The rich and rare biodiversity in Cyprus. The Cyprus biodiversity includes 1908 plants, 780 seashells, 250 fishes, more than 7.000 insects, 410 birds including migratory, 31 mammals, 9 snakes, 11 lizards,three amphibians, 120 land snails, fungi estimated 5-8 thousandand and three turtles.These numbers continually increase as a result of researc. Also see All about Cyprus.
From George Konstantinou. Email -
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Το υλικό της ιστοσελίδας αποτελεί πνευματική ιδιοκτησία.
The Balkan Pierrot or Little Tiger Blue (Tarucus balkanicus) is a small butterfly that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family. It is found in Mauritania, Niger (the Air region), Sudan (Khartoum), Uganda, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, North Africa, the Balkans, Western Asia, parts of Central Asia and in India. The habitat consists of very arid savanna. The larvae feed on Ziziphus species Ziziphus lotus .From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pontia edusa, the eastern Bath white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. Pontia edusa is a small to medium-sized migrant butterfly, with a wingspan reaching about 45 mm. The upperside of the wings is white, with black stains on the top of the forewing and hindwing. The hind wing undersides have greenish-gray spots. The butterfly is nearly identical to Pontia daplidice. Investigations of the genitals are the only way to distinguish between these two types. The adults fly from March to October with two to four generations depending on the latitude. The eggs are laid singly and have an incubation period of seven days. The caterpillars are present from May. They are greyish-greenish, with black dots and broad yellow stripes, quite similar to the larva of the Cabbage Butterfly (Pieris brassicae). The larvae feed on Resedaceae species. Pontia edusa hibernates in the chrysalis stage. It is found from the South East of Europe (Southern France, Italy, Corsica, Sardinia) up to Central Europe and Middle East in Iran and Iraq. It is a migrant who can also be encountered in Belgium, Holland, northern Germany and Poland, in the Baltic states and in southern Sweden and Norway. This species can be found in any open grassy or flowery areas, in stony or rocky places and in roadsides, especially where the host plants grow, at an altitude of0–2,300 metres (0–7,546 ft). From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos and video Athalassa 14/2/2015 by George Konstantinou
The common blue (Polyommatus icarus) is a small butterfly in the family Lycaenidae, widespread over much of the Palaearctic and recently introduced in eastern Canada.
The larva feeds on plants from the family Leguminosae. Recorded foodplants are Lathyrus spp., Vicia spp., Vicia cracca, Oxytropis campestris, Lotus corniculatus, Trifolium pratense, Oxytropis pyrenaica, Astragalus aristatus, Astragalus onobrychis, Astragalus pinetorum, Medicago romanica, Medicago falcata, and Trifolium repens.
The main food plant on most sites is Bird's foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus). Others used include black medick Medicago lupulina, common restharrow (Ononis repens), white clover (Trifolium repens), and lesser trefoil (Trifolium dubium). Eggs are laid singly on young shoots of the food plant.
The caterpillar is small, pale green with yellow stripes and, as usual with lycid larvae, rather slug-like. Hibernation occurs as a half grown larvae. They are attractive to ants, but not as much as some other species of blues. The chrysalis is olive green/brown and formed on the ground, where it is attended by ants, which will often take it into their nests. The larva creates a substance called honeydew, which the ants eat while the butterfly lives in the ant hill. In the south of Britain there are two broods a year, flying in May and June and again in August and September. Northern England has one brood, flying between June and September. In a year with a long warm season, there is sometimes a partial third brood in the south flying into October.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The small white (Pieris rapae) is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is also known as the small cabbage white and in New Zealand, simply as white butterfly. The names "cabbage butterfly" and "cabbage white" can also refer to the large white. The butterfly can be distinguished by the white color with small black dots on its wings. They are distinguished from the smaller size and lack of the black band at the tip of their forewings.
It is widespread and populations are found across Europe, North Africa, Asia, and Great Britain. It has also been accidentally introduced to North America, Australia and New Zealand. The caterpillar of this species is seen as a pest for commercial agriculture. Often referred to as the "imported cabbageworm" they are a serious pest to cabbage and other mustard family crops.
In appearance it looks like a smaller version of the large white (Pieris brassicae). The upperside is creamy white with black tips on the forewings. Females also have two black spots in the center of the forewings. Its underwings are yellowish with black speckles. It is sometimes mistaken for a moth due to its plain appearance. The wingspan of adults is roughly 32–47 mm (1.25–2 in).From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The large white, Pieris brassicae, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative to the small white, Pieris rapae.
The large white is common throughout Europe, North Africa, Asia even through the Himalayas..From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Endemic to Cyprus Glaucopsyche paphos is a small butterfly found in the Palearctic that belongs to the blues family. It is endemic to Cyprus It is sometimes considered to be a subspecies of Glaucopsyche melanops.
Colias croceus is a small butterfly of the Pieridae family, that is, the Yellows and Whites. In India and nearby regions it is known as the Dark Clouded Yellow or Common Clouded Yellow to distinguish it from the other species of clouded yellows occurring there; elsewhere it is often simply known as the clouded yellow, as it was the first and original butterfly to go by this name.
The Common Clouded Yellow's breeding range is North Africa and southern Europe and eastwards through Turkey into the Middle East but it occurs throughout much of Europe as a summer migrant, in good years individuals reaching Scandinavia. In Asia, its range extends into central Siberia in the north and barely into India in the south; it is not found in Central Asia. In the UK they can be seen on the south coast almost every year in varying numbers, and regularly breed there. Occurrence in the rest of the UK varies considerably from year to year, but they are increasingly observed as far north as Dumfries and Galloway.
It has also been recorded in Ireland from the Raven, Co. Wexford.
A truly migratory European butterfly, this species is famous for occasional mass migrations and subsequent breeding, which are often referred to in the United Kingdom as "clouded yellow years". Notable clouded yellow years include 1877, 1947, 1983, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2000.
In southern Europe and North Africa they breed continuously throughout the year. Eggs are laid singly on food plant leaves. The caterpillars grow fast in warm weather, sometimes pupating within a month. Pupation lasts for two or three weeks and in good years there can be as many as three generations per year, with adults still on the wing at the beginning of November.
Common Clouded Yellows feed on a variety of leguminous plants, namely Faboideae. In the UK wild and cultivated clovers (Trifolium) and Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) are favourites; less frequently, Common Bird's-foot Trefoil Lotus corniculatus is eaten.From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos Agios Sozomenos 10/10/2014 by George Konstantinou
The Lesser Fiery Copper (Lycaena thersamon) is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It is found from Eastern Europe, Italy and South-East Europe to Mongolia and North-Western China.
The wingspan is 14–16 mm. The butterfly flies from April to October depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Polygonum aviculare, and possibly other Polygonaceae species.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Photos Agios Sozomenos 21/10/2014 by George Konstantinou
The Balkan Pierrot or Little Tiger Blue (Tarucus balkanicus) is a small butterfly that belongs to the Lycaenids or Blues family. It is found in Mauritania, Niger (the Air region), Sudan (Khartoum), Uganda, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, North Africa, the Balkans, Western Asia, parts of Central Asia and in India. The habitat consists of very arid savanna.
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