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Updated as per Catalogo de las Especies de Sphingidae en Honduras, Ana Clariza Samayoa and Ronald D. Cave,
January 17, 2008 Updated as per personal communication with Robert Lehman; December 17, 2011 |
Interior Highlands:
The interior highlands are the most prominent feature of Honduran
topography. Composing approximately 80 percent of the country's total
area, these mountain areas are home to the majority of the
population. Because the rugged terrain has made the land difficult to
traverse and equally difficult to cultivate, this area has not been
highly developed. The soil here is poor; Honduras lacks the rich
volcanic ash found in other Central American countries. Until the
early part of the twentieth century, the highlands economy consisted
primarily of mining and livestock.
In the west, Honduras's mountains blend into the mountain ranges of Guatemala. The western mountains have the highest peaks, with the Pico Congolón at an elevation of 2,500 meters and the Cerro de Las Minas at 2,850 meters. These mountains are woodland covered with mainly pine forests.
In the east, the mountains merge with those in Nicaragua. Although generally not as high as the mountains near the Guatemalan border, the eastern ranges possess some high peaks, such as the Montaña de la Flor at 2,300 meters, El Boquerón (Monte El Boquerón) at 2,485 meters, and Pico Bonito at 2,435 meters.
One of the most prominent features of the interior highlands is a depression that runs from the Caribbean Sea to the Golfo de Fonseca. This depression splits the country's cordilleras into eastern and western parts and provides a relatively easy transportation route across the isthmus. Widest at its northern end near San Pedro Sula, the depression narrows as it follows the upper course of the Río Humuya. Passing first through Comayagua and then through narrow passes south of the city, the depression widens again as it runs along the border of El Salvador into the Golfo de Fonseca.
Scattered throughout the interior highlands are numerous flatfloored valleys, 300 to 900 meters in elevation, which vary in size. The floors of the large valleys provide sufficient grass, shrubs, and dry woodland to support livestock and, in some cases, commercial agriculture. Subsistence agriculture has been relegated to the slopes of the valleys, with the limitations of small-sized holdings, primitive technology, and low productivity that traditionally accompany hillside cultivation. Villages and towns, including the capital, Tegucigalpa, are tucked in the larger valleys.
Vegetation in the interior highlands is varied. Much of the western, southern, and central mountains are open woodland-- supporting pine forest interspersed with some oak, scrub, and grassy clearings. The ranges toward the east are primarily continuous areas of dense, broad-leaf evergreen forest. Around the highest peaks, remnants of dense rain forest that formerly covered much of the area are still found.
The list on this page has been generated from information provided
to me by Robert Lehman (RL) of La Ceiba, Honduras, and from the
Catalogo de las Especies de Sphingidae en Honduras, prepared by
Ana Clariza Samayoa and Ronald D. Cave (SC).
I question the inclusion of Manduca vestalis by (SC) as I
feel that species is limited to South America.
I have included seven additional "speculative" (i.e. unconfirmed) (WO ?)
species based on general range descriptions without specific comment
regarding Atlantida, or even Honduras for that matter. They may
or may not be present.
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