In July 2022, we returned to Madeira. We stayed in Machico again, after having such a good stay last time we were there; it's much quieter than Funchal, with plenty of nice restaurants and a few shops, and you can easily take many trails, buses and taxis from the centre of town.
One of the first things we realised was that Madeira is significantly more productive in winter than it is in high summer. The weather was warm (25-ish degrees) and dry, with little rain and patchy humid conditions. Woodlice, bristletails, and other moisture-loving species were very difficult to find, as was nearly everything else, presumably retreating to the more humid spaces underneath the rocks.
DAY 1: FURNAS DO CAVALUM
On our first day we decided to visit the Furnas do Cavalum, a series of 4 lava tubes which extend back into the hillside.
These tubes are the result of Pleistocene volcanic eruptions. There are only a few lava tubes known on Madeira, although it is quite likely that there are more caves of similar stature elsewhere on the island, possibly sealed off from the surface. The caves are subject to some interesting local history and legend (more of which can be found here), and they also have their own dedicated Facebook page. At one point they were maintained as a cultural site by a group of local volunteers, and visited by tourists - in this video from 2010 you can see the paths are well-marked and there are wooden fences and steps. However, when we visited it was clear that the site had fallen into a state of disrepair: subsidence had occurred in places and the paths were overgrown with thorny scrub, the fences were no more, and the wooden steps had become brittle and gave way underfoot. Additionally, the original entrance and exit from the estrada dos Maroços was inaccessible; we got halfway down it before the footpath became lost and vegetation had overgrown the access terrace, so we climbed all the way back up and round again. Access is now primarily from the top road (Caminho da Quinta de Sant'Ana), through an easily-missed alley between two properties. I got the impression that the caves were not visited as often as they used to be, and maintenance of the site certainly seemed to have been greatly reduced. The subsidence of both the steps and parts of the rock face itself combined with the dry vegetation makes it potentially dangerous in the case of slips or falls, but it was still great fun getting to them and exploring.
After a very hot walk up to the site, it was refreshing to have a cool breeze from inside on our backs. Outside Cave II (the numbers are marked in spray paint at the cave entrance) Tom found the nymph of a Masked Hunter (Reduvius personatus), a large assassin bug known in the UK for its presence in old houses. The nymphs cover themselves in debris for camouflage: in houses they use bits of old dust, in a more natural setting with dirt and sand.
I had an unexpected camera malfunction at this point and was unable to take any macro shots, so I used the compact camera to take a small video instead.
There was evidence of the volcanic origins of these caves inside, including old lava casts and shining mica on many of the surfaces. They weren't as wet as I expected, but perhaps the picture changes in winter again. On this trip, we visited primarily Caves II and III - Cave IV is mostly a large entrance with a tiny, inaccessible tunnel, which we sifted some leaf litter from the entrance of. Cave II was where we focused on this particular day, which went back around 100 metres or so. We got most of the way through the cave, but didn't see much under the rocks. The deepest tube, Cave I, at 300+ metres, was slightly more overgrown and out of the way. We decided to revisit that one later in the week.
DAY 2: PONTA DE SÃO LOURENÇO
The following day, we decided to head to Ponta de São Lourenço, where we had found so many great invertebrates last time. The headland is visible from above as the plane comes in to land.
As usual, the scenery was stunning, and the sea was an incredible colour. The geology of the peninsula is fascinating; in the third image of the below gallery (bottom left) you can see a dike swarm on a section of the cliff - lots of incursions left over from the area's volcanic days, forming striations in the rock.
This area had the most stark difference of all during the dry summer season: there were no beetles under the rocks, nor could we find any isopods, snails, slugs or other invertebrates. This was definitely a disappointment, but it was compensated for: I found three species of shieldbug in one day. This started with Brachynema cinctum, which were very numerous at the start of the trail and on the coast by the café. They don't seem to be mentioned in the Madeira government's list of Flora and Fauna of Madeira, so are probably a fairly recent arrival - in fact, there is only one more record of this species from the island listed on GBIF/iNaturalist. They seemed to be abundant on Sedum-type shrubs around the peninsula.
At the end of the headland is a small café, for people who have just done the walk to get food, drink and shade. We had been wondering how heavy boxes of drinks and food were transported up the hill from the jetty and arrived just in time to see how it was done: a noisy little motorised vehicle with caterpillar tracks, capable of getting over the rough terrain.
The second species of shieldbug, down on the beach, was Dolycoris numidicus: smaller and darker than our Hairy Shieldbug D. baccarum. They were only on the coast, on the slightly gone-over vegetation.
The third species, which was not unexpected, was Nezara viridula - a single adult. We saw these at the same place in 2021, around the café at the end of the peninsula.
The ever-present Madeira Lizards / Lagartixa-da-Madeira (Teira dugesii) seemed to have reached new population heights by this time of year, with lots of and males in breeding colouration and juveniles about. They were well-camouflaged in the vegetation, which was dry and crispy.
