In this Cool Runnings Cruises blog post we would like to tell you something about a few of the wonderful butterflies you will find when you visit Jamaica.
You will see them flitting from flower to blossom,sipping the nectar and competing with the other insects for your attention. We have also included a moth, because there is at least one that is so huge and beautiful it will remind you of an ancient Chinese painting on silk.
Cool Runnings Cruises – Colorful butterflies
The first Cool Runnings Cruises butterfly is a Gold Rim Swallowtail, its Latin name is Battus polydamas jamaicensis.
This butterfly measures from 90 to 120 mm without the tail.
You will find it mostly in open woods and abandoned areas in neotropical ecozones, which includes the tropical regions of North and South America and the entire temperate area of South American terrestrial areas.
This beautiful, delicate green butterfly is a male Yellow angled-sulphur, or in Latin, Anteos maerula.
The wingspan is 82–117 mm and the underwing of the male is a bright yellow, whereas the female has a lighter yellow.
These butterflies feed on the nectar from red and purple flowers, among them Hibiscus and Bougainvillea.
The Jamaican Giant Swallowtail or Papilio homerus ulster is the largest swallowtail butterfly in the Western hemisphere, measuring 15 cm from wingtip to wingtip.
This species is only found in Jamaican forests, its habitat is severely threatened.
Bahaman swallowtail butterfly (Papilio andraemon) in Jamaica
The wingspan is 96–102 millimetres (3.8–4.0 in). Adults are on wing from April to October (December in Jamaica) in three generations per year.
Cool Runnings Cruises – Moths
In Jamaica you may hear people talking about bats and then find out they are referring to the huge moth that gets called the Duppy Bat.
Duppy is the word for ghost in Jamaican patois. The Duppy Bat can measure an amazing 17 cm across and is dark colored and flies at night, its Latin name is Ascalapha odorata..
The markings look a lot like the shapes left by waves on a sandy seashore, or the ripples made by a light breeze across the surface of the sea, the kind you might see on an outing with Cool Runnings Cruises in Ocho Rios.
