Wednesday, 19 August 2020
19-8-2020 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - WESTERN CATTLE EGRET (Bubulcus ibis ssp. ibis)
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The western cattle egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. Most taxonomic authorities lump this species and the eastern cattle egret together (called the cattle egret), but some (including the International Ornithologists' Union) separate them. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world in the last century.
It is a white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Western cattle egrets exploit drier and open habitats more than other heron species. Their feeding habitats include seasonally inundated grasslands, pastures, farmlands, wetlands and rice paddies. They often accompany cattle or other large mammals, catching insect and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations of the cattle egret are migratory and others show post-breeding dispersal.
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The adult cattle egret has few predators, but birds or mammals may raid its nests, and chicks may be lost to starvation, calcium deficiency or disturbance from other large birds. This species maintains a special relationship with cattle, which extends to other large grazing mammals; wider human farming is believed to be a major cause of their suddenly expanded range. The cattle egret removes ticks and flies from cattle and consumes them. This benefits both species, but it has been implicated in the spread of tick-borne animal diseases.
The cattle egret has undergone one of the most rapid and wide reaching natural expansions of any bird species. It was originally native to parts of Southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and humid tropical and western Asia. In the end of the 19th century it began expanding its range into southern Africa, first breeding in the Cape Province in 1908. Cattle egrets were first sighted in the Americas on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname in 1877, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean. It was not until the 1930s that the species is thought to have become established in that area.
19-8-2020 PEGO MARJAL, ALICANTE - BROAD SCARLET DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Crocothemis erythraea)
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The scarlet dragonfly (Crocothemis erythraea) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. Its common names include broad scarlet, common scarlet-darter, and scarlet darter.
The scarlet dragonfly is a common species in southern Europe and throughout Africa. It also occurs across western Asia as far as southern China. It is a very rare vagrant in Britain. Its first record in the country was at Hayle Kimbro Pool, The Lizard, Cornwall, on 7 August 1995. Since then there have been a few further records at scattered locations throughout Britain.
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A wide range of both running and standing waters, except those that are shaded. Adults may be found some distance from water in habitats ranging from desert to open woodland; absent from dense forest.
Crocothemis erythraea can reach a length of 33–44 millimetres (1.3–1.7 in). These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax.
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The Broad Scarlet (Crocothemis erythraea), also known as the Scarlet Darter, is a distinctive dragonfly known for the male's vibrant scarlet-red, flattened, and broad abdomen. Found near still or slow-flowing water, these 33-44 mm insects are aggressive predators of flying insects like mosquitoes. They are easily identified by amber patches at the base of their wings and, in males, red vein edges.
Key Facts about the Broad Scarlet:
Appearance & Sexual Dimorphism: Males are unmistakable, featuring a brilliant scarlet red body, red head, red legs, and amber spots at the base of the hindwings. Females and immatures are yellow-brown with a distinct pale, yellowish stripe along the top of the thorax and a thin black line on the abdomen.
Body Structure: They possess a notably flattened and broad abdomen, which is a key identification feature. They are medium-sized, with a body length of 33-44 mm and a wingspan that can reach up to 71 mm.
Tuesday, 18 August 2020
18-8-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - VESTAL MOTH (Rhodometra sacraria)
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Rhodometra sacraria, the vestal, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1767 12th edition of Systema Naturae.
It can be found throughout Europe, in the Near East, in North Africa, in the Afrotropical realm and in large parts of Asia. It is also found in South America (Chile and Argentina).
Rhodometra sacraria inhabits meadows, forest clearing, paths, gardens and urban environments.
Rhodometra sacraria has a wingspan reaching 22–28 mm, while the length of the forewings is 12–14 mm. The late generations are smaller and the wingspan has an average of 16–26 mm. These moths are easily distinguishable from the mahogany or pink stripe, located on yellowish or cream background, crossing diagonally the dorsal sides of the upperwings from the posterior margin up to the apex. Discal spots are usually present and have the same colour as the postmedial line.
The dorsal sides of the hindwings are whitish and unmarked. The fringes on the wings are mostly in the basic colour. The abdomen is pure white. Head and thorax are straw yellow. In males the antennae are bipectinated to three-fourths length. The hind tibiae bear two pairs of spurs.
The intensity and the extent of the pink pigmentation is rather variable, depending on the seasonal temperature in the development of the pupae.
Monday, 17 August 2020
Sunday, 16 August 2020
15-8-2020 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - SPOTTED SULPHUR MOTH (Emmelia trabealis)
Emmelia trabealis, the spotted sulphur, is a moth of the family Noctuidae. The species was first described by Giovanni Antonio Scopoli his 1763 Entomologia Carniolica.
The species is sometimes placed in the genus Acontia and Emmelia is considered as a subgenus of Acontia.
The spotted sulphur can be found in most of the Palearctic (Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and Russia to northern China and Japan). It was formerly resident in Great Britain, but has not been seen at any known breeding colonies since 25 June 1960 and is presumed extinct there.
This species prefers sandy soil, dry and warm areas, meadows and sunny slopes on which the bindweed occurs.
The wingspan of Emmelia trabealis can reach 18–24 mm. The forewings show a very variable black drawings on a yellowish or dirty white background. The rear wings are reddish brown.
Eggs are green, elongated and cone shaped, with a flattened base and distinct longitudinal ribs. Caterpillars are reddish to greenish brown, with dark dorsal lines and a yellow side band, the head is relatively small and brown. Cocoons are red brown or green.
E. trabealis Scop. (= sulphuralis L., arabica Hufn., sulphurea Schiff., trabeata Scriba, lugubris F., pardalina Walk.) (52 g). Forewing pale yellow; the markings black, edged, when fresh, with lustrous scales;horizontal black streaks from base along median and submedian veins; the lines marked by black costal spots, the outer and subterminal more or less complete, sometimes interrupted; two black spots represent the stigmata; fringe yellow marked with black in middle and at each end; hindwing reddish fuscous; the fringe yellowish white. The insect varies according to the preponderance of the yellow or black scaling; as a rule, the yellow prevails in the female, the black in the male; — the ab. nigra Ersch. (52 g), from W. Turkestan, is almost wholly black. Larva green changing to brownish; dorsal and subdorsal lines darker, with faintly paler edges; spiracular line broadly pale yellow.
This species presents two overlapping generations a year, the second generation is generally missing in cool years. The moth flies from May to August depending on the location and then again from August to early September. The pupa overwinters. The larvae feed on field bindweed (Convolvulus arvensis) and Polygonum species. The imago takes short jerky flights in the sunshine close to the ground and is difficult of observation; it frequents dry and sandy localities.
Saturday, 15 August 2020
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