Insects of the Algarve
- Written by David Rees
Ever since a Rhinoceros beetle crashed onto the table during an evening of bridge and began walking over the cards, raising and lowering its ‘Rhino’s horn’, I became fascinated by the wealth of insect life around us in the Algarve. Bridge evenings have been relatively quiet since, but my enthusiasm for insects has never wanted.
In this article I include spiders, scorpions and centipedes which are not true insects but certainly deserve mention. Certainly, one article can do no more than offer a glimpse into the insect world since there are thousands of different species, and any one group – for example, beetles – would make a fascinating study of its own.
I will mention at the beginning of the article that nearly all animal life in the Algarve is fairly harmless but with insects it is advisable to go warily. There are so many species that to identify those which are harmful is quite a task. For example, most beetles are safely handled, but there are a few that will nip or will secrete foul oils when annoyed.
Centipedes can bite and scorpions can sting. I do not want to put anyone off insect hunting for the majority of insects are perfectly harmless, but do take care in the beginning.
Characteristic of the Algarvean nights are the sounds of insects calling. The loudest of the night insects is the cicada. Each species calls with a different pitch or note. The nymphs of the cicada live for several years underground amongst the tree roots upon which they feed before emerging to live as adults in the trees. They are difficult to find as they stop calling as soon as danger approaches. One way to catch them is with a butterfly net and a friend to shake the tree or bush from where they are calling. But even this exercise can take some time before one nets a cicada.The strident call is made by the muscles stretching the abdomen which is then amplified by a clever system within the cicada’s body.
Similar to the cicada’s call, but heard during the daytime, is the call of the mole-cricket, an ugly looking cricket with powerful front digging arms. It lives underground in sandy and stony areas and calls from its burrow. A softer call is that of the Praying Mantis, one of the most fascinating of Algarvean insects. The common Preying Mantis, coloured between green and grey-brown, hunts around plants and buildings for other insects. It’s two front legs have been adapted as ‘catchers’: these are folded up as if in prayer until the Mantis is ready to strike and grasp its pretty, which it eats noisily. The eyes operate independently which give it a formidable expression.
Even more extraordinary is Empusa pennata – for lack of a common name, I’ll call it the African Praying Mantis – which looks like a bit of a brown twig until you see it move. The abdomen is usually curled like a piece of bark and the long –face- is similar to a wooden African mask. If it wasn’t for the praying hands, it would be difficult to place it in any insect family.In the same location as the Praying Mantis, one can sometimes find the Mediterranean grasshopper – not that it looks much like a grasshopper. Its long green and brown striped body can sometimes be seen climbing up trees. Although it can jump or hop, it prefers to walk. It grows to seven and a half centimeters and looks a little fierce with two ‘blades’ sticking forwards from its head. Smaller grasshoppers are often disturbed as one walks through the drier areas of countryside. They leap and half fly with a flash of their blue or red underwings.
There are also a variety of crickets around, including the Great Green Bush cricket, often found lurking in shrubs and bushes.Beetles are numerous in the summer and the Algarve has a good share of interesting species. Apart from the Rhinoceros beetle, mentioned earlier, there is Typhoeus with two large horns, the common Corrugated Beetle and the savage Scarites buparius which will happily consume any of the previous beetles, grasping them in its powerful pincers. Often beetles can be found wandering over sandy ground, otherwise rake away leaf litter from under trees to find the woodland species, or look under stones or fallen branches.
White hunting under debris, you might also come across the Mediterranean centipede, a large, flat-bodied centipede which can grow to nine centimeters. It generally inhabits dry stony places and hides under stones during the day. In the same type of habitat lives the scorpion, sandy brown in colour and up to four centimeters long. The scorpion has a venomous sting on the end of its tail, which is generally arched over its body. If you are stung by a scorpion, the area affected will swell up and hurt for several hours. Unless the victim has a particular allergy to the poison, the sting is painful but not dangerous, and the swelling will go down in time. A doctor might alleviate the pain and treat the swelling, but there is no reason to panic if stung.There is another insect called the Devil’s Coach Horse which also stings by raising its tail. Locals refer to it as the black scorpion. It is about three centimeters long and completely black. The sting will also hurt and cause swelling, but also requires no special attention.
Perhaps the most beautiful of all spiders is the Writing Spider with its beautifully marked yellow, black and silver body. It is quite harmless, and from the experience of some naturalist friends, even makes a good pet. This particular spider pet spun a new web every day but came to an unfortunate end when the female, having produced over one hundred young, fell one day from its web into the both where it was promptly eaten by Dougal, the pet terrapin! Should you find a Writing Spider, look also for its larder where neatly bundled meals hand ready for leaner times.
Once again, the secret of finding animals – even those which may be considered ‘ordinary’ insects – depends upon looking. Once one has watched a spider spin a new web, catch and bundle up a meal, one cannot remain afraid, only awed. The simplest insects, when observed carefully, are truly fascinating animals and well worth a few minutes of study. If you have time when you find something interesting, watch it for a while in its natural environment. You too will quickly learn to enjoy a group of animals with enormous variety and interest.
By David Rees
