{"id":5985,"date":"2018-07-10T14:50:10","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T14:50:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/?p=5985"},"modified":"2018-09-27T20:19:47","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T20:19:47","slug":"butterflies-in-tuscany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/10\/butterflies-in-tuscany\/","title":{"rendered":"Butterflies in Tuscany"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Common Blue [L’icaro o argo azzurro] (Polyommatus icarus<\/i>) on Lavender beside the swimming pool of the lovely agriturismo farm, Rocca di Cispiano, where we stayed in Chianti.\u00a0Species names are shown in English [Italian] and (Latin).
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Pool area: not an obvious place for butterflies, but the clever planting of a Lavender border made all the difference<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Scarce Swallowtail\u00a0[Il podalirio] (Iphiclides podalirius<\/i>), a large butterfly with a distinctive sailing flight, taking nectar beside the pool<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Silver-Washed Fritillary [La pafia o Tabacco di Spagna o Fritillaria] (Argynnis paphia<\/i>), a handsome and distinctive species<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
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Tuscan landscape (Chianti): hilltop farms, Vines (bright green rows), Olive trees (blue-gray trees in rows), low mixed maquis (macchia mediterranea<\/i>) forest, Cypress trees on left skyline<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Nine-Spotted Moth [La fegea] (Amata phegea) frequently visited the lavender border and other flowers. It was once also found in England; Chris Manley suggests that global warming might allow it to return (a possible silver lining to that cloud).<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Brimstone [La cedronella] (Gonepteryx rhamni<\/i>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Hummingbird Hawkmoth [La sfinge del galio<\/a> o sfinge colibr\u00ec] (Macroglossum stellatarum<\/i>), darting from flower to flower each time just before I managed to focus the little camera …<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
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Bee-fly (neither a bee nor a butterfly) half-hovering to take nectar, making a particularly loud buzz<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Meadow Brown [La Giurtina o Maniola comune<\/span>] (Maniola jurtina<\/i>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Red Admiral [L’atalanta] (Vanessa atalanta<\/i>). It has\u00a0 a chunk out of its right hindwing, showing it survived an attack.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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The enormous, fearsome, but non-aggressive Mammoth Wasp, [La vespa mammuth<\/span>] (Megascolia maculata), on Wild Artichoke. Presumably its sting would be serious but I can’t find any record of people being stung by this peaceful insect.
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A Mammoth Wasp visiting a potted Hottentot Fig, with a wide view of the Tuscan landscape<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Oak Yellow Underwing Moth (Catocala nymphagoga) on shower beside pool<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The bushes by the pool attracted this Southern White Admiral [Il Silvano azzurro o Piccolo silvano<\/span>] (Limenitis reducta<\/b>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Swallows\u00a0 [La rondine] (Hirundo rustica) swooping over the pool at sunset. Many pairs nest in the farm buildings; there were two active nests inside our porch.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
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Perfect butterfly habitat a short walk from the agriturismo: meadow grass by Olive groves with Scabious (blue) and St John’s Wort (yellow). There’s a tiny Queen of Spain Fritillary in the picture!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Sloe Hairstreak [Satiro dell’acacia<\/em><\/span>] (Satyrium acaciae)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Swallowtail [Il macaone] (Papilio machaon); this one at Brolio castle, but there were many near the agriturismo too<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Queen of Spain Fritillary [La latonia]\u00a0 (Issoria lathonia) on Scabious<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Clouded Yellow [La crocea, La limoncella, Il postiglione] (Colias croceus) pair in nuptial flight<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Marbled White [La galatea] (Melanargia galathea<\/i>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Probably Eastern Burnet Moth [La carniolica] (Zygaena cf carniolica) on Scabious.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
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Zygaena cf carniolica taking flight. The brilliant red underwings give a strong and honest warning signal of the insect’s inedibility.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Eastern Dappled White [L’ausonia] (Euchloe ausonia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Olive Grove and Spanish Broom. Butterflies skittered about the flowery meadow below the trees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Wall Brown [La megera] (Lasiommata megera)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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A lizard, probably the Common Wall Lizard [Lucertola muraiola] (Podarcis muralis) given its dark chin, scurried along the wooden rail at the edge of the pool area.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
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A very battered Oak Yellow Underwing that has survived an attack by a bird<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Great Banded Grayling [Circe, Satiro circe, Sileno] (Brintesia circe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Dingy Skipper [Tagete] (Erynnis tages). There were Large Skippers about too, but their habit of perching on slender waving grasses made photography hopeless.<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Painted Lady [La vanessa del cardo<\/b>] (Vanessa cardui)<\/figcaption><\/figure>
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Spotted Fritillary [La didima] (Melitaea didyma)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n
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Some rather fine wasps apparently attempting to mate<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although it was a bit late in the season for them, we saw half-a-dozen fireflies in the woods by the strada bianca (unmetalled road) and among the olive trees, half an hour or so after sunset.<\/p>\n

I made no attempt to photograph birds, but a Hoopoe flew over the pool, and Turtle Doves cooed nearby. A Cuckoo called from far across the valley; a Song Thrush sang; a Green Woodpecker gave its laughing cry. White Wagtails flew up to the roof, and Italian Sparrows hopped about. Goldfinches twittered in the trees. A Sardinian Warbler raced for the cover of the trees, its black crown conspicuous; a Melodious\u00a0 Warbler sang from the woods. In the night, an owl called, it could have been a Scops Owl. And of course, Cicadas buzzed and Bush Crickets chirped all day long.<\/p>\n

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Cicada exuviae, the shed skin of a wingless nymph<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All photos \u00a9 Ian Alexander 2018<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although it was a bit late in the season for them, we saw half-a-dozen fireflies in the woods by the strada bianca (unmetalled road) and among the olive trees, half an hour or so after sunset. I made no attempt to photograph birds, but a Hoopoe flew over the pool, and Turtle Doves cooed nearby. … Continue reading Butterflies in Tuscany<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[90],"tags":[1309,470,76,272,1313,370,1069,1308,315,1316,1304,1299,1312,1301,36,460,1311,431,1318,1319,1189,1282,472,1296,1314,1302,1297,573,1182,1184,1295,1306,1315,1303,160,1191,489,1310,377,1298],"class_list":["post-5985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-natural-history","tag-agriturismo","tag-bee-fly","tag-brimstone","tag-butterflies","tag-cicada","tag-clouded-yellow","tag-common-blue-butterfly","tag-common-wall-lizard","tag-cuckoo","tag-cypress","tag-dingy-skipper","tag-eastern-dappled-white","tag-firefly","tag-great-banded-grayling","tag-holm-oak","tag-hoopoe","tag-hummingbird-hawkmoth","tag-large-skipper","tag-mammoth-wasp","tag-maquis-forest","tag-marbled-white","tag-meadow-brown","tag-melodious-warbler","tag-nine-spotted-moth","tag-olive","tag-painted-lady","tag-queen-of-spain-fritillary","tag-red-admiral","tag-scarce-swallowtail","tag-silver-washed-fritillary","tag-sloe-hairstreak","tag-southern-white-admiral","tag-spanish-broom","tag-spotted-fritillary","tag-swallow","tag-swallowtail","tag-turtle-dove","tag-tuscany","tag-wall-brown","tag-zygaena-carniolica"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5985"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6459,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5985\/revisions\/6459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.obsessedbynature.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}