Chrysopigi – Source of Gold

There's gold in them thar hills! (or so the saying goes) and the name of the next village on our route means just that. I can't promise you gold but there are plenty of blues and whites, the colours of Greece; from the light fluffy clouds in a forget-me-not sky to the small white and common blue butterflies that dance along the roadside verges. The former preferring the smelly Henbane whilst the latter opt for the more delicate European Heliotrope. But let us delve down between these two rock pillars and see what we can find in the hidden depths.

In a month or two's time there will be torrents of water rushing through here but now there are treasures to be found in the sylvan gloom (if you'll just stop looking for gold nuggets under the rocks a moment). These magnificent berries ripening from green to gold (found some!) to brilliant red are the fruits of Black Bryony (Dioscorea communis). Definitely not on the menu though as they are highly poisonous. It is a climbing plant and always entwines itself clockwise, following the sun. It's eerily quiet and still isn't it, but I just caught a movement out of the corner of my eye.

There look, it's just landed beside you. Despite its name, the Common Winter Damselfly (Sympecma fusca), I think it's a lovely little insect. They are unusual in that they are the only dragon/damselflies that overwinter as adults, according to the literature at any rate. Here in Crete I've seen Red-veined Darters in January but maybe they don't read the right field guides. I think that we've exhausted the possibilities of this habitat for the moment so let's continue on to the village which nestles at the base of the Ornos Mountains. As Ornos means mountain this is a bit of a tautology, much like naming a river Avon. Funny old thing, language.

I see that the swallows are still flying above the cliffs, way up in the sky and there are a couple of distant ravens about but what do you make of these white crumbly rocks amid the limestone greys? You can scratch them with your thumbnail. A look at the geological map shows a black square representing gypsum just about where we are standing and this is it. This is the stuff that plaster casts are made from and if you were to scramble up there – not wise as it's very crumbly – you'd very likely fall and break a leg. With a decent pen-knife and a bottle of water you could set your own fracture. An interesting example of nature providing the problem and solution in the same place.

If you look at the Google map you can clearly see the gypsum deposit but look at the wider picture of Mt. Ornos, it seems to be made up of concentric rings. I only know of two ways in which rings like this are formed; volcanoes and meteors. As far as I am aware Crete has never had a volcano of its own but I have found a reference to a significant meteor strike¹ around 333AD and I wonder if this is the result? I'm no geologist so I could be wide of the mark but if anyone can shed some light on this I'm really intrigued.

Calliptamus barbarus

We haven't looked at grasshoppers yet this series, despite the fact that they've been bounding around our feet every time we move, so lets remedy that by getting up close and personal to old Tithonus here. You don't know Tithonus? Well, a very long time ago he was a mortal in love with Eos, the goddess of the dawn. The feeling being mutual Eos asked Zeus to make him immortal which he did... and Tithonus got older and older and older. Not exactly what Eos had planned but as Zeus pointed out to her “You never actually asked for the eternal youth bit, did you?” Eos left with a “Humph!' whilst Zeus chuckled away to himself for several hundred years and Tithonus withered away until little was left of him but his voice. Eos cared for him all this time but felt so sorry for him that she changed him into the insect that we now know as a grasshopper and he's been chirruping away, welcoming the dawn, ever since.

OK, so not biologically accurate but a nice little story to finish up with after all that geology.

The Extra Bit

1 The reference to the meteor strike can be found in the following paper https://www.knowledgeminer.eu/climate/pdf/hc6.pdf

Photographic Bit

Many of you have asked me what photographic equipment I use so here's a quick rundown on the cameras used for each picture. For details of aperture settings, shutter speeds etc. my pictures will be on Flickr within a few days and that has all the geeky stuff.

Picture 1 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Canon EOS 1300D

Picture 2 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets Nikon Coolpix S33

Picture 3 Canon EOS 1300D

Insets

Picture 4 Nikon Coolpix S33

Insets 1. Map from Rackham, O. and Moody, J., The Making of the Cretan Landscape 2. Nikon Coolpix S33 3. Brunel SP-20 Light microscope 4. Google maps

Picture 5 Canon EOS 1300D

Insets

Extra Bit pictures

Pictures were edited with FastStone Image Viewer and combined with Microsoft Paint.

