I’m not exactly sure what’s going on in this photo, but I bet it is interesting. The scene is an apple of sodom seed pod (apple of sodom is basically a big milkweed plant). It’s covered in oleander aphids, but there are also two wasps. On St. Martin, there is a different wasp that parasitizes oleander aphids, laying an egg […]

How many spiders are named after St. Martin? At least one! This wall crab spider was described as a new species based on specimens from St. Martin, and named Selenops souliga. Souliga (also spelled many other ways) is the Arawak name for St. Martin, and means land of salt. (Apparently a Father Breton actually recorded four Arawak names for St. […]

Many insects don’t take care of their young. Butterflies will lay eggs on the type of plant their caterpillars eat, but other than that, the caterpillars are on their own. The torrid jewel bug actually does provide parental support, by protecting first the eggs, and then the young nymphs, as you can see here. Speaking of support, I want to […]

Killdeer are a type of plover that is quite common on the island. They nest here, often on the mudflats surrounding our salt ponds. In these pictures, I believe they are engaged in what is called a scrape ceremony. This is how they choose a nesting site and is often the prelude for mating. The male will scrape the ground […]

It’s nesting time for the bananaquit (also known as the sugar bird, sucrier, and a few other names). It’s actually basically always nesting time for them, because they breed and build nests throughout the year. Their nests are usually spherical and made of grass, cotton and various other materials with a small opening on the side. Thanks to our recent […]

I’ve had a few people ask me about the White-winged Dove, because it is a relatively recent arrival to the island. It is native to the Caribbean, but has been expanding its range into the Lesser Antilles. At first glance, it looks a lot like our native Zenaida Dove (known locally as the Mountain Dove, and if you know other […]

If anyone is wondering how I came to write a wildlife guide for the island of St. Martin, I think this photo will pretty much explain everything. It’s a scan of the cover of the first wildlife guide I wrote, about the property surrounding the house where my Aunt Diane and Uncle Henry live near Sonoma, California. By Mark Yokoyama, […]

If you are at the beach in the morning and see something that looks like tank tracks coming up from the sea, they’re probably sea turtle tracks. Three species of sea turtle nest on St. Martin, the hawksbill (pictured), the leatherback and the green turtle. They typically nest between April and November on beaches all over the island. If you […]

We are very excited to have the project featured in some of the local media today. We appreciate the support for our projects to make the guide more accessible, and it’s also a great help in spreading the word that the guide exists to anyone who may not already know about it. The Daily Herald article is below and here […]

During the late 1800s, we knew more about the biology of St. Martin than perhaps any other Caribbean island. This was essentially due to one man, Dr. Hendrik van Rijgersma, a physician sent to the island in 1863 to provide medical care to the former slaves after emancipation. Dr. van Rijgersma was a malacologist (he studied and collected shells), but […]