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 -
fanigeorge@hotmail.com -
Το υλικό της ιστοσελίδας αποτελεί πνευματική ιδιοκτησία.
Endemic species of Cyprus and Pentadaktylos
mountains
Albinaria rollei (O. Boettger, 1896) Ένα από τα πιο σπάνια ενδημικά χερσαία σαλιγκάρια της Κύπρου που το συναντούμε μόνο στην οροσειρά του κατεχόμενου πενταδάκτυλου και μόνο σε μια μικρή περιοχή.
Photos Pentadaktylos mountain 31/5/2023
by George Konstantinou
Albinaria is a genus of air-breathing land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod mollusks in the family Clausiliidae, the door snails
The Albinaria snails live on limestone rocks, where they feed on algae and lichen. They are active only during the wet season, that is, in Mediterranean lowlands, from November through April. Eggs are laid shortly after the beginning of the wet season. The development from a juvenile to a fully grown shell takes two to three wet seasons. During the intermittent dry seasons, the snails, young and adults alike, aestivate ("the warm weather equivalent of hibernation) on the rocks or in crevices inside the rocks. For aestivation, aggregates are often formed, sometimes reaching sizes of many hundreds of individuals. During the last dry season prior to sexual maturation, the subadult snail (the shell of which is already fully developed, albeit thinner than that of an adult) increases the size of its genital organs. Copulation then takes place during the first weeks of autumn rains. Population densities can sometimes be very high, in spite of heavy predation by beetle larvae of the genus Drilus. These insects attack the snails during their aestivation, by perforating the shell and eating the snail inside
Habitat of Albinaria rollei at Pentadaktylos Mountains
Photos Pentadaktylos mountain 15/3/2024 by George Konstantinou
Τα είδη φιδιών στην Κύπρο-Πώς προστατευόμαστε και τι κάνουμε αν μας δαγκώσει
Συμβουλές για το πώς να προστατευτούμε από τα φίδια εν μέσω καλοκαιριού και τι να κάνουμε σε περίπτωση που μας δαγκώσει φίδι έδωσε στο Πρωτοσέλιδο ο Γιώργος Κωνσταντίνου, Πρόεδρος του συνδέσμου προστασίας φυσικής κληρονομιάς και βιοποικιλότητας της Κύπρου.
Μιλώντας στο Πρωτοσέλιδο ανέφερε ότι στην Κύπρο έχουμε εννέα είδη φιδιών εκ των οποίων το ένα είναι επικίνδυνο για τον άνθρωπο, εννοώντας δηλητηριώδη. Το συγκεκριμένο φίδι δεν είναι επιθετικό φίδι, η μόνη περίπτωση να σε δαγκώσει ένα τέτοιο φίδι είναι να το πιάσεις κατά λάθος με το χέρι σου, να το πατήσεις ή να το πλησιάσεις σε απόσταση γύρω στους 50 πόντους.
Πρότρεψε όλους όσους επισκέπτονται τους αγρούς να φοράνε ψηλά παπούτσια όταν περπατάνε σε μέρη που έχει χόρτα. Επιπρόσθετα είπε ότι, είναι καλό να κοιτάζουνε που πατάνε καθώς όταν είναι κρύο το φίδι μένει ακίνητο οπότε κινδυνεύουν να το πατήσουν. Όπως για παράδειγμα, η οχιά με την θέα ενός ανθρώπου επειδή είναι αργοκίνητη μένει ακίνητη για αυτό κινδυνεύει κάποιος να την πατήσει.
Ο Γιώργος Κωνσταντίνου, ανέφερε πως «κανένα από αυτά τα είδη φιδιών δεν προκαλεί αιφνίδιο θάνατο στον άνθρωπο ή έντονες αντιδράσει εκτός και αν είσαι αλλεργικός. Μετά από ένα δάγκωμα οχιάς έχουμε πάρα πολλές ώρες μέχρι να πάμε στο νοσοκομείο και δεν υπάρχει λόγος για πανικό. Αυτό που πρέπει να κάνουμε είναι με ήρεμες κινήσεις χωρίς πανικό και χωρίς να παίρνουμε κανένα μέτρο εννοώντας φάρμακο, πάμε όσο πιο γρήγορα σε ένα νοσοκομείο».
