Melanargia Ines or Spanish Marbled White

Quite often we see the Spanish Marbled White on our walks and quite recently also on our own finca close to the Barranquilla de Agua. Today we were lucky enough to take a photograph of this Melanargia inés, a species belonging to the family Nymphalidae. It is said to be quite common in southern Spain and Portugal. According to the butterfly-guide.co.uk, the brown ocelli on the underside hindwing of this Spanish Marbled White separates this from other Marbled whites.
Its larvae feed on various grasses and on the text of this butterfly on Waste Magazine it is said that this Medioluto Inés flies in May and June. For our Dutch readers we would like to mention that it is called Moors dambordje.



Related key words:  échiquier des almoravides, ninfálidos, nymphalidés,mariposa, vlinders, schmetterling, tagfalter, familie der edelfalter, B&B, alpujarras, sierra nevada

Linaria aeruginea subsp. aeruginea

Linaria aeruginea subsp. aeruginea is a type of toadflax which grows only on the Iberian Peninsula and can be found mainly in the south east. We have a number of these ´linarias´ on our terrain and they are in flower at the moment. We love it when we can add a new species to the list of flowers of the finca of El Paraje, especially when they are as beautiful as this one.



Related key words: leeuwenbek, vlasleeuwenbek, leinkräuter, plantaginaceae, weegbreefamilie wegerichgewächse

Zerynthia rumina or Spanish Festoon

The Zerynthia rumina or Spanish Festoon is a butterfly belonging to the family Papilionidae. In Spanish this charming butterfly is known as ´Arlequín´. Its flight period is from March to May, but in Andalucía a second breed in autumn is not uncommon. Articles and reports consider this butterfly’s existence in Spain threatened on the basis of global warming theories.
This morning we came across an interesting article on a Spanish Festoon survey in Cala Higuera in Cabo de Gata and Busquístar in the Alpujarra. One of the observations is: "is interesting to note the variation in colour saturation and pattern. The differences are quite wide and don’t match illustrations of gender difference. Perhaps the wings are not fully expanded on the Alpujarra specimen? The sites are 115Km apart and at very different altitudes (40 m Higuera and 900-1000 m Busquistar."
The larval food plant of the Zerynthian rumina are different of Aristolochia species and because of the rarity of larval food, the Spanish Festoon are not common. Aristolochia baetica is an evergreen climber that can be found along the GR-7 footpath between Montenegro and Mecina Bombarón, it is therefor not surprising that one guests photographed this extremely striking species on their walk from Yegen to El Paraje at the beginning of April. From now on we will pay better attention to the Dutchman´s pipe, which perfectly explains the Dutch name of this butterfly, namely ´Spaanse pijpbloemvlinder´.
PS On the 10th of April 2011 we did see a Spanish Festoon on our estate, but were not able to get a good picture.



Related key words: mariposa arlequín, westlicher osterluzeifalter, spanische osterluzeifalter, proserpine, pages, grote pages, papilionidae, papillon, famille des papilionida, vlinders, mariposas butterflies, schmetterlinge, famille de lépidoptère, alpujarras, sierra nevada, wandelen, wandelingen, wanderung, B&B, hotel, hostal, hostel, bérchules, trektocht, hiking, trekking, standplaats vakantie, wandelvakanties, holiday, urlaub, vacances, GR7

Photo impression San Marcos Bérchules 2011

We were too occupied ourselves to visit the procesion of San Marcos and San Isidro, but our guests Brigitte and Wim did enjoy the local festivities and took some pictures. These photos give an impression of one of the most important days of the village.