Post by dertodesking on Oct 5, 2011 11:48:16 GMT -8
Evening All,
Just recently back from a two-week family holiday in Zante (Zakynthos). This was very much intended as a "break" from normality and due to the lateness in the year...I didn't take my net! Big mistake...
Despite hardly venturing out of the hotel complex (except to visit bars/restaurants...I did say that this was a "break" and not a collecting trip
) I saw many butterflies.
P. machaon was numerous (nectaring on some unidentified flowering plant withing the hotel grounds) as was I. podalirius. From a distance I saw what I believe was an A1 condition P. alexanor...plus numerous Pieridae and a couple of unidentified Danaus species...
The most abundant insect seen wasn't a butterfly at all though but a moth...Macroglossum stellatarum (the Hummingbird Hawkmoth) which were present in their HUNDREDS and would have probably been useful to show variation within a species - there were certainly enough to choose from.
Moral of the story...always take your net when you go away - you never know what to expect!
Simon
Just recently back from a two-week family holiday in Zante (Zakynthos). This was very much intended as a "break" from normality and due to the lateness in the year...I didn't take my net! Big mistake...
Despite hardly venturing out of the hotel complex (except to visit bars/restaurants...I did say that this was a "break" and not a collecting trip
) I saw many butterflies.P. machaon was numerous (nectaring on some unidentified flowering plant withing the hotel grounds) as was I. podalirius. From a distance I saw what I believe was an A1 condition P. alexanor...plus numerous Pieridae and a couple of unidentified Danaus species...
The most abundant insect seen wasn't a butterfly at all though but a moth...Macroglossum stellatarum (the Hummingbird Hawkmoth) which were present in their HUNDREDS and would have probably been useful to show variation within a species - there were certainly enough to choose from.
Moral of the story...always take your net when you go away - you never know what to expect!
Simon
