Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere

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John J

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Re: Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere
« Reply #30 on: June 14, 2014, 09:56:25 AM »
The swallowtails are back, found this chap on a fennel this morning.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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MikeHardman

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Re: Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere
« Reply #31 on: June 14, 2014, 10:33:17 AM »
T'rific John,
Keep an eye out for the pupa(e); I have yet to see one of those.
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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John J

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Re: Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere
« Reply #32 on: June 16, 2014, 06:15:49 AM »
In past years Swallowtails have shown a preference for Crithmum as a host plant but this year I haven't found one on my plants so far. Instead they seem to have gone for the fennel.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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MikeHardman

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    • www.mikehardman.com
Re: Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere
« Reply #33 on: June 16, 2014, 06:54:54 AM »
I haven't seen any caterpillars on Crithmum this year, but I have seen a female ovipositing on the plant...
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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John J

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Re: Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere
« Reply #34 on: October 04, 2019, 06:39:10 AM »
I haven't seen many Swallowtail caterpillars on the Crithmum this year but spotted this one today.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)

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MikeHardman

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    • www.mikehardman.com
Re: Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere
« Reply #35 on: October 04, 2019, 07:50:11 AM »
... in contrast, I have seen more.
But maybe because I was looking closely. I needed to shear a run of about 3m along the dry stone wall. So I hunted for the little caterpillars, to move them to a different patch of Crithmum. I found 15.
Mike
Geologist by Uni training, IT consultant, Referee for Viola for Botanical Society of the British Isles, commissioned author and photographer on Viola for RHS (Enc. of Perennials, The Garden, The Plantsman).
I garden near Polis, Cyprus, 100m alt., on marl, but have gardened mainly in S.England

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John J

  • Hero Member
Re: Some butterflies from Hymettus , Mount Dirfis and elsewhere
« Reply #36 on: October 04, 2019, 08:18:06 AM »
Good to hear, Mike. We've had very few Swallowtails in evidence this year in our area.
Cyprus Branch Head. Gardens in a field 40 m above sea level with reasonably fertile clay soil.
"Aphrodite emerged from the sea and came ashore and at her feet all manner of plants sprang forth" John Deacon (13thC AD)