Butterflies - Cretan Festoon

Cretan Festoon (Zerynthia cretica). This species is endemic in the island of Crete, Greece.

Holly Blue

Holly Blue (Celastrina argiolus) photographed in Aposelemis Dam, Crete.

Butterflies - Speckled Wood

Blue on Yellow II

Hiding under my wings

Butterflies - Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)

Blue on yellow

Mating in the heart of the winter

Two Red veined darters in tandem positions, ovipositing in the heart of the winter. Lake Kourna, Crete.

Portrait (Damselflies)

The portrait of a male Blue-tailed Damselfly. This damselfly is about 3 cm long, so for this shot I used for the first time all the extension tubes combined, 7mm, 21mm and 31mm. Notice the reddish dot between the compound eyes. This is the ocelli, it is an extra eye, only this eye is single and not compound!

Time to sleep

Damselflies - Cretan Bluet

The first (and only up to now) Cretan Bluet that I have seen. Cretan Bluet is an endemic species in the island of Crete, Greece. According to the "Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe" of Dijkstra & Lewington, the flight season fot this species starts from mid May, but I made this observation on March 18 of 2013!

Dragonflies - Scarlet Dragonfly

Male 

Female

Camouflage - Grasshopper

A cryptic grasshopper, mimicking perfectly its rocky environment. Spotted in Crete, Greece.

Long Lives the Emperor - Anax imperator

The Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator), one of the most fascinating dragonflies! I've been watching these gyus flying around for over two year now, and finally I saw one standing! It gave me the time to take only very few shots before flying again. Amazing animal, very big dragonfly.

Damselflies - Goblet-Marked Damselfly

Photographing in the field and then deep search into the books to identify the species! This is another new species for me. It's a male Goblet-Marked Damselfly (Erythromma lindenii). 

Butterflies - Brown argus (Πεταλούδες)

A butterfly scape of a brown argus (Aricia agestis)

Butterflies - Speckled Wood (Πεταλούδες)

Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria) is a rather common butterfly species in Crete. This shot was taken at Pantomatris River, Fodele, Crete.

 

This one was shot some year ago, with my tele Canon 75-300, at Gerani Village, Chania, Crete.

Insects - Shield Bug

 

A shield bug (Carpocoris mediterraneus) photographed at Almyros Gorge in Crete.

Insects - Shield Bug

A shield bug of the Ventocoris genus seen in quite an abundance in Crete. These little fellows have an amazign body design, which totally explains their name as "shield bugs".

Butterflies - Knapweed Fritilary (Πεταλούδες)

Fritilaries in my opinion are the among most beautiful, yet most difficult to identify, butterfly species. These Knapweed Fritilaries (Melitaea phoebe) were mating in late summer in Lake Volvi. After a while I met another individual with its wings spread and was able to photograph the upperside as well.