Tuesday, 10 August 2021
Saturday, 7 August 2021
Wednesday, 4 August 2021
4-8-2021 CREU DE LONGA, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)
Large wader (approx 102 cm or 3.5 ft) with an also large wingspan (approx 175 cm or 5.5 ft). Stylized silhouette and long neck. Greyish plumage in general. White head in adults with black forelock and long, black feathers like a plume. Light neck with dark lines. Ashen back and dark spot on the shoulders. Lighter belly. Long, sharp, yellow bill. Yellow legs. Silhouette in flight with neck folded in the shape of an "s" and stretched legs.
Its habitats are principally Wetlands, River and Riverside
It lives in all types of wetlands with salty or fresh water in winter. In the breeding season it needs wetlands with nearby tree vegetation. Also in Reservoirs, lagoons, ditches and irrigation ponds, stream banks, coast line.
Tuesday, 3 August 2021
2-8-2021 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN TUBE WASP (Ancistrocerus gazella)
https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/318882-Ancistrocerus-gazella
2-8-2021 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - ANGLE MOTH (Itame vincularia)
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Itame vincularia is a species of geometer moth in the family Geometridae, typically found in North Africa and parts of Europe, including Spain, Portugal, and France. Known as the Fidonie du Nerprun in French, its larvae feed on Rhamnus infectoria and Frangula alnus. The moth has a wingspan of approximately 28–32 mm.
Key Facts About Itame vincularia:
Taxonomy: Classified under Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda, Class Insecta, Order Lepidoptera, and Family Geometridae.
Scientific Name: Itame vincularia (Hübner, 1813).
Synonyms: Geometra vincularia Hübner 1813, Tephrina mrassinaria Oberthür, 1923, and Itame atlantis Prout, 1928.
Habitat & Distribution: Primarily found in dry, Mediterranean, and North African regions.
Monday, 2 August 2021
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - WHITE ANGLED SULPHUR BUTTERFLY (Anteos clorinde)
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Anteos clorinde, the white angled-sulphur, is a butterfly of the family Pieridae. The species was originally described by Jean-Baptiste Godart in 1824.
It is found in South America, Central America, and southern North America.
The wingspan is 70–90 mm. The butterfly flies year round in the tropical parts of its range and from August to December in the north.
The larvae feed on Senna spectabilis.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - AMANDA'S BLUE BUTTERFLY (Polyommatus amandus)
Polyommatus amandus, the Amanda's blue, is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Palearctic realm.
With a wingspan of 29 to 35 mm (1.1 to 1.4 in), Amanda's blue is noticeably larger than most of the "blue" butterflies, which is particularly apparent when they are flying. The upperside of the male's wings is a silvery blue or sky blue, often, but not always, with a broad dark border and a narrow black marginal line with an outermost white line. The upperside of the female's wings is in some populations dark blue edged with brown but in other populations is medium brown with a row of orange half-moon shaped lunules near the edges. The hind margin has red blotches. The underside of the male's wings are light grey with white-edged black blotches. The underside of the female's wings is similar but they are a rich creamy-brown colour with red blotches, especially on the margins of the hindwings and a series of black spots with white rims, often touching, forming a row parallel to the margin of the wings. The basal areas of the underwings are turquoise. The wingspan is 28 to 36 mm (1.1 to 1.4 in).
22-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - POSTMAN BUTTERFLY (Heliconius melpomene)
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Heliconius melpomene, the postman butterfly, common postman or simply postman, is a brightly colored, geographically variable butterfly species found throughout Central and South America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Its coloration coevolved with another member of the genus, H. erato, as a warning to predators of its inedibility; this is an example of Müllerian mimicry. H. melpomene was one of the first butterfly species observed to forage for pollen, a behavior that is common in other insect groups but rare in butterflies. Because of the recent rapid evolutionary radiation of the genus Heliconius and overlapping of its habitat with other related species, H. melpomene has been the subject of extensive study on speciation and hybridization. These hybrids tend to have low fitness as they look different from the original species and no longer exhibit Müllerian mimicry.
