Venezuelan Garden Fauna -

Frogs in swimming pool then rescued.

Another frog.

Toads in the swimming pool.

A pair of toads and their eggs in the swimming pool.

What I think are cane toads.

A small lizard found clinging to the side of the pool (I've never seen these bigger than about 3".

A small stripey lizard found dead in the pool.

Lizard in pool-house and another small one with a go-faster stripe.

two snakes fished out of the pool, the first survived, the second (drowned?) with an injury to the tail.

Small dead scorpion being towed away by ants and 2" scorpion found under sink!.

An interesting spider that deploys its legs in pairs.

A stick insect after being fished out of the pool.

A stick insect on the path and a pond-skater on the pool.

Flying Preying mantises regularly end up in the pool.

A Preying mantis on the pool scoop, and returned to a tree.

They are not the only flying insects to end up in the pool.

Moderate sized centipedes rescued from the pool.

Grasshoppers ?.

A Grasshopper about 3" long.

A more normal sized Grasshopper.

Some largish beetles.

A colourful beetle rescued from the pool.

A largish beetle in the pool, floats and swims well, very aggressive.

Dragonflies sometimes a bit too close to the pool.

The dragonflies come in various colours, the reds are common.

An iridescent blue hummingbird.

A less colourful hummingbird.

A Yellow Oriole adds a bit of colour.

Something like a Blackbird, but behaves more like a Starling.

A common grey bird.

A small bird fished out of the pool.

A Hawk Moth and caterpillars that grow up to 5" that can devastate a bush.

A caterpillar and the hawk moth it turns into.

Two more Hawk Moths, the second having been squashed in a car park in JG.

A handsome looking Hawk Moth (a bit like an Oleander) seen in JG.

A large moth on the mosquito mesh.

A couple of smaller moths.

A couple more small moths, the last really small compared to my little finger.

The Monarch, a handsome migrant.

The Monarch caterpillar on what seems to be a favourite food-plant here.

Something very Monarch-like.

Yellow and Black Swallowtails.

Small Brown Swallowtail (Urbanus species ?).

Another kind of Small Brown Swallowtail (Urbanus species ?).

A butterfly that looks like the Gulf Fritillary (Agraulis vanillae).

A butterfly that looks a bit like a Marbled White but a lot smaller. Some kind of pyrgus species?

A butterfly that looks similar to but different from the last.

A Hairstreak butterfly.

Another two Hairstreaks.

What looks like another two types of Hairstreaks in the pool.

Not sure if this is a Blue, another Hairstreak or something else.

A butterfly that may be Anartia jatrophae.

Not sure how to tell male from female on these, could be the relative size of spots, browner markings on underside, and butterfly size seems variable.

A butterfly that is very much like a Male Large White and a much smaller one with yellow on the forewings (Eurema venusta ?).

Another Large White butterfly that may well be the female to the male above.

A butterfly that is rather like the Brimstone, could be phoebis agarithe - (Pieridae).

Two small butterflies that look similar to an Argus.

Something that looks similar to a Chequered Skipper.

What looks something like a Large Skipper.

What looks something like a Small Skipper.

I have no idea what this butterfly is, vaguely like a white admiral.

I have no idea what this butterfly is either.

Or these! Might even be moths.

Many always seem to settle with wings closed making identification difficult.

What looks like a (small) hawk moth caterpillar and some fairly common (butterfly?) caterpillars.

Two things you can't get away from, Ants (there are a range of sizes) and the neighbours cat!

The Asian Tiger (Aedes albopictus) and an Egyptian Tiger (Aedes aegypti) bloated with blood.
(pictures from the internet, click on image for reference)

Mosquitoes or Zancudos

Mosquitoes are worth special note. Depending on location, and time of year these can be a pain. There is the native type that tends to bite in the evening and the Asian Tiger Mosquito that tends to bite in the morning. It is worth noting that only the female mosquito bites and is considered to be the biggest killer of people on the planet!

You do not need to worry about Malaria in Margarita, but there is a thing called Dengue Fever that is carried by the Asian Tiger (Aedes albopictus) and also the Egyptian Tiger (Aedes aegypti). The Asian Tiger mosquito is an aggressive outdoor day biter that attacks humans among other things, it is naturally a treehole mosquito but will breed around garden bushes. the Egyptian tiger is highly domestic, day-biting mosquito that prefers to feed on humans. There are other, plain black mosquitoes but they do not carry Dengue Fever.

Both 'tiger' mosquitoes are stripey, but the Asian Tiger has a distinctive single stripe down the back. The larvae of both species live in small containers of water such as discarded cans and cups, roof gutters, barrels, flower pots, water tanks, tyres, tree holes and plants like bromeliads that can hold water.

Dengue Fever is a bit like flue followed by (sometimes severe) joint and bone pain. If you think you have Dengue Fever DO NOT USE AN IBUPROFEN PAIN-KILLER OR ASPIRIN as they thin the blood and make the Dengue Fever more likely to develop into the hemmoragic form with bleeding under the skin; USE PARACETAMOL instead. Like flue, Dengue Fever comes in different strains, in this case four; If you get Dengue Fever this will give you immunity against that strain and possibly others so you can get Dengue Fever up to four times.

If you get Dengue Fever, then since it is a virus, there is not much you can do except drink plenty of fluids, bed-rest, pain relief and consult a doctor (if your blood-count gets very low, a transfusion can be given). Dengue Fever is present on other caribbean islands (see St. Lucia) and other places where mosquitoes are so this island is not singled out here.

There are precautions that can be taken against mosquitoes of course:-

• There is insect repellant (containing diethyltoluamide, DEET) that can be applied as either a spray or cream or an impregnated band that can be worn on wrist or ankle.
• There are Citronella Oil based products like candles that can repel mosquitoes from an area.
• Wear clothing like long-sleeved shirts to cover you up.
• Avoid wearing perfume or aftershave.
• Indoors you can use a spray or there are pads that go in a holder that plugs in the mains.
• Sleep in a properly screened room sprayed with insecticide.
• If sleeping elsewhere, use a mosquito net treated with pyrethroids.
• A course of vitamin B complex tablets supposedly helps deter biting insects.
• Use a fly-swatter! You won't get them all but you'll feel better.
• If you can get one then a 'zapper' that has a UV source and high voltage bars to attract flying insects and zap them. I have seen suitable ones in England for about £5 but they are 240v and would be no good here. I have seen industrial ones in some supermarkets here but none available for domestic use in shops as yet.
• Avoid leaving any pools of water about, it only requires about a week for mosquito eggs to become adult mosquitoes. They only require microorganisms to feed on such as algae and bacteria so that bucket or old car tyre left out at the end of the garden can quickly become a mosquito production-line! See Dengue.pdf

If you do get bitten, there is a thing you can get in the UK called 'After Bite' that offers relief but I haven't seen it in Margarita. What you can get here though is a cream called Andantol which you can get from Pharmacias for about BsF 28.80 for a 20g tube.

This is the best I can do so far, there are many things that seem very camera-shy but I will be adding more/better pictures later so watch this space!

If it seems that there are a lot of butterfly (Mariposa) pictures then I guess it is because I collected them as a child and still maintain an interest. Venezuela has over 2400 species of butterfly compared to the UK having about 65, a reflection of this country being in the top 10 countries for bio diversity. Although most butterfly species are in rainforest areas of the mainland, this island still has a lot of species.