8 minute read
Greek Island Odyssey
The Suffolk Argus
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 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.
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, 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.
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.
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
location, on Mediterranean Buckthorn Rhamnus alaternus. Interestingly, on Rhodes the Cleopatra is an endemic subspecies (fiorii). The wings of the females are all completely yellow, as opposed to the more regular form where particularly the forewing upper side is greenish white.
We also encountered Eastern Festoons Zerinthia cerisy at a few locations on the island. Their presence hint at the geographical position of Rhodes, one of the most eastern parts of the Aegean, closer to Turkey than it is to mainland Greece. Similarly named species that are present in more eastern regions of Europe were also encountered, like the commonly seen Eastern Dappled White Euchloe ausonia and the less frequent Eastern Bath White Pontia edusa.
One of my favourite species on the island is the Lesser Fiery Copper Lycaena thersamon. I was keen to show the group these pretty little butterflies during their stay on Rhodes. I was confident they would be on the wing, but with an unusually dry winter and incredibly dry March, things weren’t quite so clear cut. I was therefore pleased when on visiting my most reliable site for them we quickly encountered reasonable numbers of fresh individuals, despite, upon arriving, my shock at seeing parts of the meadow being cut by a small tractor! I had known this meadow would be cut, as it is every year, but never so early – it seems the dry conditions had accelerated not only flowering times but harvest times too! Nevertheless, the whole group got to see both the stunning almost all tangerine males and the attractively marked females. The females often have hindwing tails, generally more so in the second brood, whilst the males as a rule lack them altogether. At the same site there were also several Large Wall Brown Lasiommata maera. This was hardly surprising, given that we were at a site of ruined temples and an ancient stadium, with no end of stone walls and rocks for them to sit on! Plus of course, unlike what would happen here in the UK, vegetation on the site was largely unmanaged and so, intermingled amongst the ruins were a plethora of wild flowers for the Wall Browns and other species to nectar on.
At one particular site we enjoyed seeing numerous Green-underside Blue Glaucopsyche alexis. This is a striking species, males bright on the upperside and both sexes with large black spots on the underside forewings, plus the tell-tale identification feature of the greenish blue suffusion in the basal area. We saw it in fairly typical bushy phrygana habitat, where one of its favoured food plants, Spiny Broom Calicotome villosa, is fairly common. Along with the Greenunderside Blue, sharing the same habitat and possibly the same food plant, were also numerous Green Hairstreaks Callophrys rubi. In Greek “Callophrys” means “beautiful eyebrow ” . I can’t quite see the reasoning behind this name and would suggest something along the lines of stripey socks or boots would seem more apt a description!
As mentioned earlier we recorded 24 species of butterfly, they were: Lulworth Skipper, Pigmy Skipper, Mallow Skipper, Eastern Marbled Skipper, Hungarian Skipper, Eastern Festoon, European Swallowtail, Scarce Swallowtail, Clouded Yellow, Cleopatra, Black-veined White, Large White, Small White, Eastern Bath White, Eastern Dappled White, Green Hairstreak, Small Copper, Lesser Fiery Copper, Long-tailed
Blue, Green-underside Blue, Chapman’s Blue, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Painted Lady, Aegean Meadow Brown and Large Wall Brown.
To list and describe all the plants seen and enjoyed would take another article (a book even!) but here are just a couple of the highlights. There were several orchid species seen, for example the Sombre Bee Orchid, Holy Orchid, Lax-flowered Orchid, Violet Bird’s Nest Orchid and a special endemic called Colossus Orchid Ophrys colossaea. This particular species is named after the famous Colossus of Rhodes, the huge bronze statue that once stood on the island and was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The orchid is also large and statuesque, hence the name colossaea. It was found growing in an olive grove, so basically agricultural land. At this particular location there used to be thousands of them, but due to the grove being ploughed nearly all have been lost. The only ones that remain are those near trees or around the edges of the grove. It is a case of ignorance rather than malice that the farmer has done this. Wild plants generally succeed quite well in agricultural areas due to the fairly low intensiveness of the cultivation and the very low use of herbicides. It would be great to try and start up a dialogue with the local farmers and see if more sympathetic management could be adopted in more olive groves, that would help further the conservation of species like the orchid.
Another plant that stands out is the Dragon Arum Dracunculus vulgaris. It is an impressive plant that can stand a metre or more tall, but it is the flower which gives it a dramatic appearance! The deep purple spathe and even darker, elongated spadix combine to produce a very striking bloom. It also has attractive finely cut leaves with white markings and the stem features a striped pattern. One cannot fail to be impressed by it and we saw lots of large plants in flower, some of which were particularly large and definitely over one metre tall.
Overall the holiday provided an ample dose of butterfly and botanical interest, with a sprinkling of birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. I would like to thank everyone who came on the holiday, for making it both enjoyable and memorable. I am also pleased to say that some of the profits from the holiday will be donated to Butterfly Conservation, a trend I hope to continue with future tours.
For more photos from Rhodes and information about future tours please visit www.greenwings.co
Black-veined White
Greek Island Odyssey May 2012
Green-underside Blue
Aegean Meadow Brown Mallow Skipper
Lesser Fiery Copper
Captioned photos by Matt Berry
The Suffolk Argus
Suffolk Branch Contacts
President Howard Mendel c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Rd, London SW7 5BD Tel: 0207 938 8782
Chairman Mike Dean Coach House, Ixworth, Bury St Edmunds IP31 2HL Tel: 01359 230292 email: Michael.Dean2@ virginmedia.com
Membership Secretary Susan Sidle Five Gables, The Ling, Wortham, Diss, Norfolk IP22 1ST Tel: 01379 643665 email: ssidle@btinternet.com
Treasurer Graham Simister The Old Bank House, Wickhambrook, Newmarket CB8 8XG Tel: 01440 820471 email: graham.simister@btinternet.com
Secretary Julian Dowding 84, Clapgate Lane, Ipswich IP3 0RE Tel: 01473 436096 email: julian.dowding@ntlworld.com
Committee Member Bill Stone 27 Draymans Way Ipswich IP3 0QU email: birderbill68@yahoo.com Conservation Officer (Butterflies) and County Recorder Rob Parker 66, Cornfield Rd., Bury St Edmunds IP33 3BN Tel: 01284 705476 email: robparker@waitrose.com
Conservation Officer (Moths) Tony Prichard 3, Powling Rd., Ipswich IP3 9JR Tel: 01473 270047 email: tony.prichard@btinternet.com
Programme and Publicity Matt Berry Tel: 07599 243026 email: matt.berry1@sky.com
Newsletter Editor Peter Maddison Barnmead, Fishpond Rd, Waldringfield, Woodbridge IP12 4QX Tel: 01473 736607 email: prmaddison@yahoo.co.uk
Regional Officer, Eastern England Sharon Hearle 216, The Street, Kirtling, Newmarket CB8 9PD Tel: 01638 731648 email: shearle@butterfly-conservation.org
Committee Member Richard Perryman email: richard.perryman@ntlworld.com
The Suffolk Argus is published by the Suffolk Branch of Butterfly Conservation. The opinions expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of Butterfly Conservation or the Branch. © 2012 All rights reserved. For more information, see: www.suffolkbutterflies.org.uk Butterfly Conservation Company limited by guarantee, registered in England (2206468) Registered Office: Manor Yard, East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, BH20 5QP Charity registered in England & Wales (254937) and in Scotland (SCO39268)
