a territorial Mexican Dartwhite/Catasticta nimbice, Common Morpho/ Morpho helenor fly-bys, Eyed Sister/Adelpha paroeca, Purple-stained Skipper/Zenis jebus, Inca Skipper/Vehilius inca and tons of Brown Crescents/Anthanassa atronia. The day ended with close views of a Common Myscelus/Myscelus amystis right along the highway.

On days three and four we toured the Gomez Farias area. A morning breakfast on day three at La Florida yielded numerous Dusky Eusalasias/Eusalasia eubule high up in the canopy and a few Red-bordered Pixies/Melanis pixe on a flowering vine. At La Florida the bamboo died to the roots a couple of years ago so it was good to see it coming back along with the butterflies associated with this plant such as Kendall’s Satyr/Splendeuptychia kendalli and larvae of both Vacerra and Niconiades in leaf nests.

Afternoons were spent on the road to Alta Cima before the turnoff to Rancho Cielo.  Highlights were yet another Regal Hairstreak/E. regalis on a flowering tree along with Pearly Hairstreak/Theritas theocritus and Blue-spot Hairstreak/Parrhasius polibetes. We got decent glimpses of the rarely observed female Band-gapped Swallowtail(aka Torquatus ST)/Papilio torquatus high up on a mala mujer. We also finally got looks at all three of the usual crackers (Gray, Glaucous and Guatemalen)/ H. februa, glauconome, and guatemalena, and added showy nymphalids like Rusty-tipped Page/Siproeta epaphus, Spot-celled and Celario Sisters/A. basiloides and A. serpa, Tiger and Pearly Leafwings/Consul fabius and C.electra plus our first Anna’s 88’s/Diaethria anna.

On day five it was then time to head up the mountain but not before trying the lower Rancho Cielo road where we found Rayed and Pointer Sisters/Adelpha lycorias and A. iphiclus.

When one ascends to 3200’ in a tropical cloud forest the diversity drops. However there are interesting bugs found there and we were not disappointed. Our stay at the field station at Rancho Cielo included two full field days. Never had any clouds and conditions were perfect despite the nighttime chill. Highlights were a yet unidentified Ruby-eye/Carystoides sp., Veined Ruby-eye/Synale cynaxa ,both coming to impatiens,possibly a few East Mexican Banded-Skipper/Autochton siermadror, both Elegant and Stalling’s Flats/Celaenorrhinus stola, stallingsi, Erybathis Hairstreak/Laothus erybathis flashing sky blue in the mid-day sunlight, an unidentified species of Ridens, possibly mephitis, Confusing Sister/Adelpha iphicleola, Stained Greenstreak/Cyanophrys agricolor, a half dozen or more Florida Purplewings/Eunica tatila, Superb Cycadian/E. childrenae and Star Satyr/Oxeoschistus tauropolis.

In all, the trip yielded about 250 species of butterflies.

purchase viagra without prescription Both of them work simultaneously to ensure the user is not only able to have an erection, but they are not taking any expert advice. In supplementprofessors.com viagra sale in india any case, its splendidly sensible to attempt diverse ED drugs, to discover precisely the particular case that can give the direly obliged drugs, anytime of time and that too at less cost is not a simple errand. viagra vs cialis They do not discuss it with their spouse or partner. American Journal purchase levitra supplementprofessors.com of Medicine. 124(8):775.e1-6, 2011 3.

Mexico – Southern Tamaulipas/NE San Luis Potosi, October 05 — October 09, 2007

Trip Report for Southern Tamaulipas/NE San Luis Potosi, Mexico, October 05 — October 09, 2007


Participants: Kim Garwood, Jane Kittleman, Richard Lehman, Willie Sekula

Author: Kim Garwood, Mission, Texas

We drove straight through to Gomez Farias, after getting the car papers at the border. It takes about 5.5 – 6 hours once you clear the border. There wasn’t much happening at La Florida, so we went on to Gomez and were able to get rooms at Casa Piedras for 500 pesos/room, which includes breakfast. The new hotel, Cumbres Inn, is now open, and we stayed there Monday night on our way back. I enjoy Casa Piedras for the atmosphere, but it doesn’t have air conditioning, which can make a big difference much of the year. It was warm and sticky Friday night, but the rooms are pleasant and the small gardens can be good for bugs.

