Tenerife Butterflies - June 2023

We had a week’s break in Tenerife at the start of June. It wasn’t planned with butterflies in mind, but more of a week’s relaxation in the sun. We stayed at a lovely hotel in Costa Adeje, which was kept immaculately clean. Sadly, that meant that there was very little biodiversity and I only counted ten different creatures there in the seven days! Costa Adeje is a bit of an urban sprawl in a very dry part of the island, so there weren’t many opportunities locally to wander off to look for butterflies.

I went for a longer-than-expected walk on the first day to locate the car hire office and saw fleeting glimpses of Small Whites, Pieris rapae, Long-tailed Blues, Lampides boeticus, and an African Grass Blue, Zizeeria knysna.

Before I went I had arranged to hire a car on the Wednesday to take a trip to the north east of the island, where it is much more vegetated, with beautiful villages, cave houses, terraced vegetable gardens and lovely walks. However, on Monday a note was slipped under our hotel door telling us that Storm Oscar was arriving on Tuesday and Wednesday with strong winds and thunder and lightning. We were advised to remain indoors and keep windows and doors shut. This sounded serious, so I changed my hire car to the Thursday. However, Storm Oscar turned out to be nothing more than a couple of showers and a pleasant breeze where we were!

I was keen to head to Punta del Hidalgo, where Peter Buchanan has seen Plain Tigers, Danaus chrysippus, on three previous winter visits. I was surprised to learn this, as I didn't realise they occur in Tenerife. However, Peter has some great pictures on his blog, so they are certainly there.

I followed his instructions and parked in the village. I found the walk that he had been on, but sadly it was all very dried out and there were no butterflies at all. There were loads of lizards, though!

I could see higher in the mountains that there was quite a bit of tree cover, so I headed back to the car with the intention of driving up there. Back in the village there was a turning circle, where they were re-surfacing the road. I noticed a Lantana plant growing on the island, so thought it was worth checking it out for butterflies. Imagine my surprise when a Plain Tiger drifted around one of the diggers and then landed on a plant next to me. It stayed in the area for quite a while feeding on a blue flower.

On my way back to the car on a weedy patch next to the road I checked out some white butterflies. Most of them were Small Whites, but there was one Bath White, Pontia daplidice.

A male Canary Large White, Pieris cheiranthi, came flying by, chasing off all of the smaller whites as it looked for a mate. Sadly it didn’t stop and soon flew over a fence.

As I was slowly driving out of the village a Monarch, Danaus plexippus, flew past the car!

I headed up into the hills and parked on the outskirts of Pedro Alvarez and walked up the road in the direction of Bejia. The road quickly became quite forested, but there were wild flowers and brambles growing profusely at the side of the road.

Unfortunately, it very quickly clouded over, but not before I saw a few Canary Speckled Woods, Pararge xiphioides.

Back at the car I was watching a Small White fly among some plants and noticed it showed a particular interest in one plant. I took a look and saw a Geranium Bronze, Cacyreus marshalli, roosting on a flower head. Funnily, I had been checking all of the geraniums in the window boxes and gardens in the village for this species earlier with no luck!

It had clearly been raining quite heavily in this area the previous day, judging by the gravel washed onto the roads. I decided to take the more scenic return journey along the north of the island and it rained most of the way back. However, the south of the island had been dry all day.

There is a large, rather un-loved park running through the middle Costa Adeje. 

Much of it is very dry and gravelly but there was one shady spot where there were some flowering shrubs and dried out weeds, which seemed to attract Long-tailed Blues. Normally, when I have seen them around the Mediterranean they have been flying singly in gardens and shrub land. But, in this park there were hundreds of them flying low over the dried up weeds and grassy areas. They would occasionally land in the trees and on a particular plant that was still in flower in a couple of shady spots.

There were a few African Grass Blues, flying among the Long-tailed Blues, but far fewer. I am used to seeing these flying low to the ground over grass and wild flowers.

Everywhere I went there were always one or two Small Whites, flying by.

On my last day I checked out the park again. As well as the butterflies I had seen previously there was a Clouded Yellow, Colias croceus, feeding on a flowering plant. Another Canary Large White flew past, but it was on a mission, so didn’t stop.

By the end of the week, I had only see ten species of butterflies, but it was still an enjoyable week. I would have loved to have seen some of the other species I saw on my previous visit ten years ago, but at least I have added Plain Tiger to the list of species I have seen in Tenerife!

Speckled Wood - Pararge aegeria

The Speckled Wood, Parage aegeria, is a small to medium sized butterfly with a wingspan of about 50mm. As the name suggests it is usually found in wooded areas, choosing sunny sheltered spots, where males tend to take up territories.

