The Only Way Is Up

Here we are back at the Church of the Holy Cross, a couple of thousand feet up in the Thripti mountains. 

Oriental Hornet, Vespa orientalis

Just before we begin our final ascent I’d like to bring your attention back to these hornets that are still busy buzzing around the ivy, as they are rather special. They are Oriental Hornets and you generally find them anywhere from Southwest Asia to North Africa and also here in the southernmost parts of Europe. You see those two yellow bands around the abdomen? When the sun hits them they react differently to the brown parts and a small amount of electricity is generated. They are, in fact, solar panels. Not content with being solar powered they are also astronauts. They were on board the 1992 Space Shuttle Endeavour mission but unfortunately nearly eighty percent of them died when their water supply failed. Probably make a good space thriller if we could persuade Matt Damon into a hornet suit. Now that’s what I call an interesting insect.

So, onwards and upwards, an intriguing looking route I think you’ll agree. Of course you can get up there, when in doubt follow the goat droppings.

We’re still among the prickly plants and I have to admit, the going is as tough as it looked from down there so we’ll pause for a moment to take a look at the sides of this gully that we’re climbing up. Look at the different colours that are streaming down the bank where the minerals have been leached out of the rocks. Reds, greens, yellows, purples, all telling a different story. Rocks are collections of minerals and each mineral has its own specific chemical composition. Certain plants require either more or less of certain chemicals and this is where botany and geology combine; as Farmer Fallowfield used to say: “the answer lies in the soil” (and if you can remember where that came from and who played him you’re getting on a bit!). The types of plants determine the types of invertebrates that can be found here so these pretty colours are literally the bedrock of our ecosystem.

Door Snails, Albinaria teres

As you can see the larger rocks are festooned with Door Snails. They’re called that because inside their shells they have a sliding door for extra protection against certain beetle larvae which are their nemesis. At the moment they are hanging around waiting for the autumn rains which shouldn’t be long in coming. Usually, although they congregate like this, each snail likes to have its own space but I see that we have three snuggled up together here which is a bit unusual. You see that little half shell up there? That’s a youngster. The snails are active in the wet season and aestivate through the dry summers and it takes two or three wet seasons for them to develop the top lip that identifies them as adults. They live here on the limestone rocks happily feeding on algae and lichen.

I spy a small cave up above that must surely be worth a detour. What’s a bit of extra rock scrambling between friends?  You’re giving me that look again. If it’s any consolation I think we must be nearly half way to the summit –probably –maybe. Ah, now, what do we have here? A shallow cave, a partly dismembered sheep’s carcass and a bird feather. What do you make of that? A large bird obviously and the way the spine of the feather bends first one way and then the other suggests one of the smaller primary flight feathers (and at 180cms that is one very large bird). The carcass leads us to think in terms of either a bird of prey or a carrion feeder. Let’s have a closer look at the feather. Creamy white with a faint brown tinge and no barring. That narrows it down a bit. We’ll have to get it confirmed but I think that this feather belonged to an Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus. If so, we’re onto something very interesting. Meanwhile bag it up and let’s have a look and see what else we can find.

Cretan Dittany, Origanum dictamnus

This is turning out to be a very amusing little cave, look what I’ve found growing in these crevices up here. If you’ve seen this before it was most likely in a shop specialising in Cretan products. Its Origanum dictamnus, or Cretan Dittany the famous herbal mountain tea. It’s meant to be an aphrodisiac of course and young men known as the erondades, or love seekers, went to dangerous lengths (and heights) to collect it. The sheer fact that they performed such heroic feats probably boosted them in the eyes of the local girls irrespective of any inherent properties of the plant. Truthfully, the oils it contains can be found in many other common herbs such as oregano and thyme to which it is related and, as such, it contains antimicrobial properties used in the pharmaceutical industry but as for its supposed magical powers, well, Crete loves its myths.

This cave really is proving to be most illuminating. I think we’ll stay and explore and make an attempt on the summit next week. Fancy a cup of tea?

The Extra Bit

Back in January (see Riding The Griffin) we were discussing whether insects had emotions, a somewhat controversial idea as it is generally accepted that their nervous systems are too simple for such complex things. Recent research at Queen Mary University of London has found “that bees exhibit not just surprising levels of intelligence, but also emotion-like states” according to senior study author Professor Lars Chittka. Looks like our theory was correct then.

Just in case “The answer lies in the soil” is now annoyingly dominating your thought processes whilst you’d rather be thinking about something else it was Kenneth Williams who played Farmer Fallowfield in the 1950s BBC radio series Beyond Our Ken. (I don’t remember the originals - I’ve been listening to the repeats – honest).