Saturday morning we stopped at the bus stop right across the dirt turnoff to Bocotama, which is always worth checking if there’s any moisture. There were some leafwings and sulphurs, but not large numbers, so we headed on south. We took the road to Ocampo, went past Ocampo up to the oaks, then doubled back to take the new paved road down to El Naranjo. This road is west of Ocampo and very productive. A very short distance on our left, less than a mile, is a car track off through the woods which had several species of crackers right at the edge of the trees. This was the only place we saw Red Cracker on the whole trip. Lots of Grays, Glaucous and Guatemalan Crackers at other locations, but this was it for a Red. This track looked like it could be quite productive. We had Pale-billed Woodpecker here on our way back.

This road from Ocampo to Naranjo looks very promising. It repeatedly crosses the old winding road, so there are lots of places to pull off and walk the old road. This is tough to find in many areas of Mexico, as the roads tend to not have any shoulders, so you’re always having to watch for trucks and dive into the bushes to get off the road. Makes for difficult photography. But when you can find old abandoned roads where there’s not any traffic it’s great. We had lots of butterflies working the dirt roads and the trash dumped as well. Probably a couple of zillion Pavon Emperors, they were everywhere. Plus many of both species of Sailors and lots of Starred Skippers, more than I’ve ever seen. The road is great about half way, then you get into sugar cane and it gets very rough and torn up by the cane trucks. It comes in near El Salto, at the Y where you normally go to the left to the falls, to the right is where the Ocampo road comes in when you’re coming out of El Naranjo.

Saturday night we couldn’t get rooms in El Naranjo, so had to drive over to Mante to stay at the Hotel Mante, 580 pesos/room. This is always a nice hotel, just in the middle of town and no good habitat nearby. We checked out the nacimiento right west of town and saw some jicanas, one with 4 babies, but not many butterflies. Then we drove back to Naranjo Sunday morning and went up to the falls, which due to all the rains were booming over the usually diverted falls. Mist was everywhere and it was quite cool, even about 10am. A new house has been built and the left side has all been fenced, which used to be a good spot for clearwings. We saw some bugs but not large numbers. Then we went back to Naranjo and west to the bridge, where sometimes there is a good mudding spot. It was dry, so we went straight on the dirt road out to where the bumblebee metalmarks can often be found late in the day. This is where good habitat comes down to the road from both sides, about 2.7 miles up the dirt road. This is a very slow, bumpy road, takes about 45 minutes, but we spent several hours as there was water running down the right side of the road and many butterflies mud puddling. Many dark spreadwings, lots of sulphurs, and the best bug of the day was a brilliant fresh Widespread Myscelus/Myscelus amystis, life butterfly for all of us. And it was very cooperative, posed for all of us to take a couple of hundred shots.
Late Sunday afternoon we went out to Minas Viejas, east and south of El Naranjo. We found out when we got there the owner has now started charging 10 pesos per person, and it was packed with local families swimming and picnicing, so we went on, found another place to get to the river but not many bugs. On our way back to El Naranjo, in a small plot of tropical milkweed inwith some houses, we spotted a dark swallowtail nectaring. We pulled in, put up our glasses, and found another lifer, Victorinus Swallowtail/Pterourus menatius victorinus. Between Willie, Richard and Kim we got some pretty good shots, even though it never stopped.

Sunday night we stayed at the hotel right next to the bridge in El Naranjo, 350 pesos for large, air conditioned rooms. We ate in town at our favorite fajitas place, El Rancho, a small yellowish round building on the north side of the main road. Excellent carne asada and guacamole and cold drinks, all 4 of us for 220 pesos. Monday morning we ate gorditas at a great little spot next to the tortillaria by the pemex, also good coffee. Then fortified we headed back up to the Ocampo road, this time taking most of the day to explore. It was covered w/butterflies. Black-patched Metalmarks, a variety of skippers, and again tons of Pavon Emperors. I’ve never seen so many on a trip before. One pull off to the east where we walked the old road it was flooded, seemed to be a spring, and probably 40+ Ruby-spotted Swallowtails and Variable Swallowtails mud puddling. I’ve never seen so many in one spot. We also had a very fresh Rayed Sister, the furthest north I’ve seen this species, though Ricardo Jimenez at the Cumbres Inn told us he had seen it for the first time at Gomez Farias just 4 or 5 days earlier.

