Andalucia

[Matsukaze]

Lang's Short-tailed Blue this morning. There were plenty of these around; also numbers of Long-tailed Blue and Small White, and a scattering/singletons of Painted Lady, Speckled Wood and Clouded Yellow.

[aeshna5]

Nice photo. I did see a few last month in Andalucia. Looks like it's feeding on Dittrichia viscosa, which is an excellent nectar plant in late summer/autumn. I even saw a Monarch on a single plant by a busy road.

[Matsukaze]

My Spanish isn't really up to understanding it, but there seems to be concern about Euchloe bazae - something to do with a high tension line being built through its habitat. Does anyone know anything further about this?

[David M]

My Spanish isn't really up to understanding it, but there seems to be concern about Euchloe bazae - something to do with a high tension line being built through its habitat. Does anyone know anything further about this?

Where have you found out about this issue affecting bazae, Chris?

[Matsukaze]

Facebook - the bit of infrastructure in question is Línea Alta Tensión 400KV Caparacena Baza (a line of pylons, as far as I can tell). I do not know whether this represents a genuine threat to the butterfly or not.

[petesmith]

Facebook - the bit of infrastructure in question is Línea Alta Tensión 400KV Caparacena Baza (a line of pylons, as far as I can tell). I do not know whether this represents a genuine threat to the butterfly or not.

Looking into this in a bit more detail, this also includes creating "tens of thousands of acres" of solar plants, masses of photovoltaic panels across the landscape. Such solar farms are usually placed on flat, or gently sloping south-facing terrain, so within the landscape of the Hoya de Baza that would presumably mean siting them on the existing agricultural land pockets between the hills, rather than on the hillsides themselves.

The visual effect on this rural and unique area of Spain would be devastating, the effect on local farming communities similar, so no surprise at all that the locals are so opposed to the development.

How it would affect Euchloe bazae is difficult to predict. The "hilltopping" habitat would presumably be safe enough, but the butterfly does lay eggs around the edges of the agricultural pockets of land, where the larval foodplant is most common. Conversion from agriculture to solar farms could actually have a positive effect if less pesticide/agrichemicals are used, but from what I have seen of photovoltaic fields in the UK, the areas around the solar cells are usually kept completely clear of vegetation, which would clearly not be good.

As bazae is already rare and said to be declining in the area, any change in land usage that creates a potential threat is a big concern...

[David M]

...Looking into this in a bit more detail, this also includes creating "tens of thousands of acres" of solar plants, masses of photovoltaic panels across the landscape. Such solar farms are usually placed on flat, or gently sloping south-facing terrain, so within the landscape of the Hoya de Baza that would presumably mean siting them on the existing agricultural land pockets between the hills, rather than on the hillsides themselves.

This doesn't look good, I have to say. I'm sure bazae is protected in Spain and it only occurs at Hoya de Baza and one other small area in Spain so you'd have to say it's continued survival is very much of concern.

[Matsukaze]

I have just returned from a few days with family near Malaga for the first time since early 2020. I wasn't really looking for butterflies, but there were a fair few about, including the first wild Monarchs I have ever seen, the big orange butterflies flying at top-of-hedgerow height around low-rise hotels and town house gardens along the coast. Also Lang's Short-tailed Blue and Red Admiral, both in some numbers, Brimstone/Cleopatra (females in flight), Bath White, Large White, probably Small White and a Brown Argus which I think is Aricia crameri.

[David M]

Great to know you saw a few Monarchs, Chris.

Lang's Short Tailed Blue being common doesn't surprise me - I saw a few hundred last month near Tarifa.

Your Argus will be cramera that far south.

[Matsukaze]

Malaga area, 6-7 December - several Red Admirals, Cleopatra (m & f), Geranium Bronzes.

In winter here it is easier to imagine the landscape in peak butterfly season, compared with in England. This woodland track supports dozens of Spanish Gatekeepers in May, and I could easily picture them there.

In case anyone is interested in looking for butterflies at the eastern end of the Serrania de Mijas in the near future, there is shrimp paste available from a small Asian food shop near the train station at Los Boliches.

[David M]

Glad you managed to get away, Chris. That sunlit track looks particularly inviting given the cold, wind and cloud here at the moment.

[Matsukaze]

Just back from a few days in southern Spain. Between family commitments and the weather I only really got an hour to look for butterflies, checking out a low hill about 15 minutes' walk from my mother's apartment. Why I have only been there twice in the 20 years I have been visiting the area I don't know - it's been good for butterflies both times. It looks like a good hill-topping site.

9 species - Small, Large and Dappled White, Clouded Yellow, Wall, Red Admiral, Swallowtail, Iberian Swallowtail, Lang's Short-tailed Blue; also possibly Green-striped White. Going by the vegetation, it was too early for Black-eyed Blue, and it was a surprise not to see Spanish Festoon.

[David M]

...9 species - Small, Large and Dappled White, Clouded Yellow, Wall, Red Admiral, Swallowtail, Iberian Swallowtail, Lang's Short-tailed Blue; also possibly Green-striped White. Going by the vegetation, it was too early for Black-eyed Blue, and it was a surprise not to see Spanish Festoon.

Very decent selection, Chris. I wonder whether your 'Dappled White' might have been Portuguese?

[Matsukaze]

The ones I photographed were all standard Dappled Whites IMO, though there could have been other species amongst them as they were very active, with quite a mechanical/systematic quality to their flight rather than the flutteriness of the Orange-tip. There could have been other species among them - I did think one might have been Green-striped, which I have seen on this site before.

The Swallowtails were playing chase at the top of the hill, with something of the quality of vanessids in spring about them.

[Matsukaze]

African Grass Blue and Lang's Short-tailed Blue near Malaga this weekend.

[David M]

What is the flower the Lang's are feeding from, Chris?

[bugboy]

What is the flower the Lang's are feeding from, Chris?

That's Lantana camara David

[David M]

Thank you, Paul. I see it's a member of the verbena family. Looks like the kind of flower that would be attractive to insects in my garden!

[bugboy]

Thank you, Paul. I see it's a member of the verbena family. Looks like the kind of flower that would be attractive to insects in my garden!

I'm not sure it's cold hardy but it is a staple nectar source in pretty much every tropical butterfly house I've ever visited! I think it's a tropical plant and is considered invasive in the med.

[Matsukaze]

On this board there's an old discussion topic on Lantana, available via the search function on the site, which suggests it's probably not worth bothering with as a nectar source here, though it can be grown as an annual under British conditions. I haven't noticed it being used much in Spain, either - that Lang's is the only butterfly I can recall using it.

Hopeful of getting my Asclepias curassavica seedlings through the winter to see what is attracted to that in a British summer...