Blopharopsis mendica Thistle Mantis
This extraordinary find has pushed the Blue Emperor off the top. It is pictured here with it's lunch which I watched it catch in the blink of an eye
Blue Emperor Dragonfly
This one has gone straight previously went to the top of the list, a stunning blue colour especially against the white Bougainvillea
Tenerife Lizard
Thynnid wasp
Tenerife Lizard
Found in stony walls and crevices everywhere. I'm not sure what happened to this one's tail.
Grey Mullet
Whenever there is a high tide the water in the marina at Golf Del Sur flows into channels into 2 ponds. These grey mullet, and there were probably 20 or more came into the ponds and hopefully will go out again with the next tide. Either that or feed the birds which are around.
Identification is a "probable". I particularly noticed the very long antennae.
European Beewolf Philanthus triangulum
Yes seriously that's what it's called. It's a bee killer wasp.
Colletes species bee possibly the canary islands Colletes. Later confirmed as Colletes moricei Morice's Cellophane Bee
It's of the same family as the Ivy Bee that we see in the UK
Common Lagoon Fly Eristalinus arneus
A small hoverfly
Tropical tent-web spider Cyrtophora citricola
That is it's nest of eggs above. There was a second spider, also with eggs, nearby and both had plenty of food wrapped up in their nests.
Banded Garden Spider Argiope trifasciata Great patterning. I don't know what the squiggly line of silk is or does.
Moorish Red-legged Crab Graspus adscensionis
There were 3 of these large and very distinctive crabs crawling over the newly exposed rocks in the marina as the tide went out.
A, thankfully dead, Cockroach on a footpath so must have been dropped by whichever predator removed it's head
Rockpooling 1 : Bugula neritina
Wikipedia says " Bugula neritina is a cryptic species complex of sessile marine animal in the genus Bugula" no I didn't understand that either! This id. can only be a probable as the experts say microscopic analysis is needed.
Rockpooling 2 : Chinese Mitten Crab
A tiny crab in one of the rock pools. Again a probable id. as the experts say this invasive species hasn't been found in this location before.
Rockpooling 3 : Misc. Barnacles, Winkles etc
Rockpooling 4 : A weird colourful crust at the top of some pools
Rockpooling 5 : Shells, some occupied (zoom in on the one on the right).
Broad scarlet darter
2 females seen on different days of this broad bodied darter, the males are very bright scarlet but none seen yet
Sorry about the photo but it just wouldn't sit still - all I can say is that it was much thinner bodied and redder meaning a male.
Delta Theophrasti confirmed
Another in the just would not land category but worth including for it's novelty, Note the jet black abdomen and very thin waist. 2 of these were flying over the bushes by the reservoir in the Reserve Ambiental
Tenerife lizard Unfortunately that wasn't the picture I intended as I had been following the moth as it flew across the coast path into the undergrowth - straight into the lizard's jaws ! And no I wasn't able to identify the moth.
Cottony Scale Bugs tbc larger than Ladybirds these were decimating 2 branches of a tree
Grasshopper with amazing disguise - species tbc
Pond Sliders - an unusual hazard on the Par 3 Amarilla golf course
Four-striped digger bee Amegilla quadrifasciata sometimes called White-banded digger bee Finally on 4th Jan I managed to photograph one of these, we had been seeing them everywhere but they just don't stay still for a second. I watched this one enter the yellow trumpet flower and just waited for it to reverse out of the flower and grabbed the shot before it flew off. I can be patient sometimes!
Red-girdled Mining bee Andrena labiata
Also see on 20th Jan. The common name may be a local one as, although the hoverfly is found in the UK I had not come across that name for it.
This hoverfly is much more striking than my photo shows, the abdomen is quite a bright red in comparison to it's yellow face and area around the thorax. If it's identification is confirmed it would also be one of my highlights of the trip as it is a species endemic to the Canary Islands. Also found on the 20th Jan.
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