Old School Spiders and Killer Spuds

We'll start where we left off last week at the derelict dwellings and make our way down to the heart of the village but before we do I've just seen something large and red fly by my nose and land on that wild carrot over there. What a magnificent specimen (and go compare that for a facial appendage). Those fantastically large antennae mark him out as one of the Longhorn Beetles (family Cerambycidae). The antennae are used primarily for smelling the air but in some insects they actually help to stabilize their flight (which is a bit counter-intuitive as you'd think that they would make the creature a bit of an awkward flier). But when you think of a tightrope walker with a long balancing pole it makes a bit more sense.

This is something I wasn't expecting to find, a terrace full of potatoes planted on the hillside totally out of context with everything around it. The flowers are rather pretty and very similar to Silver-leaved Nightshade. The reason for this is that they are both in the same family (Solanaceae) and like all members of the Nightshade family they contain the poison solanine as a natural insecticide. Potato poisoning is rare but not unknown: in 1979 a group of 78 schoolboys from south London were poisoned and although they survived to tell the tale (previous cases have been fatal) they were pretty ill and some were confused and hallucinating for several days afterwards. My grandmother's old maxim: 'never eat green potatoes' turns out to be good advice. Although the green is merely chlorophyll found in all green plants (for which reason I'd always rather discounted my grandmother's warning) it is an indicator of the build-up of solanine. Ah, the old 'uns knew a thing or two. Generally the amounts of solanine in spuds (and tomatoes and aubergines too for that matter who are also in the same family) is too low to cause any problems at all.

This is what passes for Central Drive in Ferma and I see that a colony of ants are using those black water pipes as a motorway. They seem to be moving house judging by the number of eggs and pupae being transported down the hill. We always think of bees and wasps as being natural compatriots but ants fall into the same group of insects too; the Hymenoptera. How they are related within the group has always been a bit of a puzzle as it all depends upon which aspects of their anatomy and/or behaviour you use as your yardstick. Anyhow, a few years back a group of scientists led by Bryan Davis in California decided to solve the puzzle once and for all by scouring the countryside for ants, wasps and bees of all denominations and taking DNA samples (I'm not sure that I'd have volunteered to be a part of that team). They sequenced the genomes and found that the majority of wasps went their own way from a common ancestor at an early stage. A few, the scolid wasps and allies, along with the bees and ants decided upon a different evolutionary path. The bees and ants then parted with the scolids and finally the bees and ants separated. All except the thread-waisted wasps which followed the bees' evolutionary path (so maybe we should call them thread-waisted bees?). So, when did we learn that ants are more closely related to bees than wasps are? Not until 2013 which just goes to show how much there is still to be discovered about the natural world. [1]

Oh look, a red spotted dandelion. Ye gods! The spots are alive. The area is literally crawling with little red animals. A quick leg count under the hand lens – eight so they're arachnids. They are a type of mite going by the name of Balaustium. There are a couple of clues to identifying this genus: firstly, unlike other members of the Erythraeidae family they are pollen feeders rather than predators and secondly they have a noticeable gap between the second and third legs. Apparently, although they are vegetarian they can give you a nip so maybe it's not a good idea to let them swarm up your left leg like that.

I see that you've gone for the squishing method of mite removal rather than the gentle brush. Maybe not so wise, your leg now looks like a war zone. No matter, come and have a look at this harrow I've just stumbled upon. Is this the original Harrow-on-the-Hill? I wouldn't have thought that this is the most useful piece of equipment you could have on a steep hillside like this but it explains how the potatoes got planted. There's another one of our jumping spiders down there look. There is a controversial theory that these spiders are socially superior to other spiders and this would appear to be supporting evidence for that theory. How so? He's obviously an Old Harrovian. He's even in the school colours.

The Extra Bit

[1]  Phylogenomics Resolves Evolutionary Relationships among Ants, Bees, and Wasps from Current Biology Volume 23, Issue 20, p2058–2062, 21 October 2013

I suppose I ought to tell you a bit about the village facilities in case you fancy a visit: plenty of places to stay including a hotel (Porto Belassario) and a number of self-catering apartments. There is also a campsite at nearby Koutsounari. A choice of places to eat and drink as well as a village store, a butcher, a baker (no candlestick maker), two hairdressers and a petrol station. And me of course. Everything you need really. Yes, we have no MacDonald's, KFC, faux Irish Pubs, rowdy nightclubs or strip joints(but we do have bananas in season).

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LINKS:

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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

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Porto Belissario

Porto Belissario - the hotel garden ecosystem

Welcome back. Did you have a good summer/winter break and are you all refreshed and eager for another season of traipsing round the Cretan countryside, sliding unintentionally down scree slopes and backing into thorn bushes? Good. With so much strenuous work ahead of us I thought we’d better start with a holiday. For our first two weeks we’ll be staying at the delightful Porto Belissario Hotel here in Ferma. There is method in my madness. As many of you are not fortunate enough to live on this beautiful island but only get to visit it for a short while then you will most probably be staying in apartments or a hotel such as this with manicured lawns and herbaceous borders. This, of course, is a totally artificial environment but one worthy of closer investigation.

