One
of the major ecotourist attractions on the south east coast of Crete
is Red
Butterfly Gorge which
we visited back in February 2014. Much less visited, but still worthy
of our attention, is
the narrow strip of land opposite the gorge entrance, between the
road and the sea. The sea shore, the cliffs and the cliff tops
constitute a habitat called the littoral zone and today we are going
to look for life on the littoral.
This
is one of the hottest and driest areas on the island, the ground is
stony and the vegetation is sparse; hardy pines, mastic bushes and
thyme predominate but, here and there, sunshine yellow Fumana flowers
burst through. It is also a favourite haunt of grasshoppers, such as
this Calliptamus
(he
of the rear end pincers
for use in mating)
which we met in the Uplands
in October 2016.
That
isolated beach down there is where we want to get to next, and there
would appear to be no obvious route. We did, however, cross a tiny
gully a little while back, which would seem to be a good place to
start. If you want to get to the sea; follow the water course. Some
very spiny and scratchy plants on the way through but, not to worry,
the blood will wash off in the sea and we have loads of rock pools to
explore.
OK,
so we burnt our feet on the sand, the rock pools were alternately
razor sharp then smooth and slippery, and we only found a few Sea
Slaters. Life’s like that sometimes. Thalassotherapy time - we’ll
sit and watch the waves crashing in for a bit and then try further
down the coast.
What
a difference a few hundred yards makes. That, and the fact that the
stream which flows through Butterfly Gorge reaches
the sea at this point, means that there is a lot more going on here.
We have some beautiful Silverleaf Nightshade, Solanum
elaeagnifolium,
and exploring the leaves, a
Blister Beetle, Mylarbis
kodymi. Interestingly,
both the plant and the beetle can be poisonous to horses. I wonder if
there’s a connection?
Moving
on, and we have a marvellous spread of Globe Thistles, Echinops
spinosissimus. These
are really attracting the Hymenopterans this morning, in particular,
Honey Bees, Apis
melifera, and
Mammoth Wasps Megascolia
maculata. These
are well named; worker bees are 10-15mm long, Mammoth Wasps are 4 to
6 times bigger at 60mm! I have read that they have a sting to match,
but like most animals; ‘you leave them be and they’ll leave you
be’, as my grandmother taught me.
Note:
If
you do get stung, the Hymenoptera page of The Quick Guide To Creepy-Crawlies has
a medical treatment section. What do you mean, you haven’t bought a
copy yet? Come along, come along, what else are you going to do with
all that money you’ve saved over the last three months?
As
it is now getting extremely hot, I suggest that we sit in the shade
of this Tamarisk tree and explore the world at our feet. The most
obvious thing is this mat of red foliage, giving
the landscape a somewhat Martian appearance. It is the Slender
Iceplant, Mesambryanthemum
nodiflorum. Wikipedia
declares this to be “native
to Israel, Palestine, and Jordan, as also endemic to southern
Africa.” This
confuses me a bit because, to the best of my knowledge, a native
plant exists naturally in the named areas (e.g. Israel, Palestine and
Jordan) whereas, an endemic
plant exists naturally only
in
the named area (e.g. southern Africa). By my logic a plant cannot be
both endemic and native to different areas. Thoughts and
clarification from any etymologically inclined botanists please.
And
on that little puzzler we’ll make our way back to the car as we
have a lunchtime get together to attend in order to celebrate the
re-opening of tavernas, post lockdown. Do
not confuse the little bottles of hand sanitizer with the little
bottles of raki.
And
finally… I’ve
had a lot of correspondence recently from people discovering giant
spiders in their houses. I too, have had one as a house guest
recently. They are Huntsman spiders, Eusparassus
walckenaeri. Firstly,
they are totally harmless to us humans so don’t throw your slipper
at them. They are useful in the house because they eat insects and
are particularly partial to the odd cockroach. If you have an
inherent abhorrence of spiders this is a good one to get to know. It
likes to live high up on walls and on the ceiling (so you always know
where it is and it is not going to surprise you by suddenly appearing
from under a cushion, or running across your feet). It is also large
enough to be regarded as a small pet, like a mouse. Say hello and
then leave it be, it will leave you be, in return.
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See
sample pages of all my books and latest blogs, and keep abreast of
latest publications here:
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All
you need to know to identify any type of insect, spider, worm or
snail very simply and find out more about it.
Yvonne:
This
was a gift for a family so that the children can understand what
they see on days out. The second was for me. Logical and easy to
use. If you know anyone who likes nature you can be confident that
gifting this book will give years of pleasure.
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The
Eggs of Saramova
A
science fiction novella for those who don't like science fiction.
A fast-paced thriller that is, literally, out of this world (and
it starts right here in Crete).
Too
new for reviews yet!
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A
light-hearted look at life through the eyes of the fairer sex.
Janet:
If
you are short on time but enjoy reading and are maybe not into
long extended novels then Not Just For... Twisted Women provides
readers with concise stories that stand alone and most certainly
entertain with their ultimate twists. Loved it.
Helen:
A
very good read! Well written and entertaining!
Margaret:
Each
quick tale gives a glimpse into a character's life and has an
often humorous twist at the end. I would love to read more.
Yvonne:
These
days many people find it hard to find the time to read a novel, so
this book of short stories is ideal to dip into. It is also makes
a good gift.
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Crete
Nature Catch-up
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Nice writing. While reading this, it struck me that, here in Southern California, we have our own versions of almost every plant and animal you mention. Slaters, nightshade, thistles, blister beetles, invasive iceplant and tamarisk, etc. We have huge wasps called tarantula hawk wasps that have extremely painful stings. The female paralyzes a tarantula and lays a single egg on it -- just like your mammoth wasp paralyzes a grub and lays a single egg on it. Yet they're not even in the same family. We do have a Mediterranean-like climate, similar to Crete. I suppose that explains a lot of the similarities.
ReplyDeleteThanks Tim, we share a similar climate so I guess it's covergent evolution in practice.
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