Heliconius melpomene possesses ultraviolet vision which enhances its ability to distinguish subtle differences between markings on the wings of other butterflies. This allows the butterfly to avoid mating with other species that share the same geographic range.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - BLACK VEINED WHITE BUTTERFLY (Aporia crataegi)
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Aporia crataegi, the black-veined white, is a large butterfly of the family Pieridae. A. crataegi is widespread and common. Its range extends from northwest Africa in the west to Transcaucasia and across the Palearctic to Siberia and Japan in the east. In the south, it is found in Turkey, Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon and Syria. It is not usually present in the British Isles or northern Scandinavia.
It occurs in open forest, grazing land, orchards. lanes, gardens, meadows and thickets throughout most of Europe, temperate Asia, Korea, and Japan. This species has been extirpated from the British Isles, but unofficial attempts have been made to reintroduce this species in southern England.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - LIGURIAN EMPEROR MOTH (Saturnia pavoniella)
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Saturnia pavoniella is a moth of the family Saturniidae. It is found in the alpine regions of Austria, Italy (including Sicily) and the Czech Republic across south-eastern Europe to northern Turkey and the Caucasus. It is possibly also present in south-eastern France.
The wingspan is 45–70 mm (1.8–2.8 in) for males and 50–95 mm (2.0–3.7 in) for females. Adults are on wing from February to June. In northern Greece they are mainly found in May.
The larvae feed on a wide variety of plants. Recorded foodplants include Rubus, Prunus spinosa, Crataegus, Quercus, Carpinus, Betula, Salix, Erica, Vaccinium, Spiraea, Filipendula, Lythrum, Potentilla, Rosa, Callun.
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Flight and Behavior: Adults emerge in early spring (March to May) depending on the region's latitude. Males are diurnal (day-flying) and actively search for females, whereas females fly mainly at night.
Life Cycle: A female will pair several times and lay 200 to 250 spherical, pale eggs. After 10 to 15 days, they hatch into L1 larvae.
Larval Stages: Caterpillars progress through stages—starting black and bristly, developing orange spots in later stages, and becoming vibrant green with yellow/orange tubercles in their final stage. They can exceed 95 mm in length and feed on host plants like apple, plum, blackthorn, bramble, and willow.
Pupation: Fully grown caterpillars spin hard, pear-shaped, brown cocoons between the branches of host plants. The species overwinters entirely in this pupa stage.
Comparison: While similar to the closely related Northern or Small Emperor Moth (Saturnia pavonia), the Ligurian Emperor is slightly larger and males feature a much paler band on the hindwing's inner margin. The progeny of any hybrids between the two are infertile.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - SOUTHERN FESTOON BUTTERFLY (Zerynthia polyxena)
Zerynthia polyxena, the southern festoon, is a butterfly belonging to the butterfly family Papilionidae.
These rare butterflies can be found in warm, sunny and open places such as grassy herb-rich meadows, vineyards, river banks, wetlands, cultivated areas, brushy places, wasteland, rocky cliffs and karst terrains, at an elevation of from 0 to 1,700 metres above sea level but usually below 900 metres.
It is an early spring butterfly. Adults fly from April to June in a single brood. The adults are active for no more than three weeks. The females lay their eggs singly or in small groups at the bottom of the host plants. When found in the wild they prefer to live and lay their eggs in densely vegetated areas, and there is a positive correlation between number of leaves on the host plant and number of eggs laid by females. The eggs are spherical and whitish at first, bluish colored before hatching. The caterpillars feed on birthworts (mainly (Aristolochia clematitis, Aristolochia rotunda, Aristolochia pistolochia, Aristolochia pallida). The special food of the larvae provides the toxic substances which then also go to the adults, making them unpalatable. The young caterpillars feed at first on flowers and young shoots, while after the second molt they feed on leaves. The pupae stay linked to a support by a silk belt for wintering and the new adults hatch the next spring.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - MESKE'S UNDERWING MOTH (Catocala meskei)
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Catocala meskei, or Meske's underwing, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Augustus Radcliffe Grote in 1873. It is found in North America from Maine and Quebec west to southern Alberta and Montana, south to South Carolina in the east and at least Montana in the west.
Lectotype of Catocala rosalinda, now considered a synonym of Catocala meskei
The wingspan is 65–75 mm. Adults are on wing from July to September depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Populus and Salix species.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - DEAD LEAF BUTTERFLY (Kallima inachus)
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Kallima inachus, the orange oakleaf, Indian oakleaf or dead leaf, is a nymphalid butterfly found in Tropical Asia from India to Japan. With wings closed, it closely resembles a dry leaf with dark veins and is a commonly cited example of camouflage.