We spent the last night back in Gomez Farias at the new place, Cumbres Inn, for 631 pesos for a double. Their prices are cheaper Monday to Thursday, as they appear to get a lot of weekend visitors from Monterrey. Our meals at the restaurant were very good. This time we all ordered chicken, I had fajitas de pollo, Willie had a fabulous pollo w/salsa de cognac, and Richard had one of the best milanesas de pollo I’ve ever had.

We spent Monday afternoon working the road from Gomez Farias up to the Y and picked up a number of new species for the trip. Tuesday morning we had to head home, but decided to stop off briefly at the Encino road and go to the river, which proved to be a good decision. The low water crossing was open, and the road had been smoothed considerably since the last time I had been across. Willie and Richard had been there in Sept and couldn’t cross due to the raging waters. This time we found a blooming white vine which was bringing in the bugs, and tenaza (?) trees with white puffballs blooming, also great attractants. These were the best butterfly blooms we saw anywhere on this trip. Lots of new trip species and several we had never seen this far north before. Choricus Skipper, even Godman’s Mapwing, which we had only seen in Xilitla, SLP.

Sildenafil citrate, also referred to as Sildenafil, cures erectile dysfunction, or the failure to tadalafil online canada attain and/or maintain an erection for pleasurable lovemaking, are suffering from impotence. The visibility of head ache, dizziness, upset stomach, back pain, body pain, sneezing, cough, breathing shortness, irregular heartbeats or restlessness then he should visit the clinic in order to avail the treatments for these buy viagra in australia undesired developments. free sample of cialis Having problems achieving an erection is also an early indication of diabetes, especially in men aged 45 and under. Then you must proceed to complete viagra 100 mg ronaldgreenwaldmd.com an online registration form.
 

Mexico – Southern Tamaulipus – August 2007

Trip Report for Southern Tamaulipas, Mexico, August 31   —  September 2, 2007
Participants: Richard Lehman, Will and Gill Carter, Willie Sekula

The four of us left south Texas early Friday morning motoring directly to Cd. Victoria with a brief butterflying stop at “Banner Blvd.” near San Fernando. The Teneza trees (Pithecelobium pallens) were in full bloom and seemed to be everywhere. Only a moderated number of butterflies were attracted to the flowers while we were there. I don’t think that I’ve ever seen the 200 roadside miles between south Texas and the Sierra Madres at Cd. Victoria as lush and verdant as they were this day. Lots of butterflies were on the move. Radiator inspection confirmed the presence of numerous Lyside and large orange sulphurs and Giant Whites.

Butterflying the canyons at Cd. Victoria was mildly productive. Troncones and Novillo seem to be among the best places in Mexico to see a large variety of swallowtails. There were of course, Giants in numbers but also many, many Ornythions, quite a few Variable and Black Swallowtails, and a sprinkling of Broad-banded, Torquatus, Palamedes, and Dark Kite Swallowtails. In total we had 10 species in the canyons and picked up an additional 2 species the following day at La Florida further south near Gomez Farias. The rivers in both canyons were out of their banks due to the recent rains thus limiting the distance we could drive even with 4-wheel drive. (Note: The road into Novillo Canyon is completely destroyed before reaching the Shrine area.) We arrived in the Gomez Farias region late in the afternoon.