Τέλος, υπάρχουν πολλά τεστ τα οποία μπορεί να κάνει κάποιος για να δει αν είναι αλλεργικός σε κάτι. Παρόλα αυτά, δεν νομίζει ότι υπάρχει τεστ για να δει κάποιος αν είναι αλλεργικός στα φίδια, είπε.
Base of the European program eTwinning Cyprus , "BIODIVERS CY : I see Cyprus with green eyes", a lecture was held at the primary school of Ayia Napa - Antoni Tsokkou by the naturalist and president of the association for the protection of natural heritage and biodiversity of Cyprus George Konstantinou, on 16/5/2023. The topic of the presentation was on biodiversity of Cyprus and the risks that it is threatened by the human factor. The lecture was attended and participated online by another ten schools from all over Cyprus as well as one school from Thessaloniki.
A big thank you to the teacher of the same name, Giorgos Konstantinou, who gave me the opportunity to teach our children that they should know about the unique biodiversity of our country and its protection.
Βάση του ευρωπαϊκού προγράμματος eTwinning Cyprus , "BIODIVERS CY : Βλέπω την Κύπρο με πράσινα μάτια", πραγματοποιήθηκε διάλεξή στο δημοτικό σχολείο Αγίας Νάπας - Αντώνη Τσόκκου, από τον φυσιοδίφη και πρόεδρο του συνδέσμου προστασίας φυσικής κληρονομίας και βιοποικιλότητας της Κύπρου Γιώργο Κωνσταντίνου στις 16/5/2023 με θέμα η βιοποικιλότητα της Κύπρου και οι κίνδυνοι που την απειλούν από τον ανθρώπινο παράγοντα. Την διάλεξη παρακολούθησαν και συμμετείχαν διαδικτυακά ακόμα δέκα σχολεία από όλη την Κύπρο καθώς και ένα σχολείο από την Θεσσαλονίκη. Ένα μεγάλο ευχαριστώ στον συνονόματο δάσκαλο κ.Γιώργο Κωνσταντίνου που μου έδωσε την ευκαιρία να μάθω στα παιδιά μας ότι πρέπει να ξέρουν για την μοναδική βιοποικιλότητα του τόπου μας και την προστασία της.
Ευχαριστώ τον Demetris Kolokotronis για το βιντεο.
The black-winged kite (Elanus caeruleus), also known as the black-shouldered kite (not to be confused with the closely-related Australian species of the same name), is a small diurnal bird of prey in the family Accipitridae best known for its habit of hovering over open grasslands in the manner of the much smaller kestrels. This Palearctic and Afrotropical species was sometimes combined with the Australian black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris) and the white-tailed kite (Elanus leucurus) of North and South America which together form a superspecies. This kite is distinctive, with long wings; white, grey and black plumage; and owl-like forward-facing eyes with red irises. The owl-like behaviour is even more pronounced in the letter-winged kite (Elanus scriptus), a nocturnal relative in Australia. Although mainly seen on plains, they are sometimes seen on grassy slopes of hills in the higher elevation regions of Asia. They are not migratory, but show nomadism in response to weather and food availability. They are well adapted to utilize periodic upsurges in rodent populations and can raise multiple broods in a single year unlike most birds of prey. Populations in southern Europe have grown in response to human activities, particularly agriculture and livestock rearing.
Photos Akrotiri 5/11/2020 by George Konstantinou
This long-winged raptor is predominantly grey or white with black shoulder patches, wing tips and eye stripe. The long falcon-like wings extend beyond the tail when the bird is perched. In flight, the short and square tail is visible and it is not forked as in the typical kites of the genus Milvus. When perched, often on roadside wires, it often adjusts its wings and jerks its tail up and down as if to balance itself. The sexes are alike in plumage. Their large forward-facing eyes placed under a bony shelf that shades them is distinctive; their velvety plumage and zygodactyl feet are characters shared with owls and the genus has been considered as a basal group within the Accipitridae. They are thought to have been adapted for living in savanna habitats where seasonal rodent population peaks occur. Such food resources are also favoured by the owls. The inner vanes of the feathers have velvety barbules. They have a diploid chromosome number of 68 (some older studies claimed 64 for E.c.caeruleus and 66 for E.c.vociferus) with a distinct karyotype with resemblances to the kites and honey buzzards and suggesting a basal position within the diurnal birds of prey
The black-winged kite is a species primarily of open land and semi-deserts in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia, but it has a foothold within Europe in Spain and Portugal. The species range appears to be expanding in southern Europe and possibly in West Asia. The first records of breeding in Europe were in the 1860s and since then they have become more widespread and populations are on the rise. It is thought that land-use changes, particularly agriculture and pastureland have helped the species.
