Cyprus various ID's - not butterflies, sorry..

[Michaeljf]

Hi all,

I'm putting together my images from Cyprus visits from 2008 and 2010 for a book. I'd like to find out what these are, especially the shrub. Any ideas would be welcome.

Thanks,

Michael

Small Dragonfly next to the Avakas Gorge

Same again - probably the other sex. Any idea on the type of Dragonfly?

Ok, I know this is a Preying Mantis. Any idea on the type?

I'm not sure if this is a Cricket or a Stick Insect. It was seen in Paphos in Spring.

This is the shrub that is bugging me the most. At the time I thought it was type of Tobacco plant (nicotiana), now I haven't a clue.

I'm thinking this could be a big bee or a hornet. Any ideas?

Again, more likely a Hornet. In the countryside towards the Troodos Mountains.

I have this down as a female Sardinian Warbler. It was seen on the Akamas Peninsula with Sardinian Warblers about. Any other opinions?

[Padfield]

Hi Michael,

I think your first dragonfly is a red-veined darter, Sympetrum fonscolombii, and the second keeled skimmer, Orthetrum coerulescens. My book notes that in the south of its (European) range this latter may be pruinose all over the thorax and abdomen, as yours is.

Guy

Mmm... No, I've changed my mind on red-veined darter. The eyes and face are wrong and the legs are all black...

[Michaeljf]

Hi Guy,

well if it helps both Dragonflies were taken at the same spot, hence me thinking they are the same species (either different age or different sex). Both were at the mouth of the Avakas Gorge which is west of Paphos into the South side of the Akamas Peninsula.

Michael

[Padfield]

Try Trithemis annulata for the first one. I dismissed this to start with because it is supposed to have strong violet hues, but weighing all the evidence I now think this the most likely. Some web pictures resemble yours closely and actually the thorax of yours does seem to have violet hints.

Guy

[Paul Wetton]

Hi Michael

I have to agree with Guy on the dragonflies. The first dragonfly is T. annulata the Violet Dropwing. They do normally look more pinkish than yours but the way it hold its wings helps to identify it. I think Guy is also correct on the second dragonfly which is a male Keeled Skimmer of the southern sub species anceps. I've had another look at your red dragonfly and the jury is till out on this one for me. There are a couple of shots of violet and red veined dropwings on my website gallery but neither look quite right. Could be a darter of some sort as Guy initially suggested. Have a look at my poor older photos from Lesvos of the dropwings as the Violet Dropwing should have a yellowish patch at the base of the hindwing that's not visible on your photo but that's due to the angle of the shot.

The waspy thing with the two yellow bands looks similar to Scolia flavifrons but in my book it doesn't have a yellow head. Maybe a male female difference.

Your cricket stick insect could be a Nosed Grasshopper Acrida hungarica.

Could the bird be a female Orphean Warbler it looks to have quite a thickish bill and no hint of red eyering as would likely be seen on Sardinian Warbler. Gibster may be of help here.

The plant could be Shrub Tobacco Nicotiana glauca.

Hope this helps.

[Michaeljf]

Paul and Guy
thanks to both of you - I'll have a look on the web later tonight at the species you've mentioned. Certainly the Cricket sounds right!
I'm still not sure either way about the warbler. Also, I think it's difficult because I'm not loading bigger samples (pictures) - I should probably join photobucket and link them from there or something similiar. Here's a close-up of the eye of the Warbler. As you might see there's still a hint of a rosy colour hence me thinking it was a female Sardinian Warbler, but I'll happily take another Warbler ID!

Paul - I think you're 100% right about the Shrub, having looked at pictures on the web. It's nice that I wasn't completely off the planet with my guess!

Michael

Warbler close-up of eye etc.

[Lee Hurrell]

Hi Michael,

I can't help with the ID of the shrub but I can say it's common where my dad lives in Spain. I often wondered what would nectar from and pollenate those long flowers!

Cheers

Lee

[Paul Wetton]

Hi Michael

Looking more closely you could be correct with that warbler ID. There is definitely a hint of red around the eye and the lack of streaking along the back and wings may also point to Sardinian Warbler. The bill is probably not quite long and droopy enough for Orphean either.

Seth what do you think?

[Michaeljf]

I can't help with the ID of the shrub but I can say it's common where my dad lives in Spain. I often wondered what would nectar from and pollenate those long flowers! Cheers, Lee

Lee,
when we went in Spring there were plenty of Hummingbird Hawk-moths about in the countryside so I suspect they would have been good candidates, even though I didn't see them so much on the coast where this shrub was. I presume Hummingbirds never go to Cyprus.

Paul,
interesting that you mention the Orphean Warbler. There were several other Warblers along the same walk that could have easily been that species. For the moment I'll stick with the female Sardinian Warbler as ID for that particular photo. If you ever visit, the Akamas Peninsula is a great place to go (better in Spring though).

I enjoyed Cyprus, but the only drawbacks were we never saw some of the more interesting butterfly species (Plain Tiger, Festoon, Tiger Blue, Two-Tailed Pasha) and I've no idea how common these were in the right area. We visited twice, once in Spring and once in late Summer. The butterflies were much more scarce in late summer and the landscape was a lot more arid. I was suprised with the later year visit that there weren't more browns (Graylings etc).

Michael

[Paul Wetton]

Hi Michael

Sardinian Warbler will likely be the commonest of the Sylvia warblers on Cyprus. However, you shoud lookout for Cyprus Warbler which is an endemic breeder on the island although apparently a proportion of the population do migrate probably to Turkey in the winter.

Orphean Warbler is larger slower and much more deliberate than the active noisy Sardinian Warbler but otherwise fairly similar in appearance excepting the eyering.

Two Tailed Pasha I think are normally out later in the year. I've seen them in France and Mallorca during July. Same as over here I guess different species in different months to keep things interesting.

Thanks for posting these pics. It's always interesting trying to ID various wildlife.

[Michaeljf]

Hi Paul,

You were also right about the rather dangerous looking Black & Yellow Bee/Hornet 'monster' being the Scolia flavifrons - the link below to another Flickr shot looks the same. It is even on a similiar Thistle head. I'd stay well away from these!

I think the Hornet is the Oriental Hornet (Vespa orientalis). Apparently the yellow stripe means the hornet is solar powered (from Wikipedia - did someone just invent that?)

Michael

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpbasanta/3593148724/