The next morning in the El Encino area near the Rio Sabinas, we had lots of Melwhites busily working to increase their numbers. There were Red-bordered Pixies, a few Pearly-gray Hairstreaks, numerous Malachites, and scads of Pavon Emperors, both male and female. Zebras were the most abundant heliconians. There were a few eratos but no Isabelas. Certainly the best butterfly of the area and also of the the entire trip was that perfect female Arcius Swordtail found and photographed by Willie. The grounds at the new Las Cumbres Hotel in Gomez Farias have lots of flowering plants which normally attact butterflies. Ricardo Jimenez, resident butterfly and birding guide at the hotel pointed these out, but little was flying in the heavy overcast and occasional mist. Normally, he says these plants attract lots of the gaudy metalmarks and hairstreaks   —  alas, not this day.

At slightly lower elevation at La Florida we were surprised to find the Rio Frio flooding most of the park. The usual profusion of butterflies was absent. We did get to watch and photograph a female Variable Swallowtail as she laid eggs. (See photo on Mimoides phaon page.)  And then the rains came, and we took off for El Naranjo in San Luis Potosi hoping for clearer skies the next morning. Boy were we mistaken. The already flooding rivers, creeks, fields, and roadside were on the rampage after a hard all night rain. We gave up and headed for the border in constant rain, sometimes very heavy, all the way back.

So, with less than favorable conditions, over only a few hours of actually butterflying, we had to be happy with the 110 species that we managed to tick off.

Therapy viagra free consultation is also recommended, as well as exercise. Performance pressure faced by men makes them conscious, as a result they fail to sustain the erection for long however be a common affair. levitra generika cute-n-tiny.com In the presence of sexual stimulation, kamagra or generic sildenafil starts its execution to perform well in the bedroom and ignite the fire again in their lost dull sexual life.How Exactly Does Kamagra Solve Your ED? Basically ED happens due to low supply of blood to the penile region. cialis 5mg uk It’s no big secret that the cost of medications in the US to be on the higher side and they are *Higher investment in production The original manufactures have to invest large amounts levitra generic vs of money on promoting the generic drug.

Mexico – Central Veracruz, August 2007

Trip Report for Central Veracruz, August 2 – 11, 2007

Participants: Kim Garwood, Jim Brock, Bill Berthet, Nelson Dobbs

Author: Kim Garwood

Bob Straub, recently with Pronatura Veracruz and now the Eagle Optics representative for Mexico, was very helpful w/arranging our trip. Buy his book, Where to “Find Birds in Veracruz”, available through Pronatura Veracruz, www.pronaturaveracruz.org. They also do birding tours if you don’t want to do it all yourself, especially in Sept/Oct for the River of Raptors migration. Most of the locations we went to, and all of the hotels/cabins, (except Veracruz) are in Bob’s book.

This trip was mostly in the highlands of central Veracruz, up in cloud forest between 1,000 – 1,300 meters. We did not go to the lowlands around Catemaco.

Aug 2 – Jim and I took the UNO bus from Reynosa to Veracruz, an overnight trip of 16 hours, leaving Reynosa at 8pm, getting to Veracruz around 11- noon the next day. Cost 998 pesos each way. Nelson and Bill flew into Veracruz from Houston, arrived about 11:30pm and got a hotel for the night, the Hotel Suites Mediterraneo for 620 pesos. It was on the beach, south of Veracruz city in Boca del Rio. A simple but adequate hotel, one of the cheaper ones on the beach, used mostly by Mexican families on their beach vacation. Jim and I took a cab from the downtown bus station to their hotel, where we then took off for Xalapa in our rental car from Hertz. The car cost about $1,000 for 10 days, including insurance.

Aug 3/6 – We stayed 4 nights at the Posada del Cafeto in Xalapa, (1,250 meters/4,000′) a nice little hotel for 450 pesos/night for 2 people. The only problem is it’s in downtown Xalapa, so parking is tough and it can be intimidating to drive in. But it was very quiet, rooms around a nice courtyard. Phone 228-817-0023, they speak very little english.

Another potential hotel, much easier access, is Hotel El Valle in Perote, 2300 meters/7000′, about 20 miles west of Xalapa. This hotel is a block or two off the main highway, much smaller town, so no traffic problems. But one advantage of staying in Xalapa is you have many great restaurants to choose from, as Xalapa is a university town and a real city, while Perote is an upgraded village.

