Carthamus arborescens
Family: Asteraceae.
Genus: Carthamus.
Flowering: February till August.
Around 2 to 2.5 metres in height, the flower heads are approximately 4cms across.
Native to Southern Spain and parts of North & North West Africa.
Habitat: Open dry scrubland, road and waysides, warm sunny areas on hillsides and also in mountainous regions.
Images below, show insect species that are attracted to this plant.

Coenonympha dorus common name: Dusky Heath. Wing span 16mm to 17mm.
The Dusky Heath belongs to the Nymphalidae family of butterflies.
Flies from June to August.
Widespread and common in western Mediterranean region.
Range: Mediterranean side of Southern France, Across Spain, North Africa, sporadic in parts of central and eastern Italy.
One brood from June to August in rough dry grass-lands, woodlands and clearings up to 2,300m
The larvae feed on various grasses. Habitat: Very hot dry grass-lands and scrub, favours ground areas with stones, rocks and bare earth.

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Lantana camara is a flowering perennial shrub belonging to the verbena family, that can grow up to two metres tall. The shrub can easily transform into dense thickets, if left unchecked. It can cause serious problems if it invades agriculture land because of its toxicity to livestock.
It has now spread from its native tropical regions of Central and South America to around 50 different countries, where it has become an invasive species. It spread from the Americas into the rest of the world when it was brought back to Europe and cultivated by Dutch explorers. Soon Lantana camara began spreading into Asia and Oceania, establishing itself as a notorious weed.
It is now an established ornamental plant due to extensive selective breeding throughout the 17th and 18th Centuries, this has produced many different cultivated Lantana camara.
The small four petal flowers come in many different colours including red, yellow, white, pink and orange which differ depending on maturity and location. After pollination the colour of the flowers change (typically from yellow to orangish, pinkish, or reddish).
The fruit of Lantana camara is a berry-like drupe which turns from green to dark purple when mature, this is when they are eaten by birds and other animals. This in turn spreads the seed over large distances, facilitating the spread of Lantana camara.
The broad ovate leaves have a strong odour when crushed, the flower has a tutti frutti scent with a pepper undertone.


Common Swallowtail Papilio Machaon wingspan 60mm-93cm
Season Early April-October
This beautiful large butterfly with vivid yellow and black markings, is a powerful fast flyer which can cover several kilometres without pause.
Can be found throughout Europe but generally uncommon. Very rare in Britain (confined to the wetlands in Eastern England) and Denmark. Often has two broods from Late May to July, second brood from August to September.
Males can often be found visiting mountain tops or high hills, where they will gather in numbers.
Habitation. Can be very diverse, preferring dry habitats around cultivated land in the Mediterranean. Flower-rich meadows, rough and waste areas, urban gardens; further north can be found in damp meadows, parks, Fens and mires, also fell summits in the far north.
The caterpillars of various swallowtail species feed on a wide range of different plants.

