We'll
wander off the track here for a bit and see what this rocky outcrop
has to offer. It seems as though we have disturbed a robber fly at
his breakfast. These are ambush predators that feed almost
exclusively on other insects; in this case an unsuspecting cicada has
been the victim. Despite their murderous habits I think that they're
rather distinguished looking fellows with their great white beards –
a sort of Father Christmas of the insect world, though not as
benevolent, obviously.
We
may find a bit of shade now as we move into the pines, it was getting
rather hot on the exposed rock back there. I can hear a couple of
greenfinches about but I've given up trying to spot them in this sort
of habitat, they're too well camouflaged for my eyes. Not so this
spectacular Jewel Beetle that's just landed in the Cretan Ebony. He
looked like a little golden sphere of sunlight in flight and he's
rather eye catching even down here among the foliage. I'll see if I
can hoik him out so that you can have a better look at him.
Unfortunately their beautiful, iridescent wing cases (the result of
varying
numbers of stacked chitin layers
scientists discovered a few years back1)
has meant that they've been much prized in the jewellery world –
hence their name. The old, old story I'm afraid; we don't consider
ourselves particularly attractive, other animals are, so we kill them
and adorn ourselves with the pretty bits. I still think that the wing
cases look better on the beetles than on fop's finery. I've even seen
them sewn into a tea cosy for goodness sake.
Enough
grumbling about people's peccadilloes, we'll double back on ourselves
and see what this grass bowl has to offer. Whew! This is quite a sun
trap. Not much moving down here but the occasional grasshopper so I
suggest that we move into the shade of that overhang (praying that we
don't have an earthquake in the meantime). These are curious little
red flowers growing up through the gravel. They are Stonecrop, hardy
little plants that store their water in succulent leaves prior to
flowering. This particular one, for the botanists among you, is
Coastal Stonecrop (Sedum
litoreum var.
litoreum).
It's
getting hot again, even in the shade, let's continue along the track
and see if we can find somewhere cooler to rest awhile.
Ideal,
an old hillside hovel. The area is littered with these relicts with
their built-in fireplaces and storage niches. This one still has its
roof more or less intact but the floor doesn't appear to have been
swept for a while. Nice places for spider hunting and we have a
representative of my favourite family here; the salticidae or jumping
spiders. They're easy to recognise, not only by their way of running
(in short, jerky hops) but from their eye pattern which you can see
if you look at his head under the hand lens. The jumping spiders have
two small eyes set well back on the top of the head, either side of
that black band, as well as the six forward facing eyes. Each spider family has its own distinctive eye
pattern and this is theirs.
Next
week we'll trundle off down the hill and if this heat keeps up we'll
soon have to think about getting under the waves once more and
meeting up with our fishy friends again.
The
Extra Bit
We've
spent a fair bit of time recently walking through wild oats and you
will have undoubtedly noticed their method of seed dispersal. They
spear any passing large animal (like us) with a very sharp and
cunningly barbed javelin in the hope that we will transport the seed
to a new and favourable location. Having stopped every quarter of a
mile or so to rid ourselves of these painful adherents we have
completed the job to the oats' satisfaction if not exactly to our
own.
*********************************************************************
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Read
more about the flora and flora of the island in The
Nature of Crete (Flipboard
Magazine)
Explore
the region with the #CreteNature interactive Hiking
and Nature Map
Sowing your wild oats, indeed!
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