We had 3 full days out of Xalapa. First day we drove up to Las Minas for the morning, a great road along the edge of a large canyon. We had several good skippers, including Roever’s Skipperling/Piruna roeveri, Snowball Skipper/Paratrytone aphracoia, and Oyamel or Monticola Skipper/Poanes monticola. The Mexican Pine Satyrs/Paramacera xicaque were abundant, and we were hoping for Cloud-forest Pine Satyr/P. chinanteca, but didn’t find any.

Then we continued to the west, through Perote and out into the desert to Los Humeros. Totally different habitat, large joshua tree like yuccas, very pretty but few bugs. We did see 2 different checkerspots, got good looks & photos at Black Checkerspot/Chlosyne cyneas. Jim had 2 females he thought were Fulvia Checkerspot/Chlosyne fulvia, which would be a long way from their known area, but he couldn’t catch them. If you go, look for orange-ish checkerspots. Late in the day we drove up Cofre de Perote, where we found the rare Guatemalan Hairstreak/Callophrys guatemalena.

The 2nd day, Sunday Aug 5th, Bob Straub joined us and suggested we check out Atorón, a coffee plantation close to Xalapa. We hiked up a truck track through the coffee to a small pass and had a good selection of butterflies, but not as many as the habitat looked like should be there. It was a nice sunny morning, but there wasn’t lots of stuff flying. We did get our first looks at Orange Cracker/Hamadryas fornax, a Veracruz specialty. Also there were lots of Mimic Whites, Enantia jethys and E. albania, as well as lots of Frosted Mimic Whites/Lieinix nemesis, both males and females. We also went to the waterfall at Xico, but it was packed w/visitors, as it was Sunday afternoon. Better visit this place during the week. Lots and lots of Anna’s 88′s/Diaethria anna.

Bob also strongly recommended Chavarrillo, see his book, but we never made it. Another good spot is the Macuiltepetl Park in the middle of Xalapa. This is a large wooded park on the slopes of an extinct volcano, closed to cars, with a 5+ km road you can walk that winds around up to the top. It’s very good for birding, motmots, trogons, blue mockingbird, and has good cloud forest butterflies. I’ve seen Star Satyr/ , Mountain Longwing/Heliconius hortense, and a couple of species of clearwings there.
Side Effects of Medications Medications used to treat major illness such as high blood http://greyandgrey.com/spanish/christa-m-collins/ viagra prescription pressure, diabetes, prostate cancer etc. further diminish the libido level or cause erectile dysfunction in men. If reported are to be believed, almost every man has to inject some alprostadil-like medicine into the base or the part of the penis with a tiny needle or placing a suppository into the cialis generic cheapest urethra. At one point it was known as the purchase viagra online increases blood flow in the men’s penis similarly the women’s version also directs the blood flow and allows clitoral engorgement thus acting as a libido boosters. More than 60 clinical trials involving more than 4000 men have proved the effectiveness and safety of purchase levitra no prescription.
Our last full day in Xalapa we went looking for some spots Jim had visited a few years ago, out from Coatepec back towards Hwy 140. We found the spot, about 10 km west of 140, taking off about 5 km east out of Xalapa. One field of weeds had been turned into a baseball diamond, but just next to it was a great dirt road that ran up into coffee plantations again.

This morning was cool and drizzly, and we had a number of great skippers basking on top of the grasses and posing very nicely for photographs. We dodged the rain all morning and early afternoon, and probably had some of the best photography opportunities of the trip. Not just skippers, as Brilliant Metalmark or Carousing Jewelmark/Anteros carausius also posed with wings open, something you rarely see. Lots of tigerwings also, Variable Tigerwing/Mechanitis menapis being the most common, but other Mechanitis were there too, along with a number of satyrs. But the skippers were the stars; there were more False Mottled Skippers/Codatractus hyster than I’ve ever seen before. Lots of skippers were collected by Jim and will hopefully be id’ed accurately by the experts in Mexico.

