France/Spain 2014

[millerd]

I reckon there are definitely six and maybe even seven in the second picture...

What a brilliant butterfly!

Dave

[LancsRover]

On a trip out to see the monastery of Sant Pere de Rodes, which is up a steep hill, behind the town of ROSES, we stopped halfway up and I took a look along a dusty dry track.
It was very warm as usual about 26c and there was plenty flying; Bath Whites, Small Whites, Common Blues, Walls, Great-Banded Grayling, Striped Grayling(the only one I had seen all the trip and no pic. ), Mallow Skipper and 5 or 6 large butterflies, maybe T/T Pasha, I can't say for sure, as they were flying so fast and never landed , other wildlife seen were, praying mantis,spiders(big),bees(big),bugs,goats and crazy(nice) kids on 3 wheeled go-carts(?) hurtling down the road, doing wheel-spins for me a great day out in a great country.
Russ
Quality of some pics. not great, it can be hard work in the baking heat

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Russ,
Your "Funny bug" is a Graphosoma lineatum lineatum = Italian Striped-Bug or Minstrel Bug (I get them over my way in the South of France, and I'm just starting to take an interest in shield bugs now whenever I see any).

Another detail, your second Bath White appears to be on Dittrichia viscosa (Sticky Fleabane) which is abundant now around me and Colin (CFB), further east, and really attracts any remaining butterflies at the end of the season. This plant probably covers the whole of the mediterranean coast.

I'm interested in knowing what your spider is because I have the same in my garden.

Cheers, Chris

[Mikhail]

The bug is actually Graphosoma semipunctatum. It differs from G.lineatum in having the stripes on the pronotum broken up into separate spots. The big "bee" is the big fly Tachina grossa, which parasitises large lep. larvae. Do you have a picture of the dorsal surface of the spider?

M.

[Chris Jackson]

Thanks Mikhail,
You're right about the shield bug - I checked it in google, and I've corrected my records.
So Russ is wiser as well now
Chris

[Charles Nicol]

lovely pics Russ !! i'm glad the youngsters are wearing crash helmets

Charles

[Sylvie_h]

Your unusual bee is not a bee, it is a hoverfly mimicking a bee. I believe it is a kind of Volucella but will need to check in my book. Will come back to you on the identification if I can find it. It is very interesting, I can't recall seeing anything like it before.
Sylvie

[Paul Wetton]

The unusual Bee is a fly as mentioned by Mikhail called Tachina grossa with the skull like head

[Chris Jackson]

.... Walls, Great-Banded Grayling, Striped Grayling(the only one I had seen all the trip and no pic. ), ........ a great day out in a great country.
Russ

Hi Russ,
A comment about the Striped Grayling mentioned above that you didn't get a photo of: this year at my latitude (Marseilles), the Striped Grayling first appeared 3 weeks ahead of schedule due to the early season following the mild winter, and ended also 3 weeks early (mid September).
et voilà !! It helps to have knowledgeable friends in low (southern) places
Chris

[LancsRover]

Sorry I've taken so long to reply to all the comments/interest but I'm on my way home through France at the moment and I've been off line most of the time.
Russ

Thanks Mikhail for your comments, I'm sorry I don't have anymore pics of the spider.

Cheers Charles, I'm just glad I was off the road when they came down the hill, they came down at least 3 times from top to bottom(about 1 mile).

Thanks Mikhail,Sylvie & Paul for your comments on the bee which is not a bee, I learn so much on this site .

Cheers Chris for all your comments/info. esp. on the Striped Grayling, I did get a pic of one but it was so pale that you couldn't tell what it was from the photo, there's always next year, I hope!

I've posted the 3 butterflies that look a little similar from underneath, if your know what I mean, I still get mixed up with LSTB and LTB, I'm OK with Geranium Bronze having seen them in 3 different countries(Spain,France and Italy), still a beautiful b/f to see again and again.
All pics taken around Aquarius camp site
Russ.

[LancsRover]

Hi All,
This report is for those of us who(m) are interested in other things as well as butterflies, (esp. Mikhail after having checked out his amazing pictures).
I hope I'm not breaking any unwritten UKB rules here.(no b/f's in the report)
If anybody can put names to these creatures I would be grateful.
I have given the pics. coloured names for ID purposes
Again, everything is from the sand dunes and nat. reserves close to our camp site.
Russ.
Ps back to butterflies next report.

[Charles Nicol]

the spider could be a Wasp Spider... i have seen them in the South of France.

[Mikhail]

The spider is indeed the Wasp Spider Argiope bruennichi, which is now quite common in much of southern England.
The orange grasshoppers are final instar nymphs of the Egyptian Grasshopper Anacridium aegyptium. This species matures in the autumn and overwinters as an adult.
The next picture shows a Large Conehead Ruspolia nitidula. It is expanding its range and has been recorded from GB. I found it two years running at Canford Cliffs, Poole.
The next two pics show the solitary phase of the Migratory Locust Locusta migratoria.
Finally, you have two shots of Acrida ungarica, the Snouted Grasshopper.

M.

[LancsRover]

Cheers Charles for the spider info. I was taking a photo of a mallow skipper when I looked down and saw it about 6 inches from my bare leg .

Many thanks Mikhail for not only the ID's but all the very interesting info. you provided on each creature, and quick response.

Sorry about my delayed response, I've been off line a few days.

Cheers Russ.

[LancsRover]

Aquarius camp site,bay of Roses,

26/9/14- Green-veined Whites mating.

29/9/14- Small Whites mating.

30/9/14-We went out late afternoon following a long night of very heavy rain, with many local fields flooded. We cycled down to the nat. reserve near to the river, as usual the sun was out and there were plenty of Plain Tigers and Whites about. We stayed on the main tracks (with all the water about) and came across a small white struggling on the ground, it kept trying to fly but could only get a couple of inches off the ground, I tried to pick it up from underneath it but I think I was stressing it out, so I left it there on the track and hoped it recovered, it looked in good condition( see pic. below).
Further down the track we spotted what looked at first like a mating pair of Large Whites but after a few pics and studying it closely, we could only see one body but the wings were splayed in all direction, it wasn't nectaring and hardly moved, even when molested by another white.
Were these whites damaged/exhausted or even dying after the really heavy night of rain?
I often think how tough our butterflies are, considering all the bad weather they have to put up with even in summer.
Any comments?

Russ

[Chris Jackson]

Hi Russ,
Re your spider from Oct 07, Mikhail very kindly put a name to my spider which bears a resemblance, see link below.
Make of it what you will.
Chris

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=7991

[Catteraxe]

The spider does resemble a St Christopher's Cross spider. But I could well be wrong...

[Padfield]

Just for the record, your large white is a green-veined white.

Guy

[LancsRover]

Hi all, Last bits and pieces from Spain, a few birds, a Speckled Wood(southerly subspecies), a five-spotted Burnett and what I think is some kind of wasp's nest(I stand to be corrected, again!) which was in the middle of a field of rough grass, about 2 feet off the ground, just attached to a few stems of the same, never seen a nest so exposed.
Cheers Russ
ps still a few butterflies to report from France, on my way back home.

[Mikhail]

Your wasps look like paper wasps of the genus Polistes, possibly P.biglumis. They can give a painful sting if you get too close to their nest, believe me. See: http://www.biodiversidadvirtual.org/ins ... 16997.html

M.