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Thanks this week to malacologist Susan Hewitt at iNaturalist  for information on juvenile door snails.

LINKS:

Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

See detailed pictures at http://www.inaturalist.org/login  (search - people-stevedaniels-observations)

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Life In The Uplands

That nice little mountain road that we found last week soon petered out into a dirt track but what the heck, we’ll see more by cutting across country anyway. Now that autumn is getting underway and there’s a bit more moisture about a few more flowers are starting to appear. They’re usually small up here remember so keep your eyes peeled and look in the nooks and crannies of the rocks.

Autumn Flowers of the Uplands

We seem to have a nice little collection: firstly the shade loving Friar’s Cowl, Arisarum vulgare; some Spiny Restharrow, Ononis spinosa,in a damp hollow; a type of Dandelion with inward rolling florets, Taraxacum bithynicum; a stemless Thistle keeping out of the wind, Carlina gummifera; and a beautiful little crocus-like flower called Sternbergia greuteriana which is a bit of a rarity that requires a CITES permit to export so we won’t tell everyone exactly where we found it or those insidious bulb collectors will be up here with their trowels.

The two faces of Euphorbia dimorphocaulon

Now how did you miss this little beauty? Because it looks green and boring and hasn’t got any flowers. Not so my friend, this little lady is Euphorbia dimorphocaulon. I know I said that the little brown job we found last week was called that but they’re the same plant. He was male. The clue is in the ‘dimorph’ part of the name which means two shapes. Although most plants are hermaphrodite (both male and female) about six percent, including this one, are dioecious,  having distinct male and female types. This is just one of the ruses that plants use to get the most out of their pollinators.

The robust cerci of the Calliptamus grasshopper

Take a look at this little fellow a second. When I first picked him up I thought his rear end was being attacked by a louse or something. Not an unreasonable supposition seeing as how something has already had one of his back legs but it is actually a part of the grasshopper called the cerci, pincer like attachments like those you see on earwigs. This particular grasshopper belongs to the Calliptamus genus (either C. italicus or C. barbarus – you have to examine his penis in minute detail to tell them apart and I think that he’s suffered enough indignities for one day) and they are noted for their robust cerci. They are primarily sensory organs although they may be used to assist copulation as well. I’ll put him back, I expect he’s beginning to wish he hadn’t bothered getting up this morning.

Bees, Butterflies and Hornets on Ivy

I make no apologies for banging on about Ivy again this week. I mean, just look, have you ever seen such an effusive expanse of flowers? A couple of weeks back (see Where Mary Sleeps ) I said how useful this plant was at this time of year to insects and now you can see the evidence with your own eyes. It’s absolutely buzzing with Honey Bees, Apis melifera, and Oriental Hornets, Vespa orientalis and also a goodly number of Painted Lady butterflies, Vanessa cardui, which have been particularly prolific in Crete this year.

Church of the Holy Cross with Scorpion

Well, here we are at the Church of the Holy Cross, thus dedicated to many churches at high locations in remembrance of the Universal Elevation of the cross. This is the most sacred symbol of the Orthodox Church, as it guards the entire universe. Remember to take your headgear off when you get inside and not before. This is not a religious ritual as such but in these remote churches you never know who you might dislodge as you open the door. That Scorpion for instance, Euscorpia sp. is much better appreciated having bounced off my hat and onto the floor rather than blundering about in what's left of my hair. The venom in that stinger may not be fatal but I’m assured that it packs one heck of a punch. We've got a big climb ahead of us next week so if you fancy saying a quick prayer for fortitude now is your chance. 

Until next week then.

The Extra Bit

I’m not usually given to taking selfies but I seem to have photo bombed myself  whilst taking this picture of the interior of the church. If you look at the right hand panel of the Templon (the screen dividing the sanctuary from the nave) you can clearly see me reflected in the glass. Does this mean that I am now an icon?

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Contrary to popular opinion this blog is not just thrown together but is actually researched. I’d particularly like to thank Ralf Jahn at Cretan Flora for species identification of the flowers this week as well as Josip Skejo and Ammar Azil at The Orthoptera Group for details regarding the cerci of the Calliptamus genus of Grasshoppers.

LINKS:

Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

See detailed pictures at http://www.inaturalist.org/login  (search - people-stevedaniels-observations)

Cretan Flora

Flowers of Crete;

BIRDS OF CRETE

Crete Birding

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)