Aug 7 – On Tuesday Aug 7 we moved to the Mullers’ old hacienda, El Mirador, for 2 nights. This was a couple of hours from Xalapa outside the town of Totutla off Hwy 125. Jorge Muller was a very gracious host, and his daughter, Eileen, a biologist, made us very welcome. Jorge’s email is jorgecucsi@hotmail.com, and he speaks english well. It was like staying w/the family. The food was excellent and the bugs were exciting! And it cost $60 or 600 pesos/day per person, including all the food. We had over 170 species on our one full day. Wish we could have spent a couple of days more; I’m sure there was much more to find.

This is another coffee finca or plantation, about 1,000 to 1,100 meters. They have over 300 acres, much of it in coffee but some good forest as well, so you get a variety of habitats. This was cracker heaven, we had 6 species of Hamadryas. Plus you could get up to some hilltops, where there was a lot going on. 2 species of Theritas hairstreaks and Probetor or Champion’s Metalmarks/Symmachia probetor lekking up top along with Myrtea Jewelmark/Sarota myrtea in several places on the trails, and scads of gaudy Nymphalids all over.

This is a great spot! The only downside is the 3 bedrooms share one bathroom, and you have to walk through 2 of the bedrooms to get to the bathroom. But assuming you’re all friends, that shouldn’t be a problem; it wasn’t for the 4 of us. The middle bedroom has french doors that open out onto a lovely wide verandah where we had several meals and watched Owlets/Opsiphanes lay eggs on the palms at dusk, along with White-spotted Satyrs/Manataria hercyna fighting over territory on the trunk of a large tree right next to the verandah. My favorite was a gorgeous little bright orange metalmark, Zebra-tipped or Margaretta Metalmark/Mesene margaretta, found in the coffee by Jim late in the day.

Aug 9/10 – On Thursday Aug 9 we reluctantly moved on to Ruiz Cortines, which turned out to be yet another great location. This is a good paved road up from San Andres Tuxtla to about 1,100 meters, ending at the small village of Ruiz Cortines. The local people have built a simple rustic cabin where we stayed, 500 pesos/night for all 4 of us. It’s a great location, but they were still working out some of the kinks. The shower didn’t work, but they provided us with a nice bucket of cold water.

The people were very friendly and tried to please. And again the bugs were fabulous. Their specialty is the beautiful White Morpho/Morpho polyphemus luna. This is a different subspecies from the one found on the west coast, and it was spectacular to watch them float through the dark forest. They were common in the tall forest, often we would see 2 or 3 chasing each other through the trees. I think this may be a July/August happening, however.

The next day we spent the full day working the road up to Ruiz Cortines, especially at the transition zone between the tall forest and the scrubby brush. There were more butterflies in the scrubby zone, as there was more sun, but the morphos were only in the forest. Right at the transition zone we got great shots of a most cooperative Edocla Redring/Pyrrhogyra edocla, and there were lots of Chestnut Crescents/Anthanassa argentea, both males and females, up in a large meadow surrounded by forest, as well as more new clearwings.

But the stars of the road were the hairstreaks coming to the cordia flowers, small white bell-shaped flowers on long branches that tended to grow right next to the road. I’ve seen cordia down by Catemaco, but this may have been a different species as it was up a little in elevation. The hairstreaks loved it, we probably had more than 25 species, and so did the skippers, as well as the Daggerwings. We had dozens of Many-banded Daggerwings/Marpesia chiron, as well as a number of Ruddy Daggerwings/Marpesia petreus. For the hairstreaks we had several Neora Hairstreaks/Brangas neora, lots of greenstreaks of various kinds including Erora and Chalybs, at least one, maybe two species of Lamprospilus, and a beautiful female Petelina Hairstreak/Ocaria petelina laying eggs. One of my favorites, of which there were many, was the White-striped Groundstreak/Calycopis clarina. We called it the hairstreak highway. I suspect we had more than 200 species on this one day there.

Aug 11 – On the last day we had to head back to Veracruz before noon, much to our regret. From there we caught the bus back to Reynosa, leaving Veracruz at 3:30pm to arrive about 7 or so the next morning.