Holiday to Tenerife part 1
Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2011 10:10 pm
Hi folks
It has been a while since I last posted due to being on holiday with the family in Tenerife. In between the normal holiday leisure activities and family responsibilities I'd managed to find a bit of time to try and discover what butterflies and other wildlife were present on this island, and latterly on La Gomera. I was somewhat disappointed with the numbers which perhaps I unrealistically expected to be higher. Nevertheless I did manage to photo six species, confirm another four and see a further three 'possibles'. Additionally there were other wierd and wonderful creatures to make all the forays worthwhile
.
Our first week was spent at the Club Marina Resort on the Costa de Silencio not far from Reina Sofia airport. Immediately on arrival I witnessed a Danaid butterfly from our apartment balcony come 'lolloping' past the swimming pool. It was too far away to ID as Monarch or Plain tiger
, and it's sighting was to give me false optimism on what was to come.
The Club Resort is situated on a rocky coast nr. Las Galletas
The land around the resort was parched, and largely made up of lava debris, pumice boulders gravel and ash. Only cacti and a few other drought resistant plants were growing in these conditions. Around human habitation things were a litttle lusher as plants would be watered regularly by their owners. I explored the arid hills and came across the odd grasshopper and a few darter Dragonflies.
On returning closer to habitation I got my first butterfly, a Bath White 
. The insect was twitchy and wary of my approach but I was able to get reasonably close for the open wing shot .
Later on I made more progress when another settled on succulents and nectared on some yellow flowers blooming on dead-looking bushes .
(Bath Whites turned out to be moderately common at elevations from sea level to 1000 ft.)
Close to the butterfly was a Wasp Spider Argiope Bruennichi which presented its underside and shortly after dispatched a hoverfly that had got caught in its web.
On returning back to the resort I explored the hotel gardens and came across some little 'zippy' butterflies which were Geranium Bronze . Considered a pest of pelargoniums the species initially came from South Africa by accidental introduction into the balearic islands in the 90's (I saw plenty in Southern Spain in 2007), and it has continued to spread over the meditterannean area.
Other insects to feed/hide among the lantana flowers was this elusive day flying moth (can anyone ID?) and a fast flying (speed of a hoverfly) striped bee .
My daughters were not interested in seeing butterflies, in fact it was difficult to try and drag them away from the pool 
. However, I did manage to persuade my youngest Isabella to come down to the rocky shore to observe the local lizards. As we sat, watched and waited, the lizards became bolder and bolder with one actually coming onto Izzy's hand. Later another indivdual came up licked my finger and followed this up with a bite 
. This happeaned a few times. It wasn't painful (Izzy later described it as a 'chicken peck' but it did startle and confuse us .... are these wild lizards really tame 
? Then it dawned 
. We'd been eating dry-cured ham for lunch, hadn't washed our hands and the lizards could smell food! Watching their behaviour and pecking order was interesting and entertaining as squabbles broke out between the dominant males and the subordinates leading to audible squeals!
Finally just a word of note: if you are squeamish about 'big bugs', bear in mind that the commonest large insect on the island is the American Cockroach.
I was told that the authorities periodically pump insectide down the drains which flushes them out in their thousands. I didn't get the pleasure to witness that spectacle but I did see many insect-spray partially paralized individuals on the pavements, lying on their backs, legs a-kicking being finished off by ants. Felt sorry for them really .
End of part 1
It has been a while since I last posted due to being on holiday with the family in Tenerife. In between the normal holiday leisure activities and family responsibilities I'd managed to find a bit of time to try and discover what butterflies and other wildlife were present on this island, and latterly on La Gomera. I was somewhat disappointed with the numbers which perhaps I unrealistically expected to be higher. Nevertheless I did manage to photo six species, confirm another four and see a further three 'possibles'. Additionally there were other wierd and wonderful creatures to make all the forays worthwhile
.Our first week was spent at the Club Marina Resort on the Costa de Silencio not far from Reina Sofia airport. Immediately on arrival I witnessed a Danaid butterfly from our apartment balcony come 'lolloping' past the swimming pool. It was too far away to ID as Monarch or Plain tiger
, and it's sighting was to give me false optimism on what was to come.The Club Resort is situated on a rocky coast nr. Las Galletas
- cliffs nr the resort
- cacti on the lava fields
- Flower in the 'desert'
- superbly camouflaged Grasshopper
. The insect was twitchy and wary of my approach but I was able to get reasonably close for the open wing shot .- Open wing Bath White (female?)
.Close to the butterfly was a Wasp Spider Argiope Bruennichi which presented its underside and shortly after dispatched a hoverfly that had got caught in its web.
- Spider about to take hoverfly
- More typical view of Wasp spider
. Considered a pest of pelargoniums the species initially came from South Africa by accidental introduction into the balearic islands in the 90's (I saw plenty in Southern Spain in 2007), and it has continued to spread over the meditterannean area.- Geranium Bronze on Lantana flower
- Another example of Geranium Bronze
- Courting pair
.- Can anyone I.D?
- Striped Bee
. However, I did manage to persuade my youngest Isabella to come down to the rocky shore to observe the local lizards. As we sat, watched and waited, the lizards became bolder and bolder with one actually coming onto Izzy's hand. Later another indivdual came up licked my finger and followed this up with a bite . This happeaned a few times. It wasn't painful (Izzy later described it as a 'chicken peck' but it did startle and confuse us .... are these wild lizards really tame ? Then it dawned . We'd been eating dry-cured ham for lunch, hadn't washed our hands and the lizards could smell food! Watching their behaviour and pecking order was interesting and entertaining as squabbles broke out between the dominant males and the subordinates leading to audible squeals!- Male Galotia galoti lizard on Izzy's hand
- About to sink his gums into my finger
- Female lizard
- Male lizard
- Periplaneta americana: Out for the night
. End of part 1
if so might see you there.
).
. I remember going to Southern Spain (nr. Malaga) in 2007 and seeing an Argiope (which I later ID'd as trifasciata) amongst the pelargoniums in the hotel gardens. The size of the creature amazed me but also its behaviour. Close by was a large locust sized grasshopper and the spider started to shake its web feverishly. I assumed that it was trying to get the grasshopper to jump and hopefully land in its web trap .... or was it concerned about the size of the insect damaging its web therefore trying to get it to move on