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Centaurea diffusa (diffuse knapweed)
Also known as “White knapweed” or “Tumble knapweed”.
Family: Asteraceae. Genus: Centaurea. (are found only north of the equator, mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere).
Can be an annual or biennial plant.
Height from 10 to 60cm, Flowers: June to September. (Alicante, Spain).
This plant is native to eastern Mediterranean, Austria, Hungary, Greece and Romania being the primary countries of its origin.;
Centaurea diffusa prefers light, dry porous soils, sandy type soils are ideal, this type of soil gives good drainage and air to the root system, as the plants roots do not like heavy soils that contain water. Here in Spain we have large areas of sandy soils especially near the coast.
Diffuse knapweed (like many species of knapweed) is an important pollen source for most species of bees, particularly honey bees, in mid to late summer. Unfortunately, it is not welcome in agriculture and is poisonous to many types of livestock that are grazing in fields. It is not an easy “weed” (A Plant is named a weed when growing in the wrong place), too eliminate as it has a large taproot and a single plant can produce up to 18000 seeds, which are easily dispersed in the wind. Centaurea diffusa is a serious invading species in parts of western North America, proving to be very hard to eradicate in unwanted places. Knapweed plants are harmful because they are strongly allelopathic, the root system produces powerful toxins that stunts the growth of many types of plants, including grasses, growing around them.
Biological means, by the way of insects have been introduced to North America to help to control many types of knapweed. These insects were introduced from the Eastern Mediterranean countries where the plants originated from. The Lesser knapweed flower weevil Larinus minutus) lay their eggs on the seed heads of the plant. knapweed root weevil (Cyphocleonus achates) lay their eggs at the root of the plant for the larvae to feed on. The Yellow-winged knapweed root moth (Agapeta zoegana) and two species of Tephritidae flies (Urophoraaffinis and Urophora quadrifasciata) all help to contain Centaurea diffusa and also another invasive knapweed plant “Spotted knapweed”.
Physical control to remove knapweed is an effective way of controlling knapweed, although this is very labour intensive, as it involves digging up the long taproot to be effective. (Obviously this has to be done before the seed heads develop, otherwise you will be aiding the plant to disperse its seeds). Burning and cutting down knapweed is not always successful, because if the taproot survives, then the plant has a very good chance to recover.
Chemicals used in spraying knapweed can have a short-term control advantage, but some plants have shown to build up a resistance to this and in the long term these plants could prove to be harder to eradicate.


Halictus scabiosae, (Rossi, 1790) The Great Banded Furrow Bee

Flight season: Females normally appear on wing before the males, late April till September.
Length: 12 to 15mm
Family: Halictidae, (Sweat bees)
The Great banded Furrow bee is present in most of Europe and in North Africa.
Nests are constructed in flat and sandy areas; they can also be constructed in sloping ground (mounds and cliffs).
This species is considered to be eusocial, nests can be communal with more than one egg producing female, the young unfertilised daughters become workers. The workers are typically smaller than their foundresses. After about five weeks the newly laid egg develops into an adult.
Males differ more noticeably as they have a slimmer and elongated body, also their antennas are noticeably longer. The males die after mating in the autumn, females after mating will live on and hibernate throughout winter. The females will live until the next generation start to emerge from their pupae around July to August.
Habitat: Various…Light soils, particularly sandy coastal areas, dunes, heathland, waste grounds and grasslands of various sorts. Most flowers are visited for pollen and nectar (especially the Asteraceae family of plants) that can grow in these light soil conditions.

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Senecio jacobaea, (Latin name) generally known as Common Ragwort.
Family Asteraceae.
Height from 0.3 to 2metres, flowers 1.5cm to 2.5cm in diameter.
Native to the Eurasian continent, in Europe it is widespread; from Scandinavia in the north and as far south to the Mediterranean. Found along roadsides, coastal, wasteland, rocky and sandy ground.
A very important plant for a vast range of insects needing pollen and nectar in a hot dry climate, including butterflies. Senecio jacobea is a very adaptable plant, being able to grow in many diverse habitats and is generally considered as a biennial plant.
Flowers from June to October and grows up to 2. metres tall. Produces a large number of seeds which are dispersed by the wind.
More than 200 species of invertebrate have been recorded feeding on the flowers. Also, the plant creates a beneficial habitat for many animals for shelter when its growth is allowed to spread over just a few square metres.
Ragwort is concerning for livestock owners keeping cattle and horses when growing on grazing land, as it is very poisonous containing many different alkaloids (as with all ragworts) and is very dangerous if included in hay.

