www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

We returned to Crete last month, having visited at the same time last year. Not surprisingly, we found the same, relatively few, species were to be seen. Presumably, it's a little late in the year to see many more? It did promt a question in my mind though, and wonder if anyone has any ideas on it: In September, and presumably for several months before that, Crete is VERY dry, and just about the only flowers to be seen are those in parks and gardens, which are being watered by people. So, since butterflies obviously evolved a LONG time before gardeners, what did they feed on? Anyway, here are a few pics- sorry they're only the same species I posted after last year's trip!! A few other "bugs" too, just for variety!
Lots of Painted Ladies around.



Only saw one Clouded Yellow, and it only settled for about 3 seconds- just long enough for a quick shot at full zoom!

Commonest by far were Cardinals- very impressive, very active, and VERY territorial- chased away many other butterflies before I had chance to photograph them!



Only saw a few Swallowtails, and they were a b****r to photograph!!



Just like last year, there were lots of these tiny blues around and, just like last year, they were next to impossible to photograph!!

Now for the "bugs"!!
Despite keeping the outside lights on, we saw amazingly few moths. Lots of bats were flying- wonder what they were hunting?


Of course, the constant soundtrack to the holiday is provided by Cicadas (though MANY people seemed to believe it was Crickets) Their ability to hide in plain site is amazing, but look closely and you CAN see them!


Whilst photographing the Humming Bird Hawkmoths (pics on another thread) I noticed that there only seemed to be one species of bee feeding on the same plants.


In contrast, there were many species of wasp to be seen, and by far the commonest was this large and striking beast- mercifully, they seem to be very mild-mannered!



Handsome Grasshopper

Finally, and not even a bug- a bird!! I'm no twitcher, I'm afraid, but I'd heard that Hoopoes (is that how it's spelt?) are common in the Med, but I'd never seen one. Until I spotted this- it was feeding on the playing-field four floors below, and across the street from, our appartment, but at least I can now prove I've seen one!

The locals told me that the best place in high summer and early autumn are the creeks, which have more moisture than other places. I imagine that such are also the original butterfly refuges.

The first moth could well be Dysauxes famula.

Hi 55bloke,

Lovely photo's. I really like the Cardinals. They are very high on my wish list. Fantastic butterfly.
The little blue ones are female Long-tailed Blue I think. I could be wrong.
Love the Hoopoe, It took me many visits to Kos before I saw one there.
Denise

Hi Denise, and thanks for your comments. I love the Cardinals, they are very impressive, and really powerful and fast flyers- I saw as many as 4 of them flying in VERY tight formation and at great speed. They even came down to the beach to drink salts, I presume. But, they really are a pain, chasing off anything that enters their territory!

Thanks for posting, I really enjoyed looking at your photos. It made me think of holidays and happy times.

Thanks for posting.. you saw a Hooper! I'd love to see one someday, they look soo cool and different than a lot of birds. I like the cardinals too. You said they chase things out of their terratory... this is not a cardinal, but is in same family, I once saw a dark green fritillary being chased away by two male common blues that were fighting previously when the DG entered their teorratory.

You're very welcome Suzy, glad you enjoyed.
Not Cardinals, you say Dave? I only know them as Cardinals after posting pics of them last year, when I thought they may be Dark Green Frits, as they do have a very pronounced green sheen when the light strikes them in certain ways. However, the patterning on the underside of the hind wing and the red tinge to the underside of the fore wing had several people on here assuring me they were Cardinals. So, if not, what are they in fact? And yes, I was thrilled by the Hooper- I never would have recognised it at such a distance, but I happened to notice it fly in, and the black abd white stripes on the wing could only have been one thing!! Once I'd seen it, and looked more closely, it was there virtually every day. Never saw it any closer though.

55bloke wrote:Not Cardinals, you say Dave?

Most definitely Cardinals - Dave?

I remember catching Cardinals on my very first trip abroad (Majorca) when I was 8 years old - I didn't realise at the time that the hotel we stayed in was built in a forest clearing, and they were everywhere. I used to catch them using just my hands, as they fed on the flowers in the hotel grounds.

Just the kind of place I keep away from these days

Cheers,

- Pete

I never meant to say those were not cardinals, I know they are, I was just referring to a similar butterfly in the family I had seen before, oops. I should have said, I had an experience once with a butterfly in the same family as the cardinal you had seen. (Would have been better) oh well