The butterfly wings are shaped like a leaf when in the closed position. When the wings are closed, only the cryptic underside markings are visible, which consists of irregular patterns and striations in many shades of biscuit, buff, browns, yellow, and black. The veins are darkened and resemble the veins of a leaf. The resemblance to a dried leaf, a masquerade, is extremely realistic and gives the genus its common names, the oakleaf or dead leaf.
When the wings are open, the forewing exhibits a black apex, an orange discal band and a deep blue base. There are two white oculi, one along the margin of the apical black band, and the other bordering the orange and deep blue areas. The hindwing is more uniformly blue but diffused with brown patches along the termen.
Male and female butterflies are similar except that the female is generally larger and has the apex of the forewing protrude to form a longer point. Females also tend to be more reddish on the underside and the yellow mottled markings tend to be paler. The butterfly exhibits polyphenism, i.e. there are specific dry-season and wet-season forms which differ in colouration and size; the wet-season form tends to be smaller.
The wingspan of the butterfly ranges from 85 to 110 millimetres (3.3 to 4.3 in).
Detailed description as given in Bingham (1905).
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - GREEN BANDED URANIA MOTH (Urania leilus,)
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Urania leilus, the green-banded urania, is a day-flying moth of the family Uraniidae. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. It is found in tropical South America east of the Andes, especially in the Amazon rainforest. Its range includes Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, eastern Colombia, Venezuela, eastern Ecuador, Brazil, northern Bolivia, eastern Peru, as well as the island of Trinidad. It has been recorded as a vagrant to the central and northern Lesser Antilles, such as St. Kitts, Barbados and Dominica. Their preferred habitat consists of riverbanks, in primary and secondary rainforest, at elevations between sea level and about 800 m (2,600 ft).
U. leilus is sometimes confused with the similar-looking U. fulgens, but that species has a separate distribution (west of the Andes in South America, Central America and Mexico) and is slightly smaller with less white to the "tail". Historically, the two have been treated as conspecific. It is theorized that these moths were once part of a single species, but were split into two when the Andean mountains formed about 5–2.7 million years ago, resulting in them becoming allopatric species. Whereas U. leilus is highly dependent in high rainfall, U. fulgens also tolerates habitats with somewhat lower rainfall levels.
The wingspan of U. leilus is about 70 mm (2.8 in). As appears to be the case for all Urania, the larvae of U. leilus feed exclusively on leaves of the toxic spurge Omphalea.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - REED TUSSOCK MOTH (Laelia coenosa)
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Laelia coenosa, the reed tussock, is a moth of the family Erebidae. The species was first described by Jacob Hübner in 1808. It is found in North Africa, southern and central Europe, through Russia and eastern Asia up to Japan.
The wingspan is 35–50 mm. In the male the forewings are whitish ochreous, brownish tinged, especially towards the costa. There is a very indistinct fuscous discal dot and a posterior series of several fuscous dots between veins. The hindwings are whitish, towards apex brownish tinged. In the female the forewings and hindwings are whitish. Larva blackish, hairs yellowish; pencils on 2 and 12 brownish or blackish, tufts on 5 through 8 yellowish.
The larvae primarily feed on Phragmites australis and Phragmites communis, but also Festuca, Carex and Cladium species. The moth flies from July to August depending on the location.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - CURRANT SPANWORM MOTH (Macaria ribearia)
The Currant Spanworm Moth (Macaria ribearia) is a native North American geometrid moth. Adult moths boast a wingspan of roughly 28 to 29 mm (1.1 inches) and feature pale yellow wings with brownish-gray markings. Its caterpillars are primarily known for feeding on Ribes species, including currants, gooseberries, and blueberries.
Key Identification & Physical Characteristics
Wingspan: 28 - 29 mmWing Coloration: The forewings are pale yellow and adorned with variable brownish-gray bands or spots. A dark patch frequently appears near the middle of the subterminal area, sometimes forming a broader band.
Adult Flight Period: In North America, adults generally fly during mid-summer (often July).
