No butterflying for this day as we used the refund for our aborted Cordoba excursion for a one to Seville. After the booking agent or tour company’s mistake, you’d have thought we wouldn’t be due any more cock-ups .. but you’d be wrong
. Due to the travelling distance involved, we had to be up even earlier that morning than for Cordoba. We left the apartment with 10 minutes to go before our coach was due, only to hear what sounded like a bus around the corner moving off
. I quickly managed to unlock the outer gate and run around the corner to see that it was our Trans Andalucía coach pulling out 
. Fortunately, the driver stopped after spotting me in his mirrors chasing him down the road shouting and waving. As we got on the bus the irate tour guide scolded us for being late until they saw the time written on our ticket … ooops sorry sir 
.I’ve never been to Seville before and found it to be a wonderful city suffice to say you need much much more time than the 4 hours in which we had to see it. The route in took us past Real Betis’s football ground then the Ibero-American 1929 Exposition Pavilions set in parkland. After we stopped we visited the impressive Spanish Pavilion. Then we moved on through parks past the Alacaza, the Jewish quarters and finally to the Cathedral with its Giralda bell tower. Earlier when following the tour guide, I spotted another Two-tailed Pasha flying low over the road
. Naturally I gave chase but it was gone and then I had to shift sharpish as a tram bore down on me . That was my only butterfly encounter of the whole day 
.Afterwards we visited the splendid Cathedral and viewed the Torre del Oro by the river Guadalquivir
.- Seville cathedral vaulting
The next morning after our excursion I was back into my routine with a recce at MP2. Another African Grass Blue was found and then I came across a weird looking 'white blob' on the stem of a flowering plant that had attracted Carpenter bees a couple of days ago. This entity was being attended by ants and when viewed through my lens I could tell it was a scale insect of some description with young in attendance. The scale insect is (I think) Icerya purchasi or Cottony Cushion Scale, which originates from Australia but is now a global economic pest of Citrus and other plants of horticultural importance. The majority of the insects as with this one, are hermaphrodite females and this aids its breeding success. The fact it was feeding on an herbaceous (weed) plant from the family fabaceae may mean it’s a related species endemic to the region
. The ants are probably in attendance for the honeydew secretions. Decidedly weird 
. So far, all those I’d seen had wing damage of some degree and this one was no exception (but not too bad).
. . - mean looking and deadly to other insects
- Speckled Footman moth
. Unfortunately for me the butterfly was inaccessible for a decent photo but I did manage a better one from another butterfly low down. I am not sure about the identification but I think it is Carcharodus alceae the Mallow Skipper or perhaps (outside chance) Carcharodus tripolinus the False Mallow Skipper. The two species are only reliably separated by genital determination (gen det). It is not clear as to how much the two species ranges overlap in Southern Spain though the map in the link shows it missing from our area, perhaps because it’s been overlooked 
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... okXDZcLZsQ
- ... and the Geranium Bronze
) and finally a walk around the parque la Muralla with wonderful elevated views of the Fuengirola and the coastline … oh and a butterfly which I’d never been able to photograph before. I saw it go up into a conifer above a ravine and was able to get the FZ-72 zoom on it for a snap before it made off. A reasonable record shot of Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides podalirius) which will do for me … for now 
- Blue-banded bee probably the easiest bee to capture due to hoverfly type flight
- Iberian Wall Lizard (juvenile), Muralla Park, Mijas
Only one day left to go and spending money low. My start to the day was the usual with a visit to MP2 followed by MP1. To be honest I was feeling a bit despondent probably due to the thought of going back home and to some extent it felt like I was just going through the motions. The tatty old Common Blue just confirmed the feeling …it’s all over, there’s nowt more to see here
. . I watched the spider take on its prey in the way that nature has played out this scenario countless times before. After the initial bite, the spider attempted to wrap up its still struggling victim, the flaps on the spinnerets wide open spraying out sheet-like silk as it circled the Cicada. Even so after the spider had finished the Cicada still looked like a Cicada rather than a neatly packaged shiny ball of silk, testament to its size and strength I suppose. Prey secured, the spider just sat away from it knowing it was job done, no more energy need be wasted 
. … a waste of time really . To be continued … (final part at last
).
