moloch05
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My wife, younger daughter and I are at the end of a three week holiday to Italy. It has been lots of fun and we have seen so many interesting things. At the moment, we are staying in Amalfi but we start our return journey tomorrow. Amalfi is my favourite place in Italy and it would have to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The coastline is rugged and the little town of Amalfi is just stunning with interesting, old buildings of such a distinctive style. I will start with town and habitat shots to give a feel for the area. As always, this is more of a natural history report rather than one of reptiles only.
Amalfi
The Amalfi Coast:
Ravello is a village high above Amalfi. We walked there on a few occasions. It is great exercise with several hundred steps up the steep hillside. The views from the top were superb.
The Amalfi area has an excellent trail system. I walked these daily especially when my wife and daughter decided to shop.
Wall Geckos (Tarentola mauritanica): These were large, day-active geckos. I usually found them on the shaded sides of rock walls.
I think that these are Italian Wall Lizards (Podarcis sicula) although Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis) may also be possible. These were abundant lizards. At times, I would see 10 or more at the same time on rock walls. Their colour and pattern varied greatly.
Western Whip Snake (Hierophis viridiflavus): I saw these snakes daily. They were fast and no doubt would capture the wall lizards as prey. They defend themselves with vigour and my hands were bleeding once I finished photographing these snakes. The first shot below was of a juvenile and the second was of an adult.
Southern Comma (Polygonia egea): I saw this interesting small nymphalid only twice.
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui): This was a common species.
Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia): One of the commonest butterflies at the moment. They sometimes were attracted in large numbers to a particular flower as is obvious in one of the shots below.
... females were darker and more heavily spotted than the males.
Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta): Not common but I saw it a few times.
Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius): This is my new favourite butterfly. They were pugnacious creatures that chased any other large butterfly that approached the dead trees where they stood guard. They would even fly at my face if I walked within a couple of meters of their perches.
Wall Browns (Lasiommata megera): A common small satyrinae.
Lesser Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia genava): common on this trip.
... no!
Tree Greyling (Hipparchia statilinus): A very common species in the hills.
Greyling (Hipparchia semele)?: I saw this species a few times. It was not as common as the above two Greylings.
Clouded Yellow (Coleus crocea): A few were seen every day.
Berger's Clouded Yellows (Coleus facariensis)?: Only seen a couple of times.
Bath Whites (Pontia edusa): Seen a few times.
Small White (Pieris rapae)?: This butterfly was smaller than the species illustrated below.
Large White (Pieris brassicae): As the name implies, this was a large Pieris. I saw them several times.
Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus)?
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeus): I only found one of these pretty lycaenids.
Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)?: Only a few were encountered.
I will add more shots later from Como, Florence and Assisi.
Amalfi
The Amalfi Coast:
Ravello is a village high above Amalfi. We walked there on a few occasions. It is great exercise with several hundred steps up the steep hillside. The views from the top were superb.
The Amalfi area has an excellent trail system. I walked these daily especially when my wife and daughter decided to shop.
Wall Geckos (Tarentola mauritanica): These were large, day-active geckos. I usually found them on the shaded sides of rock walls.
I think that these are Italian Wall Lizards (Podarcis sicula) although Common Wall Lizards (Podarcis muralis) may also be possible. These were abundant lizards. At times, I would see 10 or more at the same time on rock walls. Their colour and pattern varied greatly.
Western Whip Snake (Hierophis viridiflavus): I saw these snakes daily. They were fast and no doubt would capture the wall lizards as prey. They defend themselves with vigour and my hands were bleeding once I finished photographing these snakes. The first shot below was of a juvenile and the second was of an adult.
Southern Comma (Polygonia egea): I saw this interesting small nymphalid only twice.
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui): This was a common species.
Silver-washed Fritillary (Argynnis paphia): One of the commonest butterflies at the moment. They sometimes were attracted in large numbers to a particular flower as is obvious in one of the shots below.
... females were darker and more heavily spotted than the males.
Southern White Admiral (Limenitis reducta): Not common but I saw it a few times.
Two-tailed Pasha (Charaxes jasius): This is my new favourite butterfly. They were pugnacious creatures that chased any other large butterfly that approached the dead trees where they stood guard. They would even fly at my face if I walked within a couple of meters of their perches.
Wall Browns (Lasiommata megera): A common small satyrinae.
Lesser Woodland Grayling (Hipparchia genava): common on this trip.
... no!
Tree Greyling (Hipparchia statilinus): A very common species in the hills.
Greyling (Hipparchia semele)?: I saw this species a few times. It was not as common as the above two Greylings.
Clouded Yellow (Coleus crocea): A few were seen every day.
Berger's Clouded Yellows (Coleus facariensis)?: Only seen a couple of times.
Bath Whites (Pontia edusa): Seen a few times.
Small White (Pieris rapae)?: This butterfly was smaller than the species illustrated below.
Large White (Pieris brassicae): As the name implies, this was a large Pieris. I saw them several times.
Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus)?
Small Copper (Lycaena phlaeus): I only found one of these pretty lycaenids.
Large Skipper (Ochlodes sylvanus)?: Only a few were encountered.
I will add more shots later from Como, Florence and Assisi.
Some absolutely beautiful shots of the landscape and animals David. Did you get to see any vipers or western green lizards? My favourites of the country 