Several geographic populations have been named as subspecies and these include the nominate subspecies which occurs in Spain, Africa and Arabia. The subspecies vociferus is found east of this range across South Asia and into Southeast Asia. Along Sumatra, Java, Borneo and the Philippines subspecies hypoleucus (sometimes considered a full species) includes the population wahgiensis described from New Guinea. Subspecies sumatranus is not always recognized. The white-tailed kite and the black-shouldered kite were formerly included with this species but have since been treated as separate species
Although found mainly on the plains they have been seen at higher altitudes in Sikkim (3,650 m (11,980 ft)), the Nilgiris (Doddabetta, 2,670 m (8,760 ft)) and Nagaland (2,020 m (6,630 ft)).
They are said to be winter visitors in some parts of their range such as the Western Ghats
Photos Akrotiri 9/10/2021 by George Konstantinou
The black-winged kite breeds at different times of the year across its range. Although nesting has been noted throughout the year in India, they appear not to breed in April and May. Males establish territories and defend them from competition. Females move into the territories of males. Studies in Africa found that males were more numerous than females. Courtship is noisy and involves chases and once the pair is formed they copulate frequently. The nest is a loose platform of twigs in which 3 or 4 eggs are laid. The female spends more effort in the construction of the nest than the male. The eggs are pale creamy with spots of deep red. Both parents incubate but when the chicks hatch, the male spends more time on foraging for food Females initially feed the young, sometimes hunting close to the nest but will also receive food from the male. After fledging the young birds continue to be dependent for food on the male parent for about 80 days, initially transferring food at perch and later in the air. Young birds have reddish brown feathers on the upperparts and on the breast. The reddish colour is derived from porphyrins and is thought to provide the young birds some camouflage. Once breeding is complete females often move on to new territories sometimes deserting before the young fledge, leaving males to feed and raise the young. Both males and females show considerable nomadism. Unlike most birds of prey, they are capable of raising multiple broods in a year, and young birds are known to disperse widely, adaptations that helps them utilize periodic rodent population surges. Their opportunistic breeding capabilities are also accompanied by irregular patterns of moult. Young birds show "arrested" moult, retaining feathers for a season and then rapidly moulting them in a serial descendent pattern, where more than one primary feather is moulted at the same time. The adult plumage is found after two years.
Their prey includes grasshoppers, crickets and other large insects, lizards, and rodents. Injured birds, small snakes and frogs have also been reported. The black-winged kite flies slowly during hunting like a harrier, but it will also hover like a Kestrel. It has on rare occasions been known to hunt prey in flight. Perches are used for hunting and for feeding but large prey may sometimes be handled on the ground.[30] In southern Africa, they appear to favour roadside verges for foraging and are sometimes killed by collisions with vehicles.
The short-toed snake eagle was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the falcons, eagles and their relatives in the genus Falco and coined the binomial name Falco gallicus. Gmelin based his description on the "Jean le Blanc" that had been described by the English ornithologist John Latham and the French ornithologists Mathurin Jacques Brisson and the Comte de Buffon. The short-toed snake eagle is now placed in the genus Circaetus that was introduced in 1816 by the French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot. The genus name is from the Ancient Greek kirkos, a type of hawk, and aetos, "eagle". The specific epithet gallicus is Latin for "Gaul" ie France.
Photos Athienou 25/2/2021 and 10/4/2021 by George Konstantinou
This is an Old World species found throughout the Mediterranean basin, into Russia and the Middle East, and parts of Western Asia, and in the Indian Subcontinent and also further east in some Indonesian islands.