Triton's Trumpet and Mermaids' Wine Glasses

Here we are at Rodinesque Point, a lovely set of rock pools that never fail to  throw up some curious creatures. Before we plunge in though let's have a look at some of the algae that are growing on the rocks. The larger ones are called Peacock's Tails which you may remember we met in the Blue Lagoon; the ones used in anti-wrinkle cream. The ones that look a bit like satellite dishes on stalks are Mermaid's Wine Glasses and both are considered a delicacy by the pretty little sea slug, Elysia timida, which lives around here so keep your eyes peeled. Incidentally you won't find Rodinesque Point on any map, it's a name I've given the area because of that weird rock formation on the headland which looks as though it has been sculpted by Rodin. 

This looks like a nice place to slither in. Just a note on underwater photography in shallow, rocky waters; if you're using a small camera like this Nikon Coolpix hold the lens in the palm of your hand to protect it. Note two; when getting into the water don't flop on a crab – they don't like it and they have a pair of pincers to prove the point. The one that you just missed down there is a Marbled Crab, probably out looking for a spot of lunch. An omnivorous little fellow eating mussels and limpets and a similar amount of algae but not above snacking on other marbled crabs. On the other hand he has to look out for the occasional marauding gull swooping in from above, the Musky Octopus coming up from below and other marbled crabs of course. 

We'll slide ourselves into the water and see who else is at home. We seem to have disturbed a Goby that has taken off like a rocket. They like to settle, well camouflaged, in the coarse sand and wait for lunch to come to them. They are particularly partial to those little amphipods that we saw last week so I'm told. But what have we here under this rock looking like a miniature orange dolphin? This is a Sea Squirt and they feed in an entirely different way. They suck water in at one end, filter the plankton out through internal gills and then expel it through the other end. It must be an exhausting job because they process their own body volume of water once a second which by anybody's reckoning is knocking on a bit. 

This next pool is a bit deeper so let's see what we can find in here. Now this has to be our find of the day so far, how's that for a mollusc? It's bigger than my hand. Time for a bit of Greek mythology. The Greek god of the sea is Poseidon and he is married to the Greek goddess of the sea, Amphitrite. They have a son called Triton who acts as his dad's herald. Both Poseidon and Triton carry tridents but Triton has a special implement for calming or rousing the waves (as well as general heralding) in the form of a large twisted conch shell. This is it: Triton's Trumpet – give it a blow, he won't mind. Oh sorry, I hadn't noticed that it was still occupied. It also works better out of the water, come to think of it. 

If we squeeze through this narrow channel we'll find some less protected waters bordering on the open sea. The best way to explore these is to get out and sit on a rock and gently probe through the algae with your fingers and toes. Now that even beats Triton's Trumpet; a trio of Spotted Sea Hares. Note the 'ears' which give them their name. They are a type of sea slug and as such they are hermaphrodite, being both male and female at the same time. When it comes to mating time they form chains like this and they advertise the orgy by releasing a cocktail of pheromones into the water. Scientists in Galveston, Texas (who obviously have a waggish sense of humour) have identified four of these pheromones and named them Seductin, Enticin, Attractin and Temptin [1]. I take my snorkel off to them. 

The Extra Bit 

Jeremy the Vine Hawk Moth is still pupating so I can think of no better way to round off than just watching the sea hares making more sea hares.  

[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20070519203415/http://www.seaslugforum.net:80/display.cfm?id=19464  

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LINKS: 

Share your nature thoughts, photos and comments on Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog) 

See detailed pictures on Flickr 

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 

Cretan Flora 

Flowers of Crete;  

BIRDS OF CRETE 

Crete Birding 

Greek Butterflies and Moths 

Aquaworld Aquarium 

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office) 

In The Arms of Giants

Did anyone think to bring a bullwhip? A pity because after last week’s leisurely stroll Along The Ardefsi I have a feeling that today’s excursion is going to be a bit more Indiana Jones. Our objective, ladies and gentlemen, is to examine the area around and on top of that grasping claw-like edifice down there. There’s a second one in the distance, beyond the ardefsi. It’s not hard to imagine one of the Giants of Greek mythology, Pallas or Porphyrion say, taking a breather during their battle with The Gods and resting here with his hands upon his knees, gazing out to sea wondering how and when the battle would end. From such landscapes were the Greek myths concocted. The Giants lost by the way, after a bit of chicanery from Zeus prevented Ge from finding a magic herb. Anyhow let’s get down there and see what magic herbs and other wonders of nature we can locate today.

