A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010

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44 A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010 Introduction BUTTERFLY RECORDING ON FOIA, MONCHIQUE, IN 2009 Bert Van der Auwermeulen This short study of butterfly species on Foia, in the Monchique hills of the Algarve region, was undertaken as an addition and comparison to the 2009 butterfly survey conducted around the Alvor estuary. Methods The transect on Foia was walked on an irregular basis due to difficulties of reaching the site, 20 km north of the A Rocha study centre. Observations were made on three days during September and on two days in October. Unfortunately, on two of these days the weather conditions were not optimal for butterfly flight. On 15 th September 2009 the weather was windy and largely cloudy with a temperature around 20°C. On 30 th October the observations were made late in the afternoon when the temperature was under 20°C. The Foia transect (Starting point coordinates: 37°19’23.73’’N 8°35’37.70’’W) was situated on the north side of the peak of Foia at an altitude of 790m above sea level. The transect headed eastwards from the starting point, following a rough track through extensive pasture, grazed by cattle and sheep. The vegetation comprised of grassland with many shrubs and trees, commonly including Cistus and Ulex species and Eucalyptus globulus. Towards the end of the transect, the vegetation became denser on the north side of the road, with more Eucalypts, Pteridium aquilinum (bracken) and Rubus fruticosus (bramble). Figure 1 Transect location - Foia, Monchique.
Results A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010 45 The observations from the Monchique survey are presented in Table 1. A total of 150 butterflies from 17 different species were recorded at this site. The most numerous species was Leptotes pirithous (Lang’s Short-tailed Blue), providing more than a third of the number of individuals recorded during the survey. Other common species were Lampides boeticus (Long-tailed Blue), Polyommatus icarus (Common Blue), and Pyronia tithonus (Gatekeeper). Table 1 List of species and number of individuals recorded on the Foia transect in 2009 Date: 1-9-09 8-9-09 15-9-09 16-10-09 30-10-09 Time (UTC): 10:50 11:15 10:00 10:00 16:00 Scientific name Common name Total Pieris rapae Small White 1 1 5 7 Pontia daplidice Bath White 3 4 1 8 Colias croceus Clouded Yellow 1 1 1 3 Gonepteryx sp. Brimstone/Cleopatra 2 2 Leptidea sinapis Wood white 1 1 Lycaena phlaeas Small Copper 2 1 3 Lampides boeticus Long Tailed Blue 4 5 2 1 2 14 Leptotes pirithous Lang's Short-tailed Blue 12 8 10 13 9 52 Aricia cramera Southern Brown Argus 1 1 2 Polyommatus icarus Common Blue 6 7 13 Charaxes jasius Two-tailed Pasha 1 1 Vanessa cardui Painted Lady 1 1 Hipparchia statilinus Tree Grayling 1 6 7 Maniola jurtina Meadow Brown 4 2 6 Pyronia tithonus Gatekeeper 12 7 1 20 Pararge aegeria Speckled Wood 1 1 2 Lasiommata megera Wall Brown 6 2 8 Discussion NUMBER OF SPECIES: 13 14 4 7 2 NUMBER OF INDIVIDUALS: 54 47 14 24 11 150 The presence of Hipparchia statilinus (Tree Grayling) and Leptidea sinapis (Wood white) is of interest since these species are known to have only patchy distributions within the Western Algarve (S. Wates pers. comm.; Gardiner, 2000). Both species were also observed near the transect (around the reservoir – see transect location) on the 18 th and 26 th August 2009.
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A Rocha Portugal Observatory Report 2009-2010

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