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - DARK GREEN FRITILLIARY BUTTERFLY (Argynnis aglaja)
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The dark green fritillary (Speyeria aglaja) is a species of butterfly in the family Nymphalidae. The insect has a wide range in the Palearctic realm - Europe, Morocco, Iran, Siberia, Central Asia, China, Korea, and Japan.
The large fritillary is fiery reddish yellow above, the basal area of the male being always duller. The markings are constant: a black margin, a row of deep black but thin marginal arcs, a very straight, central row of dots, of which only the last one of the forewing is shifted distad; between this row of dots and the base there are six thin black transverse bands extending from the subcostal vein into the wing. The underside of the hindwing is characteristic; it bears numerous silver-spots on a partly verdigris partly leather-yellow ground, but never a row of ocelli in the marginal area, as is the case in the forms of the Niobe fritillary (Fabriciana niobe) and high brown fritillary (F. adippe).
## 2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - POSTMAN BUTTERFLY (Heliconius melpomene)
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Heliconius melpomene, the postman butterfly, common postman or simply postman, is a brightly colored, geographically variable butterfly species found throughout Central and South America. It was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae. Its coloration coevolved with another member of the genus, H. erato as a warning to predators of its inedibility; this is an example of Müllerian mimicry. H. melpomene was one of the first butterfly species observed to forage for pollen, a behavior that is common in other insect groups but rare in butterflies. Because of the recent rapid evolutionary radiation of the genus Heliconius and overlapping of its habitat with other related species, H. melpomene has been the subject of extensive study on speciation and hybridization. These hybrids tend to have low fitness as they look different from the original species and no longer exhibit Müllerian mimicry.
Heliconius melpomene possesses ultraviolet vision which enhances its ability to distinguish subtle differences between markings on the wings of other butterflies. This allows the butterfly to avoid mating with other species that share the same geographic range.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - CARDINAL BUTTERFLY (Argynnis pandora)
Argynnis pandora, the cardinal, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is common throughout southern Europe and is also found in northern Africa and the Middle east and then east across the Palearctic to the Tian-Shan andnorthwestern India.
The wingspan is 64–80 mm. A. pandora Schiff. (= cinara F., maja Cr.) (71c). The largest European Argynnis. Above stronglyre calling valesina, but brighter greenish, densely spotted with black. Beneath quite different, the apex of the forewing and the hindwing bright green, the disc of the forewing fleshy red and spotted with deep black, the hindwing with a few narrow bands, which are more white than silvery and vary strongly in number and development.In ab. dacica Horinuz., a kind of valesina-form from Roumania, the basal area of both wings darkened, contrasting with the distal area, which is slightly paler than usual. — pasargades Fruhst.[now subspeciesA. p. pasargades], from the Alexander Mts., has the whole upperside pale, especially the forewing, which has hardly a trace of green, being also paler yellow beneath, with the black markings reduced. — seitzi Fruhst.[now subspecies A. p. seitzi Fruhstorfer, 1908] (71c) has been described fromspecimens found by me [Stichel] in the Aures Mts. in Algeria. Larger than European individuals, paler green beneath, darker greenish yellow above; the black markings more prominent and abundant, often confluent. — paupercula' Ragusa has no silvery white bands and spots; especially in the southern districts, where it is locally the prevalent form, for instance in Algeria. — Larva purplish brown, with black head, without the yellow dorsal stripe of paphia, otherwise similar to the latter, but the spines shorter; on the back of each segment a velvety black spot with 2 white dashes; until June on Viola. The species occurs particularly in the Mediterranean countries, being found in North Africa, the Canaries, Spain, South France northward to the Valais, where it approaches the German frontier, also in Italy, the south of Austria-Hungary, Turkey and Asia Minor, going eastward to the Tian-shan; plentiful in some places. The butterflies are on the wing from June onwards; their flight is fast and graceful, rushing or swimming, and they usually settle on those branches of trees which hang over the road, or on thistle-heads.
2-8-2021 SPACE MUSEUM, CUENCA - CELADON SISTER BUTTERFLY (Adelpha serpa)
Adelpha serpa, the celerio sister, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It was described by Jean Baptiste Boisduval in 1836. It is found from Mexico to Brazil. The habitat consists of rainforests and cloudforests at elevations ranging from 300 to 2,000 meters.
The butterfly is 50–55 mm.
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