Darkling Beetle, Lower Chafer and Long-horned Beetle

Now somehow we’ve got to find a way up there but before we do it seems we are in the middle of a beetle drive. Firstly, when we left the road we had a little Darkling Beetle mooching about on that parasitic Dodder plant that we came across a couple of weeks ago (rather worryingly it has now spread to a second clump of Cretan Ebony thirty paces further down the hill). Then, here on this Cistus we have a Flower Chafer, a name it derives from the Old English word ceafor meaning beetle. And finally, our friend from last week, the Long-horned Beetle tucking into another Asphodel. Three beetles from three different families, that’s a good start to the day.

Honey Bees on Sage

Well, that wasn’t too bad was it? Now we’re up on top of the Giant’s hand the views are stupendous and the air is full of the scent of wild herbs and the soft drone of pollinating insects. It seems as if we have entered a honey factory. It’s this purple flowering Sage that seems to be attracting the Honey Bees. Not all bees make honey of course; of the twenty thousand or so known species of bee there are only seven species that make the honey for our table.  The sage that they’re working on is a wonderful plant. Apart from being a delicious accompaniment to pork dishes it has been recommended for virtually every ailment known to man at various times. Even its scientific name, Salvia, comes from the Latin salvere meaning to save. Modern research has proved it to have many useful properties from anti-sweating agents to blood fat reduction through to the management of mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease. Perhaps this was the magic herb that Ge was looking for before Zeus thwarted her plans.

Great Tit in the Pines

Let’s leave the honey bees to their industry and go and rest awhile in the shade of the fir trees. Isn’t it amazing how they seem to grow out of solid rock? Lying here is like listening to nature’s orchestra with the bees providing the bass drone, the crickets and grasshoppers on percussion and the birds providing the melodies. The greenfinches and the chaffinches counterpointing one another and the loud pitchoo of the great tit providing the main theme.  It’s strange; although the Great Tit is quite common in these parts I’ve never seen a Blue Tit down here. I’ve seen them in Rethymno and on the Omalos Plateau but never here in Lassithi.  I wonder if there is a line across the island beyond which they will not venture.

 [A quick survey for those of you who live on the island – let me know where you do see (and where you don’t see) Blue Tits on Crete and I’ll try to build up a map.]

Mediterranean Slant-faced Grasshopper Nymph

If we stroll along the Giant’s forearm towards its elbow, as it were, I fancy we’ll find a somewhat less arduous way of getting back to our start point. Quite a few more orchids among the stones here and a little Restharrow I haven’t seen before… and who’s this lurking at my feet? A young Mediterranean Slant-faced Grasshopper. Do you remember the cheeky adult which perched on my pack up at The Hidden Plateau? This is a youngster of a closely related species. Between egg and adult insects have two different ways of growing up. Some, like the beetles and butterflies hatch into larvae and eat like mad for a bit before going into a sort of suspended animation called a pupa where they change their body shape completely. This is known as complete metamorphosis. Others such as grasshoppers and crickets don’t entertain all that palaver but hatch as miniature adults, gradually changing their appearance in a series of moults as they grow bigger. This is known as incomplete metamorphosis. The various stages are called instars and, particularly the late instars when they are almost fully grown but look quite different to the mature adult, can fool you into thinking that you have found a completely new species. So we’ll photograph this little chap and add him to our species record for future reference. So, a pleasant perambulation back through this garden of The Gods and then a little lunch somewhere I think.

Until next week – happy hunting.

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With special thanks this week to Michael Geiser,  Cosmin Manci and Apostolos Trichas of the  Coleoptera Group for providing me with detailed information on the various subfamilies of the Tenebrionidae Darkling beetles and also to Axel Hochkirch at The Orthopterists' Society for recognising the Mediterranean Slant-faced Grasshopper nymph and suggesting the species.

LINKS:

Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)