Vanessa cardui
Vanessa cardui commonly known as Painted Lady (Linnaeus 1758)
Wingspan Male: 58 - 70mm Female: 62 - 74mm
Family: Nymphalid 1.
The Cynthia group of colourful butterflies.
Flight period: April to October, most abundant in the summer months.
Vanessa cardui originates from North Africa and is also a resident in the Canary Islands, Madeira and some Mediterranean regions; migrating in large numbers with the help of the African wind currents. The species covers most of Europe and has also been recorded in Iceland, Greenland and Svalbard.
The Painted Lady can be found in many diverse terrains, from mountain tops, lush gardens, coastal regions and arid fields. Throughout Spain in the summer months, Vanessa cardui breeds and feeds on a wide range of host plants including mallow, malva sylvestris and several thistle species are favoured.
After a male butterfly has successfully mated with her, the female has a multiple choice of host plants. The eggs are about the size of a pin head and are pale green in colour, which are laid on the underside of the host plants leaves.
The hatched larvae become caterpillars for the next ten to twelve days, feeding on the host plant leaves. The caterpillar will form a silk tent for it to hide from predators, this tent acts as a camouflage for the larvae, unfortunately this tent is vulnerable to many predators so a high number will be killed before pupating. It takes about ten days from being a chrysalis to becoming a butterfly, in this time it is mainly defenceless; this being the most vulnerable time in a butterfly’s life.
Soon after becoming an adult butterfly, they will mate and complete the life cycle.
In the hot dry summer months of Spain, the species is almost absent from lowland areas in Catalonia until late in August and into September. Moderate numbers are recorded as part of the autumn migration (Throughout the winter months Vanessa cardui cannot survive the cold regions of Europe) and small-scale breeding does occur here, before they eventually head back towards the African regions.
Although some of these late‐summer butterflies may be able to survive the winter, in the southern Spanish regions, virtually all the locally produced population flies southward to Africa, as shown by the sudden appearances of huge numbers of V. cardui in the Maghreb, the Canary Islands and the northern edge of the Sahel.

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Convolvulus arvensis (Pink Variety of Bindweed) (Linnaeus, 1753)
Family: Convolvulaceae.
Flowers appear early in Alicante (March till June)
Flower sizes vary, between 1 to 2.5cm in diameter.
Many species of Bindweed will be found growing over most of Europe, Asia, the coastal countries of Africa and also in many American countries.
A very common and widespread plant, bindweed can be found in various habitats. The vines growth is vigorous and adaptable, by twisting around other plant stems in a counter-clock wise direction, this enables Convolvulus arvensis flowers, to attain maximum sunshine. The underground root systems are known as rhizomes (A woody root system, continuously growing horizontally and spreads rapidly, underground). In some countries this plant is considered a pest, as it can be difficult to completely remove the root system, bindweed roots can also bury themselves up 2 to 3 metres deep into the ground. The fruit which contains the seeds, are eaten by birds, these seeds eventually find their way into the soil and can lay dormant for over two decades.
Habitat: Grows in various habitats, Scrubland, meadows, farmlands, hedgerows, roadside edges, unkept gardens and park edges.
Convolvulus arvensis is a perennial vine, with pink flowers. This species of Bindweed can exist for many years, reaching heights of well over one metre on a supporting host plant. Bindweed typically grows close to the ground, spreading profusely, which can choke cultivated plants growing close by.
There are many Bindweed species, each one having its unique coloured flowers, all of which are very attractive to a wide range of nectar seeking insects.
Bindweed contains several alkaloids which are toxic for mice, as well as some breeds of farm and domestic animals. Although it does not seem to effect Sheep and pigs, which are sometimes encouraged to contain the spread of the plant.

Acmaeodera cylindrica (Fabricius,1775)
Family: Buprestidae – Jewel Beetles. (Jewel Beetles also known as wood-boring beetles)
Length 7 to 11.5mm.
Adults on wing, between May to July.
Found mainly on the East and Southern parts of Spain, in the warm southern countries of Europe that mainly frame the Mediterranean, also found in North Africa, Russia and Turkey.
Habitat: Feeding on various trees in open parts of woodlands and sparsely planted sun-drenched ground. larvae are found under the bark of various types of trees, some in stages of decay that could have been damaged by this and other species of “Jewel Beetles” The adults are often seen feeding on Convolvulus flowers, such as bindweed.
Jewel beetles have large eyes and many are metallic in colour, in Asia the wing-cases of some species are collected and made into jewelry, hence the name “Jewell Beetles.”

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