1975 Royal Society – CI Gov. Little Cayman Expedition
Joint Royal Society and Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman in 1975, when the island was little known scientifically.
Team of scientists:
D.R. Stoddart (Cambridge): geomorphology, leader
R.R. Askew (Manchester): entomology
A.W. Diamond (Nairobi): orthnithology
M.E.C. Giglioli (George Town): marine studies and liaison
M.V. Hounsome (Manchester) land fauna other than insects
G.W. Potts (Plymouth: marine ecology
G.R. Proctor (Kingston): botany
C. Woodruffe (Cambridge): Mangroves (part-time)
2015 is the 40th. Anniversary of the 1975 Little Cayman Expedition (July and August).
Atoll Research Bulletin
241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman
Edited by D.R. Stoddart and M.E.C. Giglioli
Issued by The Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. U.S.A.
March, 1980
241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman
Caribbean Sea
Little Cayman is the smallest of the three Cayman Islands, emergent sections of the Cayman Ridge along the northern margin of the Cayman Trench between the Sierra Maestra of Cuba and the coast of Belize. The Trench itself is 1700 km long, and has maximum depths south of the Cayman Islands of more than 6000 m. Little Cayman lies 230 km from Cabo Cruz, Cuba; the same distance from the nearest point of Jamaica; and 740 km from the mainland of Yucatan. The Caymans themselves are well separated from each other: Little Cayman is 117 km ENE from Grand Cayman, though only 7.5 km from Cayman Brac.
Cayman Islands
Little Cayman’s permanent population consisted of 18 people in 1975.
Little Cayman and Cayman Brac – the Sister Islands
(Acorn Publishing Co Ltd 2013)
David R. Stoddart (Cambridge): geomorphology, leader
David R. Stoddart
Little Cayman Atoll Research Bulletin No.241 1980
Atoll Research Bulletin March 1980. No. 241. Geography and Ecology of Little Cayman.
Edited by D.R. Stoddart and M.E.C. Giglioli
Issued by the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
Little Cayman Scientific Survey 1980
Marco E.C. Giglioli (George Town): marine studies and liaison
Marco Giglioli
The Mosquito Research & Control Unit (MRCU) was established in 1965 when Marco Giglioli arrived from London with instructions ‘to establish a laboratory and conduct research with a view to advising the Cayman Government on suitable methods of control.’
Mosquito Research and Control Unit
Mosquito Research and Control Unit
G.W. Potts (Plymouth: marine ecology
George R. Proctor (Kingston): botany
George R. Proctor
Little Cayman Plants Proctor 1980
Michael V. Hounsome (Manchester) land fauna other than birds and insects
THE TERRESTRIAL FAUNA (EXCLUDING BIRDS AND INSECTS) OF LITTLE CAYMAN
Little Cayman Terrestrial Fauna Hounsome
Richard R. Askew (Manchester): entomology
R. R. Askew
Little Cayman is seldom mentioned in entomological literature. The 1938 Oxford University Biological Expedition spent thirteen days on the island and reports on the resulting collection deal with Odonata (Fraser, 1943), water-bugs (Hungerford, 1940), Nemoptera (Banks, 1941), cicadas (Davis, 1939), Carabidae (Darlington, 1947), Cerambycidae (Fisher, 1941, 1948), butterflies (Carpenter and Lewis, 1943) and Sphingidae (Jordan, 1940). During the 1975 expedition, insects of all orders were studied, over a period of about five weeks, and many additions will eventually be made to the island’s species list. At present, however, identification of the insects collected has, with the exception of the butterflies which have been considered separately, proceeded in the majority of cases as far as the family level. Application of the family names for the most part follows Borror and DeLong (1966). In this paper the general characteristics of the insect fauna are described.
Anthony W. Diamond (Nairobi): orthnithology
A. W. Diamond
Little Cayman Birds
Ecology and species turnover of the birds of Little Cayman
1980a Atoll Research bulletin 241: 141- 164
The Red-footed Booby colony on Little Cayman; size, structure and significance
1980b Atoll Research bulletin 241: 165 -170
Colin Woodruffe (Cambridge): Mangroves
Colin Woodroffe
BE OF GOOD CHEER MY WEARY READERS, FOR I HAVE ESPIED LAND
By David R. Stoddart
Department of Geography, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Be of Good Cheer…..by David Stoddart
Cayman Islands Natural History and Biogeography
by Pat Shipman
extract:
….That’s how we learned about Cerion nanus, the rarest snail in the world. That’s a big claim for a little snail only about a centimeter long. Cerion is a common genus of air-breathing land snails in the West Indies and the Florida Keys. Different species within the genus either have no common name or are lumped together as “peanut snails” for their general shape. The most common species on Little Cayman, Cerion pannosum, is everywhere: on grasses, bushes and trees, and lying dead on the beach. The second species on Little Cayman, C. nanus, is a most uncommon snail. When we read about C. nanus in Mike Hounsome’s chapter on terrestrial invertebrates in The Cayman Islands, we were hooked. As a young man, Mike had participated in the joint Royal Society and Cayman Islands Government Expedition to Little Cayman in 1975, when the island was little known scientifically.
…Not only did Maynard conclude that Cerion nanus existed in a single, small population, he also found it almost exclusively on one plant species now known as Evolvulus squamosus. Also called the rockyplains dwarf morning glory, the species is patchily distributed on Little Cayman but also lives on many other Caribbean islands and in Florida. Maynard pronounced C. nanus “dwarfed to an extreme degree, from feeding on the pungent leaves of the plant described.” At only about half the length of C. pannosum, C. nanus seemed to compete with the larger, more ubiquitous snail.
