Belmont Cave
Encyclopedia
Belmont Cave is a white limestone dry cave
in the Cockpit Country
of Jamaica
. It is also known as Drip Cave, being a single cave with two close entrances.
roost. The bat guano
in turn supports a large invertebrate
population of troglobite
cockroach
es (Nelipophygus), cave crickets
, flies
and cave spiders, as well as being home to the frog
Eleutherodactylus cundalli
.
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
in the Cockpit Country
Cockpit Country
Cockpit Country is an area in Jamaica which provided a natural defensive area used by Maroons to establish communities outside the control of Spanish or British colonialists....
of Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
. It is also known as Drip Cave, being a single cave with two close entrances.
Natural history
Like many caves in Jamaica, Belmont is a major batBat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
roost. The bat guano
Guano
Guano is the excrement of seabirds, cave dwelling bats, and seals. Guano manure is an effective fertilizer due to its high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and also its lack of odor. It was an important source of nitrates for gunpowder...
in turn supports a large invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
population of troglobite
Troglobite
Troglobites are small cave-dwelling animals that have adapted to their dark surroundings. Troglobite species include spiders, insects, fish and others. They live permanently underground and cannot survive outside the cave environment. Troglobite adaptations and characteristics include a heightened...
cockroach
Cockroach
Cockroaches are insects of the order Blattaria or Blattodea, of which about 30 species out of 4,500 total are associated with human habitations...
es (Nelipophygus), cave crickets
Rhaphidophoridae
The orthopteran family Rhaphidophoridae includes the cave wetas, cave crickets, camelback crickets, camel crickets, spider crickets and sand treaders, of the suborder Ensifera; in some regions, such as Missouri and Virginia, these crickets are referred to as "Cricket Spiders"...
, flies
Diptera
Diptera , or true flies, is the order of insects possessing only a single pair of wings on the mesothorax; the metathorax bears a pair of drumstick like structures called the halteres, the remnants of the hind wings. It is a large order, containing an estimated 240,000 species, although under half...
and cave spiders, as well as being home to the frog
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
Eleutherodactylus cundalli
Eleutherodactylus cundalli
Eleutherodactylus cundalli is a species of frog in the Leptodactylidae family.It is endemic to Jamaica.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, rocky areas, and caves.It is threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
.
