04 May 2010
© Gary Hulbert
Citation: Hulbert, G. (2010). A Butterfly Report from Cyprus - 22 June to 5 July 2012 [Online]. Available from http://www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=78 [Accessed December 12, 2024].

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Summary of Species Seen

1. Swallowtail
2. Large White
3. Small White
4. Bath White
5. Clouded Yellow
6. Cleopatra
7. Southern White Admiral
8. Painted Lady
9. Cyprus Grayling
10. Eastern Rock Grayling
11. The Hermit
12. White-banded Grayling
13. Cyprus Meadow Brown
14. Large Wall Brown
15. Lattice Brown
16. Small Copper
17. Lesser Fiery Copper
18. Long-tailed Blue
19. Lang's Short-tailed Blue
20. Little Tiger Blue
21. African Grass Blue
22. Holly Blue
23. Grass Jewel
24. Common Blue
25. Mallow Skipper
26. Lulworth Skipper
27. Pigmy Skipper
28. Millet Skipper

Day1 - 22 June

Panareti Resort Keratidiou Street - Culitvated Field opposite the resort (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B7)

3 Bath White
5 Long-Tailed Blue
7 Clouded Yellow
>50 Common Blue
1 Lang's Short-tailed Blue (female) - Alpine Swift over resort swimming pool
>20 Small White
>10 Large White
1 Swallowtail (Panareti Gardens)

Lang's Short-tailed Blue Image © Gary Hulbert

Day2 - 23 June

Panareti Resort Keratidiou Street - Culitvated Field opposite the resort (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B7)

1 Mallow Skipper (road verge)

Loose surface road leading to Sea Caves

4 Swallowtail
>20 Bath White
>50 Small White
>20 Large White
>30 Common Blue
4 Lang's Short-tailed Blue
>10 Mallow Skipper

Sea Caves Tavern

1 Cleopatra (male)
1 Large Wall Brown (female - Panareti Gardens)

Day3 - 24 June

Tomb of the Kings (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref D9)

5 Swallowtail
7 Common Blue
7 Large White
9 Small White
7 Bath White
2 Clouded Yellow
3 Grass Jewel

Coastal Path leading to Pafos Lighthouse (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref C9)

4 Mallow Skipper
1 Grass Jewel

Day4 - 25 June

Pafos Lighthouse Area (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref C9)

(The bus service from Coral Bay was very good with service every 15 minutes. Ä3 would purchase a day ticket allowing travel on the public transport to various destinations).

1 Little Tiger Blue (typically found on Zizyphus Lotus shrub)
7 Swallowtail
5 Clouded Yellow
>20 Mallow Skipper
2 Common Blue
>10 Bath White
4 Large White
5 Small White

Day5 - 26 June

Agios Gorgeios Pegeia (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B6)

(The bus from the Corallia Bay Hotel runs every hour on the half hour. The return from St. George is on the hour every hour).

2 The Hermit
1 Large Wall Brown
7 Cyprus Meadow Brown
1 Lulworth Skipper
1 Clouded Yellow
1 Swallowtail
5 Common Blue
6 Mallow Skipper
Small White
Large White

A particularly good area is on the right hand side of the road, as you look at St. George restaurant and Fish Bar just before the roundabout. The area is covered in low purple flowering shrubs providing a good nectar source.

Panareti Resort Gardens

1 Cyprus Meadow Brown
1 Swallowtail

Day6 - 27 June

Panareti Resort Gardens (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B7)

1 Swallowtail

Road to Corallia Resort Hotel (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B7)

15 Lang's Short-tailed Blue

Day7 - 28 June

Resort Gardens (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B7)

1 Swallowtail

Cultivated Field opposite the resort (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B7)

>100 Common Blue
>50 Long-Tailed Blue
>30 Lang's Short-tailed Blue
3 Clouded Yellow
1 Mallow Skipper
Various Whites

Coastal Path by Panareti (Pafos Area Map Grid Ref B7)

