Photos from a quick trip to Cinque Terre

[moloch]

My wife and I are back in Rome after spending several days in Cinque Terre National Park. Cinque Terre is situated in northwestern coastal Italy. It is made up of five small towns that are connected by trails and rail. This was a scenic location and I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Butterflies were still numerous and I was able to take a few photos of these.

If you are like me, you probably don't know much about this part of the world. I have added a number of habitat shots as well as photos of the villages to give you a feel for the area. The coast seemed quite dry and remnant patches of vegetation looked a little like the chaparral in southern California. The region was hilly and upper slopes were covered with pine-oak forest. Vineyards and olive plantations were numerous everywhere from the coast to the hilltops.

Here is a map that shows the location of Cinque Terre.


We stayed in Corniglia, the smallest of the five towns of Cinque Terre. It was interesting with its old, cobblestone laneways, excellent food and coffee. I don't think anyone makes coffee like the Italians. Our day always began with several shots of espresso and various Italian pastries.

The buildings were all painted in pastel colours that looked particularly nice in the evening. Here are a few shots of Corniglia.






We usually walked for an hour or so each morning to Vernazza. The trail was good and steep in parts so it was great excercise.




Vernazza was a lovely sight in the morning.

[moloch]

More from Vernazza


Catch of the day:



This is Montorosso, the northern-most of the Cinque Terre Villages.




We also walked the trail between the southernmost villages of Manarola and Riomaggiore. This section was incredibly busy. September is the shoulder season for tourists so I would hate to see what it was like in the busy summer holidays.


Manarola

[moloch]

My wife does not like walking when it was hot so I usually had a few hours in the afternoon to climb into the hills to search for birds, butterflies and reptiles. Here are a few shots of the areas that I worked the most. Blackberries were everywhere at lower elevations so it was impossible to move off the trail.




Higher up, the habitat changed to pine-oak woodland. Some areas had terraced vineyards. This was a moister area with a few different butterflies to those that I observed closer to the village.




Hummingbird Moths were common along the trail. I have not had much experience with this group before. They certaintly are well named and look so much like a small species of hummer. Their abdomen even has scales that look fanned like the open tail of a hummer when hovering at a flower.




These blues were common. I think that they are Holly Blues (Celastrina argiolus).

[Angiud]

Wonderful Cinque Terre, wonderful my Italy.

Did you drink the unforgettable Sciacchetra' sweet wine?

[moloch]

Wonderful Cinque Terre, wonderful my Italy.

Did you drink the unforgettable Sciacchetra' sweet wine?

We tried different wines but I don't know that one. We are off to Amalfi tomorrow. I will see if I can find it. We are having a great time here, Antonio. The food, as you know, is wonderful.

[moloch]

Long-tailed Blue (Lampides boeticus) were fairly common near farms. I saw some with blue upper wings so I assume that butterfly below must be a female.





Geranium Bronze (Cacyreus marshalli): a tiny species that I saw at pot plants in the villages as well as in the hills.

[moloch]

Some of the Lycaenids were tricky to identify since several share similar patterns.
Brown Argus (Aricia agestis) (thanks, Les)




The following males were a little larger than the butterfly above.
Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus) (thanks, Les)





Females:

[moloch]

The following are photos of a Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeus) that I took in a park near the Vatican this morning. I saw this above Corniglia but was not able to take useable photos.

William, I read that this species is also found in the eastern US so you will know of it. Does the Italian race look different to those that you see?





Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)




Over exposed Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta) (thanks, Les) that looks a little like a Commander. I only saw this species twice and had one brief opportunity for a photo.



Clouded Yellow (Coleus crocea)




... more later

[Painted Jezebel]

The Geranium Bronze fascinated me as it is not mentioned in my 'bible' of European butterflies, though it does date back to 1970.

This species is originally from South Africa and Mozambique. It was first found in Europe (Balearic Islands) in 1990, and only came to Italy (Sardinia) in 1996. It has since slowly moved northwards, coming to Tuscany in 2006. It has spread as it is a serious pest of the very popular cultivated geraniums, and has even been found in the UK (1997, and a few occasions since).

[Painted Jezebel]

A couple of ID corrections required, sorry!

1)Your Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus) are actually the Brown Argus (Aricia agestis)
2) The Blue is the real Polyommatus icarus.
3) The White Admiral is the Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta). The hindwing basal white markings are a give-away, as is the forewing end-cell white spot and the underside hindwing single row of marginal spots.