Pararge aegeria tircis

It is a butterfly that excites me, as until recently it hadn't been recorded in East Lothian. Over the last few years it has been extending its range in the UK northwards. In 2009 a colleague saw one just inside East Lothian and another one was seen the following year. In 2011 I came across a small colony of Speckled Woods at John Muir Country Park, about ten miles further along the coast.

In only two years since then they have continued to spread through East Lothian and now they are found in many small areas of woodland over about two thirds of the county.

The map on the left above show the distribution of Speckled Woods in 1970. I have marked East Lothian in red. (This map is taken from The Provisional Atlas of the Insects of the British Isles, 1970) The map on the right is taken from the UK Butterflies web site and shows the distribution in 2004. The butterfly has clearly extended its range considerably in those 40 years. It has also continued to spread northwards by about 100 miles since the second map was produced.

The caterpillars feed on a variety of different grasses. In the UK adult butterflies are on the wing from late March to early October in several generations. They can overwinter as a caterpillar or chrysalis. In southern Europe adult butterflies can be seen almost all year round.

Pararge aegeria tircis

The Speckled Wood occurs over most of Europe and there are four subspecies. Pararge aegeria aegeria occurs in northern Africa and south-west Europe to about half way across France. It has orange markings on a brown background.

Pararge aegeria aegeria

Pararge aegeria aegeria

The subspecies that is found in much of the UK is tircis, which occurs in much of north east Europe. This has smaller cream markings instead of orange and a slightly darker background colour.

Pararge aegeria tircis

Pararge aegeria tircis

There are two other subspecies - insula, which occurs on the Isles of Scilly. Its markings are somewhere between cream and orange. The subspecies oblita occurs in north-west Scotland and its markings are said to be closer to white on a dark brown, almost black, background.

When we were in Tenerife last July, I was delighted to find the Canary Speckled Wood, Pararge xiphioides. This looks much like the southern European subspecies. The most obvious difference is the white markings on the underside of the wings.

Pararge xiphioides

Pararge xiphioides

Pararge xiphioides

There is another species of Speckled Wood, Pararge xiphia, which lives on the island of Madeira. I haven't seen it, but that gives me a good excuse to go there on holiday in the future! I wonder if the family agree!!

Tenerife - Butterflies - July 2013

Our family holiday this year was spent in Tenerife during the last two weeks in July. I managed to sneak in a few walks while my wife and kids were enjoying the beaches and swimming pool. We were at a resort in Callao Salvaje in the south-west which wasn't a particularly good area for butterflies, however with the island only being about 80 kilometres long, nowhere was more than about an hour and a half's drive away.

Most of the southern side of the island is semi-desert with various succulents and drought-tolerant plants growing. In the spring it must be quite colourful when the plants are in flower, but at this time of year there was nothing much flowering.

The north of the island is greener and a little cooler and much less developed.

On the first morning I was delighted to see African Grass Blues, Zizeeria knysna, on the grass outside
our villa. They seem to occur on almost every irrigated grassy area and many flowerbeds in the towns and resorts. I didn't see them in any natural areas, so I guess that they will be one of the few species to have benefited from the developments there.

Most days we would see one or two Small Whites, Pieris rapae, flying through the resort and later on our holiday my daughter spotted about thirty Small White chrysalises on an abandoned building across the road from our resort. They were probably the most widespread butterfly we saw while we were there.

Each evening, at about 7 o'clock, a Monarch, Danaus plexippus, would cruise amongst the trees opposite our villa. It occasionally landed on a leaf, stayed for a few minutes and then flew around again. There was one tree that it appeared to feed on, but I couldn't figure out why it landed on the other trees, or why it always seemed to arrive at that time in the evening! I never managed to keep track of it, so possibly it came to those trees to roost for the night.

A few days into the holiday, I drove up to the north west corner of the island for a walk in the Laurel forest near a small village called Erjos. Having only seen three species of butterflies in the first three days, this proved to be a good move! I saw ten species of butterfly that day. Sadly, the first one was a road casualty, a Canary Red Admiral, Vanessa vulcania, making its last few flutters at the side of the road. It was a very striking butterfly, noticeably more of a deep red than our Red Admiral, with fewer white markings. Unfortunately, this was to be the only one I saw on our trip.

Once in Erjos, I walked out of the village, through some small fields where there were several Small Whites. I guess that the local cabbage production is severely impacted, as one small field had over 100 Small Whites amongst the Brassicas!

Outside the village, on a shady path, I saw my first Canary Speckled Wood, Pararge xiphioides. It was the first of about 50 I saw in the Laurel forest and they turned out to be the most common butterfly on the tracks through the forest.

A little further up the path, in a sunny spot, there were several Clouded Yellows, Colias croceus, chasing each other without stopping for a picture! This spot also proved attractive for Small Coppers, Lycaena phlaeas, and Southern Brown Argus, Aricia cramera.