Introduced plants: Hibiscus, Bougainvillea, Date palm, Frangipani

So, Cretan flower guide in hand, let’s go into the garden and see what we can find. And here we hit our first problem; the guide only lists flowers that are native to Crete and many of the plants that you will see in urban settings are introduced. So here’s the low down on four that you may well come across. The one with the showy red flowers is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. We do have a native Hibiscus on Crete, Hibiscum trionum, but it is rare and only found in one area. This one is a cultivar originally from Africa and Asia. The second one is Bougainvillea from South America and (a good trick question for quiz enthusiasts) the petals are white. The magenta surrounds that look like petals are bracts, a specialised type of leaf. The palm tree is a Date Palm, Phoenix dactylifera, from Asia, producer of the well known sticky fruit. There is only one palm tree native to Europe, the Cretan Date Palm Phoenix theophrasti, which you can find behind the beach at Vai on the east coast. And finally…the beautiful white flowers with the yellow centres are Frangipani (Plumeria sp.) from South and Central America.

Western Conifer Seed Bug, Leptoglossus occidentalis

Now you may have noticed that the Porto Belissario is not an entomologists’ dream. The hotel is scrupulously clean and woe betide any ant that tries to set up a colony in the garden. I did however, spot this fellow on my way to breakfast who obviously hadn’t seen the warning sticker on the front door informing insects that the hotel regularly uses the services of a local insect control company. Not only should he not be in the hotel grounds, he shouldn’t even be in Europe. He is a Western Conifer Seed Bug from the USA. Hitch-hiking around the globe on exported lumber, he first turned up in Europe (northern Italy to be precise) in 1999 and has been spreading his way around mainland Europe ever since. To the best of my knowledge this is the first time it has been recorded in Crete. So, a good start to our first foray of the season, a new insect on the island (you may recall that last year we found the first Leafhopper Assassin Bug Zelus renardii on the island - see Red Autumn). Good news for us maybe but not for the pine trees as it can reduce the number of pine nuts by 95% [1] 

Feral Pigeons - flocking behaviour

Now, what do you say we have a quick dip in that rather inviting looking swimming pool followed by a spot of lunch and bird watching on the terrace? That was refreshing, pass me a slice of pizza would you? I see that the Ferma pigeon flock are giving an aerial display over the sea. As you know we have been keeping records of the number of Feral Pigeons and the number of Collared Doves in the village to see if the latter is displacing the former as it is in other parts of the world (see Hey hay!). 

The present flock is down from 18 to 16 since 2010 and Collared Doves are up from 2 to 4 in the same period. I must admit I have a fondness for the bumbling old Feral Pigeon with his makeshift nest of twigs and his idea of a perfect landing being to crash into a tree and stop. This aimless flying about and sudden change of direction that we’re watching now isn’t quite as pointless as it seems however. If you watch closely you’ll see that the same two birds are always at the front and when they veer off the rest of the flock follow suit. They’re competing for title of ‘Leader of the Flock’ and all the feeding, roosting and mating privileges that comes with rank. Keep your eye on that almost black one about a third of the way back – every now and then he breaks rank and goes walkabout. My guess is that he’s a younger bird with pretensions to becoming a flock leader. He’s hoping someone will follow him. There he goes look. Bad luck son, better luck next time. And back he comes into the flock, suitably subdued for a short while at least.

White Sea Bream, Diplodus sargus sargus

And now, after a suitable pause to digest that magnificent pizza let us descend the steps to the beach and indulge in a bit of snorkelling and I’ll introduce you to some of my fishy friends. This one, cruising along the bottom, is a White Sea Bream, one of several species of Sea Bream that you can see down here. They belong to the Sparidae family and have quite a distinctive shape with the top of the head sloping very steeply. That mouth, with lips that look as if they’ve recently visited a cosmetic surgeon, conceals a strong jaw and teeth designed for crushing the crustaceans, molluscs and corals on which it feeds. We’re more accustomed to seeing them on a plate of course with a side order of chips as they’re one of the tastiest fish around and, thankfully, still reasonably plentiful unlike many of our food fishes.

I think that’s enough excitement for one day, next time we’ll venture outside the hotel grounds and see what other habitats we can find in the locality and yes, I’m sure we can fit in another snorkelling session as well. Would it be awfully inappropriate of me if I had fish for dinner tonight?

Until next week – happy hunting.

See all the pictures including insets in detail on Flickr

[1] Roversi et al. 2011 via First record of  Leptoglossus occidentalis (Heteroptera: Coreidae) in Greece P.V. PETRAKIS 2011

Thanks also to Matt Smith at The Amateur Entomologists' Society for providing the initial identification of Leptoglossus occidentalis.  

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