Crab Bush – Evolvulus squamosus
Crab Bush – Evolvulus squamosus, Family: CONVOLVULACEAE, Endangered.
A knee-high, brushy shrub with minute leaves and white flowers. Little Cayman and the Bahamas.
It is the sole host of the diminutive land-snail, Cerion nanus, Critically Endangered Little Cayman endemic.
Photo: Ann Stafford, Grand Cayman (introduced from Little Cayman), June 9, 2002.
Flora of the Cayman Islands by George R. Proctor, 2012 p.541, Pl.51.
9. Cerion nanus (Maynard) (Mollusca: CERIONIDAE) on Little Cayman
by M.V. Hounsome and R.R. Askew
http://www.doe.ky/terrestrial/animals/snails/
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands 2008 by R.R. Askew and P.A. van B. Stafford
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands R.R. Askew and P.A. van B. Stafford
Butterflies of the Cayman Islands book
R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford
published by Apollo Books Nov. 2008, available locally at
National Trust for the Cayman Islands, Dart Family Park, South Church St, Grand Cayman – US$30.00 or CI$24.00,
and local book stores.
http://www.brill.com/butterflies-cayman-islands
FLORA of the CAYMAN ISLANDS by George R. Proctor, 2nd. Edition 2012,
published by Royal Botanic Gardens, KEW, was launched on Oct. 22, 2012.
The book is available for purchase, price CI$30, at the National Trust for the Cayman Islands and local bookstores.
The Cayman Islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac) support 415 native taxa
in a land area little over 100 square miles, 29 of which are uniquely Caymanian.
Accessible and informative, this field guide satisfies the needs of the professional botanist,
while providing the non-expert and eco-tourist with an attractive introduction to the unique endemic flora of the Cayman Islands.
724 pages | 400 color plates, 250 line drawings | 6 x 9 1/5 | © 2012
Flora Gallery:
A Photographic Guide to the BIRDS of the CAYMAN ISLANDS
by Patricia E. Bradley and Yves-Jacques Rey-Millet 2013
Mangrove Skipper – Phocides pigmalion,
R.R. Askew, Little Cayman, Jan. 23, 2008
Mangrove Skipper – Phocides pigmalion batabano, Family: HESPERIIDAE nectaring on Sea Lavender – Argusia gnaphalodes Family: BORAGINACEAE. This Mangrove Skipper subspecies is known from Andros in the Bahamas, Cuba, the Isle of Pines and Little Cayman. It has not been recorded on Grand Cayman or Cayman Brac. Photo: R.R. Askew, Little Cayman, Jan. 23, 2008. Butterflies of the Cayman Islands book, 2008 , by R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, p.115.
Cayman Islands Dragonflies and Damselflies
Dragonflies and Damselflies are called Needlecases in Cayman.
Bulletin of American ODONATOLOGY Vol. 5, Number 2, 20 January, 1998 Odonata of the Cayman Islands A Review by R.R. Askew, Richard Prosser and Phillip S. Corbet
Odonata CI, Askew, Prosser, Corbet 1998
Damselflies and Dragonflies Order: Odonata – about
Dragonflies & Damselflies – about Nov.19-10
Cayman Islands Dragonflies & Damselflies checklist Feb.12. 2016
Dragonflies & Damselflies Feb.12-16
Common Green Darner – Anax junius, Family: AESHNIDAE (Darners). Photo taken by Jennifer Godfrey June, 2006.
Blue-faced Darner – Coryphaeschna adnexa
New Cayman Record – Peter Davey, Dec. 22, 2013
Blue-faced Darner – Coryphaeschna adnexa
Peter Davey, Pedro St. James quarry, Grand Cayman, Jan. 9, 2016
Mangrove Darner – Coryphaeschna viriditas, female,
Peter Davey, Grand Cayman, Sept. 28, 2010
Halloween Pennant – Celithemis eponina, Family: LIBELLULIDAE (Common Skimmers), NEW Cayman Islands RECORD, Photo Peter Davey Feb.24, 2011, Pedro St. James quarry, Grand Cayman.
Band-winged Dragonlet – Erythrodiplax umbrata, male, Family: LIBELLULIDAE (Common Skimmers). Photo: Denise Bodden, Frank Sound, Aug. 29, 2005.
Marl Pennant dragonfly – Macrodiplax balteata, Family: LIBELLULIDAE (Common Skimmers). Photo: Peter Davey Nov. 2010
Three-striped Dasher – Micrathyria didyma, Family: LIBELLULIDAE. Photo: Peter Davey, Nov.22, 2010
Roseate Skimmer – Orthemis ferruginea, male, Family: LIBELLULIDAE. Photo: Denise Bodden, Frank Sound, Aug.29, 2005.
Rambur’s Forktail damselflies mating, Ischnura ramburii Family: COENAGRIONIDAE (Narrow-winged Damselflies, Pond Damsels). Photo: Peter Davey Nov. 2010
Rambur’s Forktail damselfly – Ischnura ramburii, Family: COENAGRIONIDAE (Narrow-winged Damselflies, Pond Damsels). Photo: Peter Davey Nov. 2010
Insects of the Cayman Islands by R.R. Askew
West Indian Odonata Compiled by Dennis Paulson
caymannature 