Butterflies and moths

Butterflies and Moths Seen

I am finally seeing more butterflies (14th Dec). The most common so far being Small White and Painted Lady. By the end of December the variety of butterflies is still poor compared to last year and the Painted Lady has moved on but the Monarchs are having a bumper year. Only on the 10th January did a real highlight appear - a helice form of the Clouded Yellow  

 

                                            Painted Lady                                              

                                            

                                        

Bath White  

                                                                                           

                                            Small White                                                                         

Monarch  

I had seen 3 flying in previous days but none had come close or landed. Today (7th Dec)    while sitting in a restaurant in the square in El Medano I watched 2 flying around a large      tree so out came the camera again and I managed to catch one in flight and the other as it     landed for a few seconds. The 3rd picture was taken on Boxing Day on the coast near to       where we watched one Monarch flying in across the sea on Christmas Day. It is a very        good year for them here, last year I saw 2 the whole time I was here, we are seeing 2 or 3 a day this year in several different locations. And see the picture near the bottom of the           butterflies for a truly amazing site.                                                                                                                         

Long-tailed Blue

Well it would have a long tail with 2 dark spots one with an orange background. In this     example those false"eyes" have done their job as some predator has attacked that area and not the insect's head                                                                                                              

   

                           African Grass Blue                              

We actually saw at least 4 of these but they were so busy battling with each other they would not keep still and the one that did was very battered. 2nd photo is from 20th Jan when I          finally managed to take a photo of a a better African Grass Blue.                                            

   

   

Geranium Bronze

In the same place and time as the African Grass Blues this single butterfly was much more  photogenic. Note the tail and spot which is similar to what the Long-tailed Blue should have had.                                                                                                                                            

                                                                                                                                         

                                              Clouded Yellow helice form                                  

I have never seen this form anywhere before. The first photo shows that it is much whiter than the normal Clouded Yellow. This species is notorious for always resting with wings     folded so the second photo was my best attempt at an in flight shot to show how white it       was. I spent about 15 minutes chasing this individual from bush to bush! I found it as I was taking yet another illegal route up on to the golf course after walking down a barranca. It   was a great spot as I also saw 4 Painted Lady, a Bath White, several Small Whites and 6      African Grass Blues in addition to this highlight.                                                                   

                                                            

Spot the Monarchs

There are an amazing 5 Monarch butterflies on this bush in the Palmetum. They're larger     than any UK butterfly but rarely settle so I was pleased with the 2  or 3 photos earlier on in this page but I have never seen anything like this.. You'll have to click on the photo and       zoom in, 4 of them are easy to find but the 5th is hiding away - happy hunting.                                                                                                                                    

                                    

   Moths                   

I have seen 2 moths here so far this year. One was a small micro that I wasn't able to           photograph or id. The second I followed across the coast path - straight into the mouth of a small Tenerife Lizard, it's picture is in the Misc. Animals etc. section but isn't identifiable either. I will try harder!                                                                                                            

1st January - excitement, a moth Spoladea recurvalis                                                               

                                                              

And 4th January - this was worth waiting for Crimson Speckled Utetheisa pulchella              What a beauty, apparently it is a sporadic migrant to the UK with less than 200 records in the last            century                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                          

And on my final full day 27th Jan I found this tiny greeny/white moth flying around the       flowering plants on the coast. Id to be confirmed but possibly Microlaxia sp. possibly M.      simony or Earias sp.