Insects Enjoying the 36 Degrees in Alonnissos Greece

The heat of 13th May certainly brought out the various spiders and insects. My favourites were the Jumping spider, Philaeus chrysops, the Robber fly with prey, Bee Fly in flight  and the Clearwing Moth (ID to follow)

 

36 Degrees in Alonnisos, Greece and Overcast

The day started with a soft dawn leading to a very hot day in this Greek Island on the 13th May. We spent the morning on the old Donkey Path that leads from the Old Town (damaged in an earthquake in the 1960s) to the new port and town. Insect images to follow as this was our main focus. We then went to Steni Vala, a beautiful bay for lunch - you can see how crowded it is with our car the only one parked. Following this we attempted to find the lake marked on the map but after a number of 'off-road' excursions we ended up at Geraka Bay - definitely the end of the road. A few scenic shots and also the two Lizards seen - one the common Wall Lizard but not sure of other found in the pine woods

 

People and Cats in Skiathos

Here a few pictorial shots from Skiathos. The streets and cafes are full of cats of every shape and colour, which add to the attractive architecture and the occasional dog. 

From Grey Rainy Stansted to Grey Skies in Skiathos

On the 12th May we left Stansted at 7.30 am for Skiathos in Greece. We had a few hours to spend in Skiathos before taking the ferry to Alonnisos, where we were to photograph flowers and insects. There sky was grey there but the light bright and the temperature warm. The streets are narrow and mopeds and motor bikes travel up and down them so conversation are often had at a distance. Next blog introduces some of the people and cats

Problems with Blogger

I am not able to upload images to my Blog at the moment (away in Greece for a week). Not sure if this is a Blogger problem or one with the Greek network but wanted folk to know that I am ok and you will get lots of images - especially cats and bugs when normal service is resumed.
Solved - for future reference need to direct ipv-4 connection to set server ip address 8.8.8.8

Southerly Winds and Hobbies etc Move On

Beautiful morning so a trip to Wicken Fen hoping for another feast of Hobbies and Terns to photograph. Just one Common Tern and a single Hobby were present but plenty of warblers including this glimpse of a Reed Warbler and lots of Whitethroats. Wondered if  pair of images are Lesser Whitethroat rather than the previous common Whitethroat.

Aphids - Advantages of Cloning versus Sex

The Blackfly and Greenfly (Aphids) are abundant in the garden at the moment. I attempted focus stacking (first photo) some on a red campion stalk. The stacked photo is not that successful photographically as they are very shiny and moving and so the stacking has accentuated the reflections. However, it has shown their amazing biology well. In most colonies, all the aphids are female. Without males, no energy is expended finding mates, courting, and the laying and incubation of eggs. Parthenogenesis, the development of unfertilised eggs, enables female aphids to give birth to live young as soon as they are adult - you can see one emerging in the first photo. Some of the females in these clones will have wings to disperse the colony.
 Parthenogenesis  produces clones of individuals very rapidly and this is obviously an advantage but aphid colonies do not go on reproducing themselves indefinitely. At a certain time clonal reproduction ceases and  males and egg-laying females appear, mate and produce fertilised eggs. You can see a male (winged) on the rose bud greenfly colony

The last two days were very cold and overcast in Cambridgeshire and this Four-spotted Chaser emerged on Monday morning and was still in the same position on Tuesday until mid afternoon when the wind turned more southerly giving a bit of warmth. The irises are full of exuvia -6 or 7 so far this year.