Once into the cooler Laurel Forest, I saw my one and only Canary Grayling, Pseudotergumia wyssii, and later I saw a Canary Brimstone, Gonepteryx cleobule, flying towards me. It was rather ragged, but quite a bright yellow. Unfortunately neither of them stopped for a picture.

Further down the track I saw a Canary Large White, Pieris cheiranthi, on a thistle growing in a gorge below the path. There was too much vegetation between it and me for a picture, but later I saw another. After scrambling and sliding down the side of the gorge I did manage to get a few pictures, but not very good ones. They were worth all of the cuts and grazes, though! The Canary Large White is noticeably larger than our Large White and much more strongly marked. When it flies it appears to be yellow, black and white, but when it lands the yellow isn't so obvious.

The other butterfly I saw that day was a Meadow Brown, Maniola jurtina, that was at the side of the path back into Erjos.

Two days later we drove up to the Parque Nacional Del Teide. I was very surprised to see quite a number of flowering plants and shrubs in this high, dry landscape. At the visitor centre, close to 12,000 feet above sea level, there were plenty of Canary Blues, Cyclyrius webbianus, flying among the Shrubby Scabious and White Broom.

I saw what I assume were Bath Whites, Pontia daplidice, flying by. The Tenerife Green-striped White, Euchloe belemia hesperidum, also occurs up there, but I think it was a little too late in the season for it to have been them. There were also a few Clouded Yellows flying among the sparse vegetation.

The following day I dropped my wife and kids off at a water park at Puerto de la Cruz on the north of the island while I visited the botanical gardens. Unfortunately, it was a rather overcast day and the gardens are very leafy and shaded, so I only saw a couple of Small Whites there. So I went for a walk in the Pine forest instead!

Back in Puerto de la Cruz to pick up the family I saw a couple of African Migrants, Catopsilia florella, amongst the Small Whites. The flower beds outside the water park were teaming with Geranium Bronze, Cacyreus marshalli, and African Grass Blue, Zizeeria knysna.

A couple of days later I decided to go for a walk near a village called Masca where I had been told there were good walks. The village is reached down a death-defying road, consisting of nothing but hairpin bends on a steep mountain side. I couldn't find much in the way of paths to walk, but enjoyed walking along the road and among the terraces of vegetables. Amongst the numerous Small Whites there were quite a lot of Clouded Yellows laying eggs. Also Long-tailed Blues, Lampides boeticus, Bath Whites, Southern Brown Argus and Small Coppers. It was lovely watching Monarchs floating on the thermals at the side of the road.

One day we visited Siam Park, which claims to be the biggest water park in Europe. I had plenty of time to look for butterflies while queuing up for the water slides. Strangely, I only saw three butterflies, despite the lush vegetation and flowering plants. Later that week, back at our resort, we received a note through the door to say that they would be fumigating the gardens the following day. This consisted of one person with a knapsack sprayer spraying insecticide and another with what looked like a leaf blower puffing out smoke. This was to keep the cockroaches down, but I am sure this sort of treatment must also repel butterflies. And I think this probably explains the lack of butterflies at Siam Park, too.

On my second last day I drove up to the north east of the island to Anagar. Much of this area is a national park and covered in Laurel forest. I thought that probably the best area to look for butterflies would be around the edge of the forest, and I found an amazing road going down to a collection of houses called Bejia. Many of the houses were built into the rock faces and much of the area was terraced with various fruit and vegetables growing.

I walked down the road and then over a path to the neighbouring village of Los Batanes. This area proved to be very good for butterflies. It was much cooler than the south of the island (21 degrees Celsius as opposed to 28 degrees) and very green and productive. The first butterfly I saw was a Canary Blue, Cyclyrius webbianus, and it was strange seeing it in a completely different habitat to Mount Teide. During my walk I came across and another six or seven.

It was interesting that at the top of the road there were a lot of Canary Speckled Woods, but as I descended they became less common and further down the road the area was also alive with Small Whites and Bath Whites.

I saw one more Canary Large White, several Southern Brown Argus and a number of Clouded Yellows. Sadly, I didn't see any Canary Red Admirals, which was what I was hoping to find that day. I was told that they were quite common on the south of the island over the winter, but that they are rare during the summer due to the lack of flowers. They should still be around on the north of the island during the summer, though.

However, I did manage to see 17 species during our holiday. I was surprised not to see a Painted Lady and I did spend a lot of time checking out areas of grassland for Canary Skippers,  Thymelicus christi, without success. The only other butterfly that I potentially could have seen would have been a Cardinal, Argynnis pandora.

I would love to return to Tenerife, maybe in the spring time, as it is a fantastic destination for walking, once you get away from the developed areas.