Living World, Journal of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club

Report of the Trinidad and Tobago Birds Status and Distribution Committee: Records Submitted During 2025

Martyn Kenefick — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Trinidad and Tobago Bird Status and Distribution Committee released its twenty-third annual report, detailing rare avian sightings throughout 2025. The document archives 98 specific records covering 62 different species, including the historic addition of the Elegant Tern to the national registry.

Partial life history of Dynamine theseus (C. Felder and R. Felder) (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) in Trinidad & Tobago

Cavan Mejias, Matthew J.W. Cock — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Documents the biological development of the White Sailor butterfly, Dynamine theseus, specifically within the islands of Trinidad and Tobago.

First record of Coues's Climbing Mouse Rhipidomys couesi (Rodentia) from Tobago, W.I., with an observation of folivory on the Tobago endemic Dicranopygium insulare (Pandanales)

Rainer N. Deo — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Details the first confirmed sighting of Coues’s Climbing Mouse on the island of Tobago. Originally documented in Trinidad and South America, this nocturnal rodent was identified through photographic evidence uploaded to a citizen science platform and later verified by experts. The discovery is significant because it also provides rare insight into the animal's folivorous diet, specifically its consumption of the leaves of a vulnerable herbaceous plant known as Dicranopygium insulare. This plant is endemic to Tobago, and until now, very little data existed regarding its ecological interactions with local wildlife.

Partial life history of Molippa simguiana Brechlin (Lepidoptera, Saturniidae), a species newly recognised from Trinidad, W.I.

Vaughn-Xavier Jameer, Matthew J.W. Cock — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Details of the first formal identification and life history documentation of the moth species Molippa simguiana in Trinidad. Researchers used DNA barcoding and physical examinations to distinguish this insect from similar members of its species complex, correcting several decades of taxonomic misidentifications.

Notes on the hunting behavior of Clelia clelia and defensive mechanisms of Bothrops cf. atrox from observations of an unsuccessful predation attempt in Trinidad, W.I.

Rainer N. Deo, Saifudeen Muhammad — Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Observation of an unsuccessful predation attempt by a Mussurana (Clelia clelia) on a Mapepire Balsain (Bothrops cf. atrox) in Trinidad.

Notes on the bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) of northeastern Trinidad, W.I.

Zoe BeDell, James Woolley, Adrienne Brundage, Ryan Mohammed, Kevin W Conway — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study surveyed bees (Hymenoptera: Apoidea) in the Toco region of northeastern Trinidad. Twelve locations were sampled around the region over the span of 11 active collection days, from May 27 to June 4 and June 9 to June 10, 2023. Sampling habitats included secondary forest, primary rainforest, semi-active woody agricultural areas, and a riparian corridor. Yellow, blue, red, and white pan traps, a Malaise trap, aspirators and sweep nets were used to survey the area. Identification of all species to genus, subgenus or species were conducted at Texas A&M University using standard taxonomic references. Three photos of an individual of each species were taken (lateral, dorsal, and frontal) using focus-stacking software to provide a visual guide to the bee fauna in the area. When species were collected while foraging on a plant, the host plant was identified. A total of 78 specimens representing 17 different species in 13 different genera were collected and identified. It was also observed that hypermetamorphic triungulin coleopterans infested several Epicharis bees.

Fifty new records of moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) from Tobago, W.I., with a new synonym in Erebidae and a new combination in Uraniidae

Mon, 03 Aug 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Details of one new butterfly and 49 new moth records from the island of Tobago are presented. These represent 16 different families: Crambidae (6), Depressariidae (2), Erebidae (18), Euteliidae (1), Geometridae (5), Glyphipterigidae (1), Hesperiidae (1), Megalopygidae (2), Mimallonidae (1), Noctuidae (2), Nolidae (3), Notodontidae (4), Pyralidae (1), Saturniidae (1), Sphingidae (1), and Uraniidae (1). Six corrections or updates to previously recorded names are made in Crambidae, Erebidae, Geometridae and Saturniidae. The total number of Lepidoptera species known from Tobago is now 805 moths and 170 butterflies. Most newly reported species are also known from the larger neighbouring island of Trinidad (although not all had been previously reported from Trinidad), but nine are records of species not known from Trinidad. Two taxonomic changes are made: Porosana micralis Schaus, 1916 is considered a new synonym of Hopothia histigma Dyar, 1914 (Erebidae), and Epiplema adjectaria Walker, 1856 is placed in the new combination Coelurotricha adjectaria (Uraniidae).

Owlet moths (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) of Trinidad & Tobago

Matthew J.W. Cock, B. Christian Schmidt — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

An illustrated and annotated catalogue is presented of the subfamilies Dyopsinae (8 spp.), Plusiinae (8 spp.), Bagisarinae (19 spp.), Cobubathinae (3 spp.), Eustrotiinae (8 spp.), Acontiinae (8 spp.), Metoponiinae (1 sp.), Cropiinae (4 spp.), Oncocnemidinae (3 spp.), Agaristinae (3 spp.), Condicinae (28 spp.), Heliothinae (4 spp.), Noctuinae (78 spp.) and Noctuidae incertae sedis (13 spp.). 184 species are reported, of which 55 are new records for Trinidad. Only 46 species are reported from Tobago. Images of 116 species of living adults and 10 species of caterpillars are included. Very little has been recorded regarding food plants and early stages of Noctuidae in Trinidad apart from some pest species, but what is known is reported. The following is a new synonym: Bryolimnia [sic] monodonta Kaye, 1923 of Bryolymnia marginata Schaus, 1911. The following is a reinstated synonym: Aedia trinidadensis Kaye, 1901 (now placed in Catephiodes) of Hadena zuelana Schaus,1898 (also currently placed in Catephiodes). The following are reinstated species: Orthodes vesquesa (Dyar (1913), Condica agnata (Felder and Rogenhofer, 1874) by M.R. Honey, and Callopistria trinitensis (Hampson, 1908). The following subspecies is a reinstated species: Micrathetis dacula Dyar, 1913 (formerly Micrathetis dasarada dacula Dyar, 1913). The following is a new combination: Concana micapennis (Kaye, 1923) (formerly Parangitia micapennis Kaye, 1923). Catephiodes Hampson, 1905, Drobeta Walker, 1858, Orotermes Dognin, 1919 and Closteromorpha Felder, 1873 are here transferred to Bagisarinae, and Sacadodes Dyar, 1912 is placed in Acontiinae: Chamaecleini.