Top 20 Most Common Insects in Ibiza
Insects, treasured for their diversity and resiliency, can be found in every corner of Ibiza. Each geographical location within this region offers a unique environment, making it a hub for a broad range of bug species. Not only vital contributors to healthy ecosystems, these insects, both pest and beneficial, need our understanding, portraying the intricate relationship between a region's environments and its insect inhabitants. Stay tuned for our list of 'Top 20 most common insects in Ibiza'.
Most Common Insects
1. Red Swamp Crayfish
The economically important red Swamp Crayfish is a seasonal seafood staple around the world. It is also called the Louisiana crawfish, an apt name given that the US state produces 90-95% of all harvested specimens. The red Swamp Crayfish is invasive in the EU due to its aggressively spreading populations and competitiveness to native crayfish species. It is also known to cause damage to rice crops from its burrowing habit, which displaces the plants.
2. Asian Tiger Mosquito
The asian Tiger Mosquito (Aedes albopictus) has recently (the 1970s) infested every corner of the world through the shipment of used tired, lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana), and other similar products. The asian Tiger Mosquito is known to transmit many deadly diseases that include West Nile Virus.
3. Scarlet dragonfly
Crocothemis erythraea can reach a length of 3.5 - 4.5 cm. These dragonflies haves a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened abdomen, with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the thorax. 
4. Wall brown
P. megera L. [— xiphie Boisd. pt (45d). Above reddish yellow, with a black mark which traverses the distal band from the cell of the forewing to the abdominal margin of the hindwing, short black stripes crossing the disc and the cell of the forewing.
5. Red-veined darter
The Early Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a species of dragonfly in the family of the leaflets (Libellulidae), which belongs to the great dragonfly (Anisoptera).
6. Emperor dragonfly
The emperor dragonfly or blue emperor (Anax imperator) is a large species of hawker dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae, averaging 78 millimetres (3.1 in) in length.
7. Speckled wood
The speckled wood (Pararge aegeria) prefers to live in damp, dark woodlands. Unlike other butterflies, it's more active in shadier habitats rather than sunny ones. Males often fight over a perch, spiraling up to the treetops until they determine a winner. These perches are where the males find passing females.
8. Clouded yellow
Colias croceus has a wingspan of 46–54 millimetres (1.8–2.1 in). The upperside of the wings is golden to orange yellow with a broad black margin on all four wings and a black spot near the centre forewing. Usually these butterflies settles with its wings closed, consequently the black margin of the uppersides of the wings is difficultly visible. The underside lacks the black borders and is lighter, with a more greenish tint, particularly on the forewings. In the forewing underside is the same dark spot as on the upperside, but often with a light centre; the hindwing underside has a white centre spot, often with a smaller white or dark dot immediately above it. Sometimes, a row of black dots occurs on the underwings' outer margins, corresponding to where the black border ends on the upperside. Females differ from the males in having yellow spots along the black borders on the upperside. In flight, Colias croceus is easily identifiable by the intense yellow colouring, much brighter than that of the lemon-yellow male common brimstone which also lacks black markings. Like all Colias species they never open their wings at rest. In a small proportion of females (about 5%) the golden upperside colouration is replaced by a pale cream colour. These females have been distinguished as form helice. The pale form helice does not seem to be that distinct as intermediates exist and the variation is to some extent related to humidity during development, with dryer conditions producing paler colouration. These pale forms helice can be confused with Berger's clouded yellow (Colias alfacariensis) and the rarer Pale clouded yellow (Colias hyale). Even the palest C. croceus tends to have more black on the upperside however, in particular on the hindwings. Young caterpillars are yellow-green, with a black head. Later they become completely dark green, with a white red spotted lateral line after the third moult. The pupae are green and have a yellow side stripe. This species is rather similar to Colias myrmidone, Colias chrysotheme, Colias erate, Colias hyale, Colias alfacariensis, Colias caucasica, Colias aurorina.
9. Copper demoiselle
Calopteryx haemorrhoidalis can reach a body length of about 1.8–1.9 in. The abdomen length is of about 1.3–1.7 in in males, of 1.2–1.7 in in females. The length of the wings is of 0.91–1.26 in in males, of 0.98–1.46 in in the females. The males have a dark, metallic shining body, the color of which can be red-violet, golden or copper-colored. On the underside of the last three abdominal segments there red area, the so-called "red lantern" (hence the Latin species name haemorrhoidalis, meaning "blood flow"). The wings of males show a large dark area, while the females have a brown band to the wing tip and a metallic-green to bronze-colored body, with a brown belt on the back.
10. Painted lady
The painted lady is a migratory butterfly that spends part of the year in Northern Africa and then migrates to Europe during the warmer months. Although the adults feed on nectar from flowers, the larvae feed on the leaves of nettles and thistles.
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