Eye-catching Insects (2): Spilostethus pandurus ~ a Milkweed Bug

Seen at Messene in the Kalamata area of Greece

I posted the above photo on our return from Pylos in the Peloponnese last autumn, having failed in my attempts at identification. The creature was seriously 'on the move' so it was a case of click or miss, hence the fuzzy photo.

The identification continued to puzzle me until earlier this week Shelly from MOBugs (Missouri, USA) came to my rescue. A friend of hers was able to tell me that the creature is the nymph of a Seed Bug, the Spilostethus pandurus. It is more commonly known as the Milkweed Bug and belongs to the order of Hemiptera, sub-order of Heteroptera - and is from the family of Lygaeidae.

You can read about the hemimetabolic life cycle here. It certainly had not occurred to me that I was watching a nymph. There is a much better photograph by Normand Mlaure (you may have to scroll down), and there is another here, with only one ring i.e. an 0 rather than a figure of 8, on its back. There is further example here, with a cluster two photos down (by John Cravatta) of the not dissimilar Oxycarenus lavaterae.

For another cluster of these creatures (this time in Spain and taken by fturmog), take a look here. They have also been seen in the Algarve in Portugal.

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We saw some other colourful creatures in Greece. You may remember these two from my previous Bug post . . .

Postscript: 23 Feb 2011: do take a look at Seabrooke's Milkweed Bugs here.

Dragonflies (3): Scarlet Darter

The stunning Scarlet Darter, Peloponnese, Greece

Close-up

We had a slight frost last night, and I found my mind wandering to warmer climes! We spotted this fine Scarlet Darter (Crocothemis erythraea) near the frogs on their lily pads in the Pylos area of the Peloponnese back in September. Apparently this is as 'red as it gets' in the field of European Odonata. I am quoting Macropoulos, whose spectacular photographs of the same species can be found here, here and here. I understand this Dragonfly has occasionally been seen in the UK. Thanks to David Element's information, I am pretty sure that the Darter in my photograph is an adult male. These Dragonflies have their own Facebook page! 

• Scarlet Darter on the Arkive site
• Amazing Dragonflies in Belize

Butterflies and Moths (13): Painted Lady of the Peloponnese

Painted Lady at the archaeological site of Messine in Greece, early autumn 2010

Helen of Troy may have had the face that launched 1000 ships, but the Swallowtail and Painted Lady were the butterfly species that caught my eye at the amazingly extensive archaeological site of Messine (sometimes written as Messini) in the western Peloponnese.

Messine: part of the site, with its olive and lime trees

The site of Messine in Messinia, not far from Kalamata (of olive fame) was a fruitful haunt in this respect. The Painted Ladies flew among the white scrubby flowers, flitting in and out of the Swallowtails, who clearly enjoyed the same vegetation.

End on!

I found some interesting web pages about butterflies, including the Painted Lady and Swallowtail, on the Gerald Durrell Zoo site. I particularly enjoyed the quotations. You may like them, too. The link is here, and the Jesrsey Zoo Ark Gallery is here.

Feeding time

You can watch an amazing life cycle video of the Painted Lady here. Like other butterflies, they belong to the class of Lapidoptera: lepidos means 'scales' and ptera means 'wing' in Greek as the wings are made up of scales. 

I love the unfurling plants

Painted Ladies have a row of four 'eye spots' on the outside of each wing, plus a smaller dot. You can just about make out these eye spots in my photo below. The American Painted Lady has two large eye spots and the West Coast Lady does not have any at all.

A change from thistle nectar, which is often a favourite foodstuff

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