This is a list of butterflies of the Cayman Islands. According to a recent estimate, there are 52 butterfly species found on the Cayman Islands. The abbreviation (Es) is used to indicate endemic subspecies.
Papilionidae
Pieridae
- Abaeis nicippe <small>(Cramer, 1779)</small> â black bordered orange, sleepy orange
- Anteos maerula <small>(Fabricius, 1775)</small> â yellow angled sulphur
- Aphrissa orbis <small>(Poey, 1832)</small> â orbed sulphur
- Aphrissa statira cubana <small>(D'Almeida, 1939)</small> â migrant sulphur
- Ascia monuste eubotea <small>(Godart, 1819)</small> â great southern white
- Eurema daira palmira <small>(Godart, 1819)</small> â barred sulphur
- Eurema elathea <small>(Cramer, 1777)</small> â false barred sulphur
- Glutophrissa drusilla poeyi <small>(Butler, 1872)</small> â Florida white
- Nathalis iole <small>(Boisduval, 1836)</small> â dainty sulphur, dwarf yellow
- Phoebis agarithe antillia <small>(Brown, 1929)</small> â giant orange sulphur
- Phoebis argante <small>(Fabricius, 1775)</small> â apricot sulphur, Argante giant sulphur
- Phoebis philea <small>(Linnaeus, 1763)</small> â orange-barred sulphur
- Phoebis sennae sennae <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> â cloudless sulphur
- Pyrisitia lisa euterpe <small>(Ménétriés, 1832)</small> â little sulphur
- Pyrisitia messalina <small>(Fabricius, 1787)</small> â shy yellow
- Pyrisitia nise nise <small>(Cramer, 1775)</small> â mimosa sulphur, blacktip sulphur
Nymphalidae
Nymphalinae
- Anaea troglodyta cubana <small>(Fabricius, 1775)</small> â Cuban red leaf butterfly, troglodyte
- Anartia jatrophae jamaicensis <small>(Möshler, 1886)</small> â white peacock
- Euptoieta hegesia hegesia <small>(Cramer, 1779)</small>
- Hamadryas amphichloe <small>(Boisduval, 1870)</small> â Haitian cracker, click butterfly
- Hypolimnas misippus <small>(Linnaeus, 1764)</small> â mimic
- Junonia evarete <small>(Cramer, 1779)</small> â mangrove buckeye
- Junonia genoveva <small>(Cramer, 1780)</small> â Caribbean buckeye, tropical buckeye
- Marpesia chiron <small>(Fabricius, 1775)</small> â many-banded daggerwing
- Marpesia eleuchea <small>(Hübner, 1818)</small> â Antillean ruddy daggerwing
- Memphis verticordia danielana <small>(Witt, 1972)</small> â Cayman brown leaf butterfly (Es)
- Phyciodes phaon <small>(W.H.Edwards, 1864)</small> â Cayman crescent spot
- Phyciodes tharos <small>(Drury, [1773])</small>
- Siproeta stelenes bilagiata <small>(Fruhstorfer, 1907)</small> â malachite
- Vanessa cardui <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> â painted lady
Danainae
Satyrinae
Heliconiinae
Lycaenidae
- Brephidium exilis thompsoni <small>(Carpenter & Lewis, 1943)</small> â pygmy blue (Es)
- Chlorostrymon maesites <small>(Henrrich-Schäffer, 1864)</small> â amethyst hairstreak
- Cyclargus ammon erembis <small>Nabokov, 1948</small> â Lucas's blue (Es)
- Electrostrymon angelia <small>(Hewitson, 1874)</small> â fulvous hairstreak
- Eumaeus atala <small>(Poey, 1832)</small> â Atala
- Hemiargus hanno filenus <small>(Poey, 1832)</small> â Hanno blue
- Leptoptes cassius theonus <small>(Lucas, 1857)</small> â Cassius blue
- Strymon acis <small>(Drury, 1773)</small> â Drury's hairstreak
- Strymon istapa <small>(Reakirt, 1867)</small> â Hewitson's hairstreak
- Strymon martialis <small>(Henrrich-Schäffer, 1865)</small> â Cuban grey hairstreak
Hesperiidae
- Asbolis capucinus <small>(Lucas, 1857)</small> â monk
- Atalopedes mesogramma <small>(Latreille, 1824)</small> â striped skipper
- Calpodes ethlius <small>(Stoll, 1782)</small> â canna skipper, Brazilian skipper
- Cymaenes tripuntus <small>(Henrrich-Schäffer, 1865)</small> â three spot skipper
- Hylephila phyleus <small>(Drury, 1773)</small> â fiery skipper
- Panoquina lucas <small>(Fabricius, 1793)</small> â purple-washed skipper, sugar cane skipper
- Panoquina ocala <small>(W. H. Edwards, 1863)</small> â Ocala skipper
- Panoquina panoquinoides <small>(Skinner, 1891)</small> â obscure skipper
- Phocides pigmalion batabano <small>(Lucas, 1857)</small> â mangrove skipper
- Urbanus dorantes santiago <small>(Lucas, 1857)</small> â Dorantes skipper
- Urbanus proteus domingo <small>(Scudder, 1872)</small> â long-tailed skipper
References
- R. R. Askew and P. A. van B. Stafford, Butterflies of the Cayman Islands (Apollo Books, Stenstrup 2008)
- Cayman Butterflies