The Suffolk Argus
‘Greek Island Odyssey’ 26th April – 3rd May Matt Berry writes about the recent tour to Rhodes This April, a small number of branch and committee members joined me for a tour of the island of Rhodes in Greece. The focus for the holiday was not just butterflies; rather it was to enjoy any kind of interesting flora and fauna. For instance, Rhodes has almost 1,500 different plant species, including over 70 orchids. That is roughly equal to the UK. What makes Rhodes special though is that those 1,500 plants are all together on a very small island and, I would argue, are far more numerous than in the UK, due to over development and intensive agriculture in the UK.
with temperatures escalating as the week went on, up as high as 26-28 degrees Celsius – stark contrast to the extended spring of gloom in England! On Rhodes there has been 48 species of butterfly recorded, either resident or migrant. We managed to positively identify and record 24 of those, plus a few noted as uncertain records for Grass Jewel, Purple Hairstreak, Large Tortoiseshell and Wall Brown.
With 3 botanists in our group, plants were always to be on the menu. However, as several of the group were also butterfly enthusiasts we naturally spent considerable time on them too. We also spent time at archaeological sites, discovering some of the fascinating history of Rhodes, as well as enjoying the diverse wildlife that often frequents such places, due to low levels of interference or management.
One of the most often encountered species during the week was the, rather ironically named, Scarce Swallowtail Iphiclides podalirius. This large and visually stunning butterfly was seen at almost every site we visited and on each day of the week. Their graceful gliding flight was mesmerizing to watch, as they floated from flower to flower. Some of the group were also lucky enough to observe a female egg-laying, on the species favoured larval host plant on the island – Almond Pear Pyrus spinosa.
The tour of the island was literal in the sense that we covered all of the north, east, west and south extremities of it! The itinerary had been designed to allow the visitor to experience the broad range of habitats present on the island – beach and sand dune, phrygana, lake, river and dry riverbed, forest, mountain forest and glade, olive grove, other typical farmed countryside and sites of an archaeological or cultural interest. We had warmth and sun for the entire week,
Another highlight was the Cleopatra Gonepteryx cleopatra. They are similar to the Brimstone (they share the same genus, Gonepteryx). The males though are adorned with a blushing of orange on their forewings, a joy to see when the butterfly is in flight. We saw several of these during the week, but they were not easy to photograph as they were almost always on the wing or took flight quickly when approached. I was fortunate to see a female egg-laying at one
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