In this photo, things are pretty crowded. It is a maternity colony of Lesser Antillean Fruit Bats, as seen in the Grotte du Puits de Terres Basses in the Lowlands. In this cave, maternity colonies can be seen seasonally in the round depressions in the ceiling of the cave. I believe these depressions are caused naturally by erosion from water […]

I know this isn’t really related to St. Martin wildlife, but I thought it would be useful to share a few things from my past so people can understand why I spend all my time hiking the hills looking for insects, and why I want to give the kids of St. Martin a chance to learn more about the wildlife […]

I take lots of wildlife photos, but I don’t do nearly as good a job documenting education and outreach work. Here are a few photos showcasing that part of what I do. Over the next few months there should be plenty more. We are working on a program to bring books to schools, libraries and other public institutions and conduct […]

‎”I saw him living in a tiny shack in the Amazon giving his life to insects,” says his mother. “Now maybe he’ll be a middle-class person. I never thought he would be, but he might.” As it turns out, I live in a tiny apartment in St. Martin giving my life to insects. Maybe not middle-class, but thanks to many […]

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 […]

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, […]

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 […]

Cuban tree frogs will lay their eggs in just about any fresh water, even temporary pools and manmade structures. It’s a necessity if your children are tadpoles and you live on a relatively dry island. A couple years ago, some friends found hundreds or even thousands, of tadpoles and young frogs in an unused swimming pool. Many of the frogs […]

If you hear a loud, rasping insect at night, it’s probably the broad-tipped conehead. It’s a type of katydid, and as you can see, they have a little cone at the top of their head. They’re quite common on St. Martin and can be either green or brown. Party conehead is also all excited because we hit our fundraising goal […]