Those present on the northern edge of the Mediterranean and other parts of Europe migrate mainly to sub-Saharan Africa north of the equator, leaving in September/October and returning in April/May. In the Middle and Far East the populations are resident. In Europe, it is most numerous in Spain where it is fairly common but elsewhere it is rare in many parts of its range. A bird on the Isles of Scilly, Britain, in October 1999 was the first confirmed record for that country.
The short-toed snake eagle is found in open cultivated plains, arid stony deciduous scrub areas and foothills and semi-desert areas. It requires trees for nesting and open habitats, such as cultivations and grasslands for foraging
Its prey is mostly reptiles, mainly snakes, but also some lizards.[19] Sometimes they become entangled with larger snakes and battle on the ground. Occasionally, they prey on small mammals up to the size of a rabbit, and rarely birds and large insects.
This eagle is generally very silent. On occasions, it emits a variety of musical whistling notes. When breeding, it lays only one egg. It can live up to 17 years.
The short-toed snake eagle has suffered a steep decline in numbers and range in Europe and is now rare and still decreasing in several countries due to changes in agriculture and land use. It needs protection. In the middle and far eastern part of its range, this species is not yet threatened.
Papilio demoleus is a common and widespread swallowtail butterfly. The butterfly is also known as the lime butterfly, lemon butterfly, lime swallowtail, and chequered swallowtail. These common names refer to their host plants, which are usually citrus species such as the cultivated lime. Unlike most swallowtail butterflies, it does not have a prominent tail. When the adult stage is taken into consideration, the lime swallowtail is the shortest-lived butterfly, with male adults dying after four days and females after a week. The butterfly is native to Asia and Australia, and can be considered an invasive pest in other parts of the world. The butterfly has spread to Hispaniola island (Dominican Republic) in the Western Hemisphere, and to Mahé, Seychelles.
Photos Geri 2021, 2022 by George Konstantinou
P. demoleus is perhaps the most widely distributed swallowtail in the world. The butterfly can be found in:
Cyprus, Syria, Iraq, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Iran, western and possibly eastern Afghanistan, the South Asian Subcontinent (India including the Andamans, Bangladesh, western Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal), Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, southern China (including Hainan, Guangdong province), Taiwan, Japan (rare strays), Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (Kalimantan, Sumatra, Sula, Talaud, Flores, Alor and Sumba), Papua New Guinea, Australia (including Lord Howe Island), Solomon Islands, and possibly other Pacific Ocean islands.
he Southeast Asian subspecies Papilio demoleus malayanus recently established an abundant non-native population on Mahé in Seychelles This species was probably accidentally introduced to Mahé a few years ago (first records in November 2016). Further dispersal events of Papilio demoleus within Seychelles to other granitic islands of the archipelago, e.g. Praslin and La Digue, are expected.
Formerly absent from Borneo, it is now one of the commonest papilionids in Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysian Borneo, Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), and Brunei.
In recent years, the butterfly has spread to Hispaniola island (Dominican Republic) in the Western Hemisphere, and subsequently to Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. The Dominican population originated from Southeast Asia but how the butterfly reached there is not known.
The widespread range of P. demoleus indicates the butterfly's tolerance and adaptation to diverse habitats. It is found in savannahs, fallow lands, gardens, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests, and shows a preference for streams and riverbeds. In India, it is mostly found in the plains, but can be found on the hills of peninsular India and up to 7,000 feet (2,100 m) in the Himalayas. It is common in urban gardens and may also be encountered in wooded country. The butterfly is also a very successful invader, its spread appearing to be due to its strong flight, increase in urbanisation and agricultural land use that opens up new areas for dispersal, and greater availability of food plants.
This butterfly is an avid mud-puddler and visitor of flowers. It basks with its wings held wide open on tufts of grass and herbs, and generally keeps within a metre of the ground, even on cloudy days. It relies on its quick flight for escape.[15] It has a number of modes of flight. In the cool of the morning, the flight is slow considering that it is an edible and unprotected swallowtail. As the day progresses, it flies fast, straight, and low. In the hotter part of the day, it may be found settling on damp patches, where it will remain motionless, except for an occasional flutter of wings, if not disturbed.[15] It is also a frequent visitor of flowers in gardens, where it shows a preference for flowers of smaller herbs rather than larger plants such as the ubiquitous Lantana with its plentiful blooms. It can be found swarming in the groves of its food plants.
