Updated June 2017
Butterflies always seem so fragile, so transient. So it came as quite the surprise when I read that (a) there are butterfly fossils dating back around 56 million years, and (b) the Painted Lady appears to hold the record for the longest return migration, from Africa to the Arctic circle and back!
This photograph was taken at Vorh on Hvar, altitude around 500 metres. European ivy is known for having flowers high in nectar, and was swarming with butterflies and bees in September. The Painted lady migrates from North Africa and the Mediterranean northwards in the springtime, and southwards in the autumn. The 9,000 mile round trip between tropical Africa and the Arctic circle may take as many as 6 generations! Was this butterfly on a refuelling stop for its Autumn migration?
This summer I’ve been more aware of butterflies on Hvar, possibly due to my recent interest in wildflowers. It’s a good sign, as flowers and butterflies mean a healthy ecosystem. Though sometimes they were nowhere near any flowers!
As I was sitting on the Soline beach near Vrboska, painting with my art group, this visitor was very interested in my paintbox! Luckily I had my phone to hand, and managed to capture the moment! And as I didn’t really feel that paints were proper nourishment, being toxic and all, I closed up the box, so it decided to try some wine instead!
While some (adult) butterflies live only for a few days, other species survive for almost a full year. Those living longer can feed on nectar from flowers, and they are in fact important pollinators for some kinds of plants. Although they can’t carry as much pollen as bees, they are able to take it over longer distances. They’ll also sip water (and wine!), are sometimes attracted to dung, rotting fruit, or the salt in human sweat for other essential minerals and nutrients. Their “taste” receptors are apparently located on their feet, so they can determine whether a leaf is suitable for laying eggs on (ie the caterpillar kids can eat it!)
I spotted this Red admiral near the peak of Sv Nikola, up in the high country (628 metres). Good view of the underside of the wing. Red admirals also migrate, spending summer in northern Europe, and winter near the Mediterranean.
In Croatian, a butterfly is called a leptir, for once easy to remember as it’s clearly related to lepidoptera (from the ancient Greek lepís=scale + pterón=wing). It’s less certain why the English saw any association with butter, though the name has been around for some time in old Dutch and German. Were there only yellow butterflies in northern Europe, I wonder?
Another butterfly that was keen to share our wine was this Two-tailed Pasha with exceptional taste at restaurant Laganini on Palmižana! It did, in fact, take a dive headfirst into my glass and had to be rescued at the expense of the wine!
A fine butterfly, and a great poser with his proboscis stuck into a drop of lemon sorbet (with vodka and prosecco) for a good long drink! Two-tailed pashas produce two generations in a season, flying May/June and August/October. Clearly, they also like a drink!
The beautiful colour of butterfly wings is due to the scales. While the dark blacks and browns are melanin pigments, and yellows come from uric acid and flavones, the other bright blues, greens, reds and iridescence are all caused by the structure of the scales and hairs.
Meanwhile, back at the popular ivy flowers, was this lovely Cardinal which is a fairly common butterfly around southern Europe from April to September. Sadly the photograph doesn’t quite do justice to the shimmer of that pale green colour. Very pretty in real life!
The second Cardinal was spotted in a garden in Stari Grad. Good view of the antennae, and the proboscis stuck into the flower. It looks to have only 4 legs, but that’s apparently normal for some types of butterflies, the front two legs are much reduced.
Hmmm, the field notes say the Wall brown is very alert and difficult to approach for taking photos – well, that’s certainly true! This guy was spotted beside the path on the way up to Sv Nikola, and this is the best photograph I could manage!
A recent (2011-13) study of butterflies on Hvar recorded 49 species, some of which are very rare within Croatia. All in all, 57 species have been recorded on Hvar, giving it 4th place among the islands for butterfly diversity. I have a long way to go to spot all those!
Update June 2017
Yet another butterfly that enjoys eating at a restaurant! This Woodland Grayling joined us at the Artichoke in Jelsa, investigating whether we had anything of interest. As it fluttered around us, I could see a pretty yellow pattern set on dark, but every time it landed, the wings were firmly raised and held closed.
Thankfully, when I came to identify it from my photos afterwards, I found I’d got just one image showing the pattern on the upperside. And yes, it has yellow markings! I’ve tracked it down as definitely a Grayling, and most likely the Hipparchia fagi – the woodland version which is quite widespread in Europe, including Croatia. I do wonder, though, as fagi = latin for beech tree, where it finds them on the island?
“Happiness is a butterfly, which when pursued, is always just beyond your grasp, but which, if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.”
~ Nathaniel Hawthorne