3 Swallowtail
3 Clouded Yellow
4 Grass Jewel
2 Mallow Skipper
4 Common Blue
Various Whites

Day8 - 29 June

Ayias Nikolias ESBA

1 Swallowtail
1 Mallow Skipper

Achna Dam - East Cyprus

2 Little Tiger Blue
2 African Grass Blue

Cape Gkreko - East Cyprus

1 Grass Jewel
1 Mallow Skipper
3 Cyprus Meadow Brown

Day9 - 30 June

Meneou near Larnaka Airport

2 Little Tiger Blue
2 Mallow Skipper

Spiro's Beach Larnaka

2 Clouded Yellow
1 Mallow Skipper

Ayias Nikolias ESBA

2 Little Tiger Blue
1 Small Copper
1 The Hermit

Achna Dam

1 Lesser Fiery Copper
1 African Grass Blue

Lesser Fiery Copper Image © Gary Hulbert

Day 10 - 01 July

Oroklini Marsh near Larnaka

1 Little Tiger Blue

Achna Dam

1 Millet Skipper
1 Painted Lady
1 Lesser Fiery Copper
1 Small Copper
2 African Grass Blue
1 Swallowtail
1 Pigmy Skipper
1 Clouded Yellow

Paralimni Lake (Sotira Pools)

1 Mallow Skipper

Ayia Napa Sewage Building for Operations & Maintenance (on Cape Gkreko road E306)

1 Cyprus Meadow Brown
1 Grass Jewel
1 African Grass Blue

Day 11 - 02 July

Troodos Square (Troodos Area Western Map Ref K6)

8 Holly Blue

Atalante Nature Trail off Troodos Square

1 White-Banded Grayling
2 Clouded Yellow (one had the misfortune of being eaten by a Masked Shrike seconds after we spotted it)
2 Holly Blue

F616 road from Mandria to Ayias Nikolaos (south bound). Bend in road 5km from Ayias Nikolaos village (Troodos Area Western Map Ref G8)

2 Southern White Admiral
2 Cyprus Meadow Brown
1 Common Blue
1 Eastern Rock Grayling
1 Swallowtail
1 Lattice Brown

Southern White Admiral Image © Gary Hulbert

Day 12 - 03 July

Road to Vretsia (rough off road/unmade road leading to the deserted village of Vretsia)

2 Lulworth Skipper
21 Common Blue
1 Clouded Yellow
1 Swallowtail

Chrysorrogiatissa Monastery

1 Cyprus Grayling
1 Cleopatra
1 Clouded Yellow
1 Large White

Asprogia-Kamaviou Dam

1 Large Wall Brown
4 Swallowtail (feeding on Lavender in dam car park)

Asprokremos Dam pools were completely empty of water which came as a surprise considering there was a lot of rain over the winter period.

Day 13 - 04 July

Loose surface road leading to Sea Caves (Pathos Map Ref Grid B6/7)

6 Swallowtail
5 Common Blue
5 Lang's Short-tailed Blue
4 Mallow Skipper
Whites (Bath and Small)

Day 14 - 05 July

Panareti Resort Gardens (Pafos Area Map Ref Grid B7)

1 Swallowtail

Going Home worse luck !!

Observations

This was our first trip since becoming interested in butterflies. So what did we learn?

When to watch

Well with temperatures ranging from 28 - 35 deg C I won't say it was particularly easy as we were baked waiting for a particular species to land. The best times we found was either early morning (not too early say 9am) when the butterflies were warming up and as such their rest time was increased making photography easier. Late afternoon was also better for taking pictures but as this approached roost time it became more difficult to locate the butterflies and they became less active. It was therefore a trade off between being active and being able to photograph.

Nectar Source

At this time of the year one of the very attractive nectar sources we found was Heliotropium hirsutissimum (long string of multi cluster yellow centred white flowers on a green/silver stem) attracting Whites, Swallowtail, Mallow Skipper, Common Blue in particular.

Our thanks go to Mr Eddie John FLS, FRES (Butterflies of Cyprus: www.cyprusbutterflies.co.uk ) for his expert assistance and support. Eddie would appreciate receiving other reports of butterfly sightings from Cyprus if anyone has any to offer. Reference was made to publications "Butterflies of Cyprus" by Christodoulos Makris and Collins Butterfly Guide by Tolman & Lewington. Both publications are thoroughly recommended.