Research on freshly emerged imagines of P. demoleus showed that they have an inborn or spontaneous preference while feeding for blue and purple colours, while the yellow, yellowish-green, green, and blue-green colours are completely neglected.
The number of generations of P. demoleus is dependent upon temperature – near the equator, nine generations have been recorded, while in warm temperate China, five generations have been recorded. In the ideal conditions of a laboratory, a generation has been recorded to take place in just over 30 days. The typical time for one generation of P. demoleus to mature in the field ranges from 26 to 59 days. In cold climates, the lime butterfly is known to pass the winter as pupae. Typically, the butterfly undergoes five instars as a caterpillar.
The female butterfly goes from plant to plant, laying a single egg at a time on top of a leaf, which it holds onto with its legs, and flies off as soon as the egg is laid. The egg is round, light yellowish in colour, flattened at the base, smooth-surfaced, and about 1.5 mm in height. Fertile eggs develop a small red mark at the apex.
The newly hatched caterpillar stays in the middle of the upperside of the leaf. The first instar of the caterpillar is black, with a black head and two rows of subdorsal fleshy spines. The second, third, and fourth instars are dark, with a glossy, dark-brown head, and white markings on the eighth and ninth segments of the caterpillar, which resemble a white patch of uric acid deposited in a bird's droppings, helping them escape predation while remaining in moderately open places.
As the instars progress, this resemblance is lost. From the fifth instar onwards, the caterpillars now turn cylindrical in shape, tapered towards the rear, and uniformly pale green in colour with a white subspiracular band. An additional black band is developed on the fourth and fifth segments with two black and two bluish spots on them. The eighth and ninth segments, which earlier provided the camouflage markings now develop a brown and white band. At this stage, the caterpillars are forced to inhabit secluded places.
The pupa, which is rugose (wrinkled), stout, and 30 mm in length, has two projections to the front on its head and also one on its thorax, and resembles that of the common Mormon (Papilio polytes), the difference being that the common Mormon pupa has a deeper cut between the projections and its abdomen is more protruded on the sides, having a small point.
The pupa is dimorphic with regards to colour, with the colour developing according to the prevalent colour and texture in the background. The green morph, which is found amongst green vegetation and smoother textures, is light green and unmarked or with yellow dorsal markings. When situated among brown or dry objects, the pupa tend to turn light grey brown to pink brown and develop cryptic dark brown and black striation.
The adults fly in every month, but are particularly abundant during and after the monsoons.
Captive breeding of P. demoleus in Riyadh has revealed these data about the lifespan of various stages at that locality:
Number of generations per year: 8
Duration of egg stage: 3.1 to 6.1 days
Duration of larva stage: 12.9 and 22.7 days
Duration of pupa stage: 8.0 to 22.4 days
Duration of adult stage: 4 to 6 days with average of 5.1 days
The larval food plants of P. demoleus in Asia are from the family Rutaceae, while in Australia and Papua New Guinea, the butterfly also feeds on host plants of family Fabaceae
The lime butterfly is an economic pest on many cultivated citrus species in India, Pakistan, Iraq, and the Middle East. Due to its history of successful dispersal and range extension, the lime butterfly is likely to spread from its original point of introduction in Hispaniola in the Caribbean to neighbouring Florida, Central America, and South America. Due to its capability for rapid population growth under favourable circumstances and its having been recorded to have five generations in a year in temperate regions of China, it is considered a serious potential threat.[13] The caterpillars can completely defoliate young citrus trees (below 2 feet) and devastate citrus nurseries. In mature trees, caterpillars may prefer young leaves and leaf flush.
Hand-picking of caterpillars and spraying with endosulfan 35 EC (2 ml/10 litres of water) were the recommended means of pest control by Indian government agencies and agricultural colleges, however, endosulfan has since been banned by the Supreme Court of India.
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