Butterfly Islands: Scarce Swallowtail

Showing posts with label Scarce Swallowtail. Show all posts

Thursday 31 May 2018

Back on the Road to Paliokatouna.

The road from Nydri to the hillside village of Paliokatuna on the Greek Island of Lefkada is about 3kms.This quiet road passes olive groves and several private villas as it winds up to the village and beyond.I have made a point of exploring the groves and small meadows beside the road ever since staying at Paliokatouna some years ago. and enjoying the wildlife that inhabit the hillsides.

I was happy to see for the first time,a Large Wall Brown fluttering around the side of the road nectaring on scabious flowers.It wasn't long before an impressive Scarce Swallowtail showed up,taking an interest in the many villa garden flowers that straddle the wire fences along the road. This was followed by a Southern White Admiral with the same intention.The surrounding olive groves are home to drifts of wild flowers and consquently many small butterflies.These include skippers and Common Blues.Another butterfly attracted to this mass of nectar are Clouded Yellows and there is always one it seems to be seen in any direction.

Monday 3 June 2013

Road to Paliokatouna

The beautiful Greek Island of Lefkada is one of our favourite destinations.We last visited it two years ago at the same time of year staying just above the hillside village of Paliokatouna with spectacular views over the coastal town of Nidri,and beyond to the Geni peninsula and the offshore islands.The mountains of the Greek mainland are clearly visible in the distance.

This year we made our base on the fringes of Nidri , where yachting is the main interest due to the safe mooring waters and sailing conditions.

As my butterfly trips were so successful around Paliokatouna last time I made a point of taking the road out of Nidri towards the village some three kilometres away.The quiet road gently rises up into the hills and dusty tracks lead off at regular intervals into olive groves and wooded areas.It wasn't long before I came across several species of butterfly,the most outstanding being the Swallowtail.A fast flier I generally only see it in passing but today I was fortunate enough to see it nectaring on scabious at the roadside.A notoriously difficult butterfly to photograph due to it's constant fluttering when feeding.

Scarce Swallowtail

As it turned out perhaps the best way to see butterflies on this very hot day was to find any wet spot along a track as they are in constant need of the moisture and salts.I was again lucky in this regard as on the same wooded track as two years ago I found again a Nettle Tree Butterfly, and amongst a recently watered flowerbed a Woodland Grayling.

One species of butterfly that in some years is abundant but others not so is the Black-veined White.I did not see more than one or two time but was happy to see one feeding on thistles at the side of the road to Paliokatouna.

Friday 31 August 2012

Not So Scarce Swallowtail

Despite its rather alarming title I must say that on every visit to Greece over the last few years I have always seen the Scarce Swallowtail in good numbers.In early summer or in August this impressive butterfly is a lovely sight as it visits thistles or garden plants.The only other species that have come close to matching it in quantity are the Painted Lady, and in May/June,the Clouded Yellow

These photos of the Scarce Swallowtail were taken on the Island of Thassos in the North Aegean where it seemed a lack of butterflies this time was more than offset by the range of dragonflies.A selection of the odonata I saw here can be seen on my dragonfly website.

The Adonis Blue

The Large Tortoiseshell

It seems the general view on the status of the Large Tortoiseshell in Britain is that it is now extinct as a breeding butterfly.
It is a butterfly of woodland edges and hedgerows that abound in willows,elms,and poplars.These trees are used by the adult to lay its eggs and this single brood appears in July and August.The emerging butterfly then hibernates over the winter in log piles and hollow trees until the next spring.
On the Isle of Wight sightings are more often than not made from early March to April.Have these butterflies overwintered on the Island or have they come from the continent where it is common?
Any sightings made in July/August pose the same question.Another explanation could be that captive-bred releases are responsible.Only the discovery of eggs and caterpillars will probably answer these questions.

I can now report that evidence has been found of breeding just along the coast at Portland in Dorset (June 2020) and again at the same location in the summer of 2021.

The Glanville Fritillary

This elegant butterfly is mainly confined to the crumbling undercliffs and chalk downs of the Isle of Wight.It is also found on the Channel Islands and at one or two isolated colonies on the British mainland.In Britain the Glanville Fritillary is at the extreme north-western edge of its range.On the continent it is readily found in flowery habitats.
Around the southern shores of the Isle of Wight the cliffs constantly erode causing them to slip away and provide perfect conditions for new growths of the butterflies laval host plant,Ribwort Plantain.
The eggs are laid to the underside of the leaves of this plant and normally hatch after about three weeks.The resulting caterpillars live together in communal webs spun over the plantain.In the autumn they hibernate and recommence feeding in the spring,eventually dispersing to prepare for pupation.
The adult butterfly is on the wing from May to the end of June with the female being larger than the male.They will feed on,amongst other things, Birds-foot Trefoil and Thrift.

The Wall Brown

On the Isle of Wight in particular,the Wall Brown is a butterfly of field edges,coastal cliffs and dunes,and rabbit-grazed downland.
The male is territorial and spends much of the time patrolling and basking on the ground.
The female,which lacks the males conspicuous dark sex brand across the forewings,is larger.The undersides of both sexes are beautifully cryptic when at rest.
The Wall Brown generally produces two broods a year,the first from late April until late June and the second from mid-July to mid-September.