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

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

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.

Inception (or flower within a flower)

Wild carrot (Daucus carota) umbellet inflorescence, where the central flower is surrounded by lots of white flowers, creating the sense of a flower within a flower.

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.

Butterlies - Small Copper (Πεταλούδες)

 

A Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeas) shot in a small lagoon in Vrasna, Northern Greece.

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 - Dusky Meadow Brown (Πεταλούδες)

A Dusky Meadow Brown butterfly (Hyponephele lycaon) shot under harsh light at Rihios river, Greece.

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.

ID - Red veined Darter - Immature male VS female

A common problem when trying to identify odonata species (both Damselflies & Dragonflies) is that immature males of a species often look quite similar to mature females, which can become very misleading. The easiest way for a fast and accurate identification is the observation of reproductive structures, such as the male secondary genitalia and appendages or the female ovipositor or the vulvar scale. However, in many cases this becomes difficult due to their small size or a not so suitable angle between the subject and the observed. In this cases coloration might become a better index for the identification. Here I will try to point out some differences between immature male and mature female red veined darters (Sympetrum fonscolombii).

This is a mature female individual. The abdomen's coloration, with the two black stripes running the ventral part of the abdomen, is characteristic for the females.

A better view of the female abdomen.

Now this is how an immature male looks like. The general similarity with the female is more than obvious, however the specific pattern in the abdomen is missing. Moreover, if you give a better look under the base of the abdomen (S2) you will notice a slight "swelling" which is a male's reproductive structure enabling him to transfer sperm to the female, the so called secondary genitalia.

Eventually, the immature male will start to become mature and change his colour to red. This is how this procedures begins. As you can see the dorsal of the abdomen has already turned red, and the rest of the body will follow.