I did a bit of sweep netting to see whether anything interesting came out of this vegetation - I caught a lot of bugs, mainly Lygaeids, a few ants, and a lovely little caterpillar.
After checking out the coastal vegetation, I went to look in the sea and saw a few nice Snakelocks Anemones (Anemonia viridis) nestled in the cracks between boulders where the rough sea couldn't do so much damage. These were accompanied by lots of adult Grapsus adscensionis crabs on the sea-facing side of the same boulders, which seemed to like (or at least tolerate) the action of the waves pounding the rocks.
We ended up getting the Madeira Sea Emotions boat round the coast to get back. The geology from the sea was fascinating, with huge bands of different-coloured rock interspersed with massive striating dikes. On the basic tour which takes passengers almost straight back round the coast, the boat made a quick trip to an underwater cave, Pigeon's Cave, which had lots of feral pigeons nesting in it. The boat took us to the marina next to the Quinta Do Lorde hotel complex, which I was delighted to find was absolutely stuffed with fish. In the bottom right photo below was a rock we were shown on the way into the marina which looks like an elephant.
There were lots of large silver fish which I believe to be mullet (unsure of which species exactly) which were picking things off the poles holding the jetty in place. Underneath them at the bottom is a Canary Damselfish (Abudefduf luridus).
After the mullet had cleared off, I was waiting out an exceptionally beautiful but shy Ornate Wrasse (Thalassoma pavo), when I was taken completely by surprise by a huge adult Mediterranean Parrotfish (Sparisoma cretense), which took a passing interest in the camera. However, the interest was very short-lived, and I didn't see it again after it left the shot.
Mediterranean Parrotfish have somewhat complex life histories, with all individuals starting out as females, and some changing to males as they mature. Going by the pattern, this one is an adult female, with reddish markings. Well-marked females are a stunning red colour with a grey saddle, while the males are silver with black markings, which are able to change colour to some degree. The individual below (taken from some of the video footage I took) is a male, trying to get the best angle for feeding on the rocks.
Inspired by the jetty's marine life, I later did some filming around Machico harbour, which supported a variety of intertidal creatures. The evening had been fantastic, with a great meal, an extremely calm, windless sunset and then an enormous moon rising over the sea.
In addition to mullets and parrotfish, there were several species of bream (including very small Diplodus vulgaris and Sarpa salpa), the crabs Grapsus adscenscionis and Percnon gibbesi, and at least two species of sea urchin, including Arbacia lixula and Diadema sp. The Diadema in the above image unfortunately has no sense of scale - the spines were at least 20cm long, and the urchin must have been the size of a football. Unfortunately, when we came back to look at it the following night, it had remained in exactly the same position, and I suspected that it was dead. This was confirmed the next night by the presence of some absolutely enormous polychaete worms, which may have been very large Bearded Fireworms / Verme de fogo (Hermodice carunculata) feeding on dead urchins in the harbour, which were a good foot in length.
The transition from day to night in the harbour seemed to be marked by the presence of large, brown sea cucumbers, which were also approaching the foot-long milestone. These I found endlessly fascinating, as they seemed to move so fast (for a sea cucumber), yet I never actually saw them travelling about. One minute the harbour wall was barren, the next it was covered in them.
DAY 3: FURNAS AGAIN
The following day, we returned to the caves. On the way, I discovered a pair of mating Madeira Lizards on the path. The males at this time of year were in their breeding colours out and about - some quite vivid brown, blue and green tones.
We also saw some splendid-looking bugs, Spilostethus pandurus on the Strelitzias in town - looking fairly similar to our own Corizus, but a bit larger. They were very smart with their red and black suits!
This time at the site, we entered Cave I and went back quite a way. Cave I's total length is approx. 300 metres, but we didn't make it all the way to the back.
The tunnel quickly became pitch black and cool, but it wasn't particularly wet. Presumably these conditions meant that all the cave fauna had entered the interstitial spaces between the rocks and disappeared further underground, where the humidity was higher. Nevertheless, we found a couple of pseudoscrpions, some peculiar springtails, and two Micro-whip Scorpions (Eukoenenia madeirae, family Palpigradi) first described to science from specimens from Cave I, and currently found in Caves I and II. Extremely recognisable as this unique little family of arachnids, and so tiny - less than two millimetres in body length.
I was particularly disappointed not to have got a sharp shot of the Palpigrade, but it was a nippy little thing and trying to operate the camera, torch and rock was a juggling act I was evidently not suited for!
DAY 4: BOSCA DU RISCO
We decided to hike to the Boca du Risco viewpoint and back to Machico. This would ordinarily not be a particularly long walk, but it took us all day due to the heat and humidity. The first things I noticed when we were at slightly higher elevation were the butterflies. I'd never seen Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) before; they're often thought of as being a classic part of the North American fauna, but they occur naturally the other side of the Atlantic, too. They had a unique flying style, which involved a lot of very light-looking gliding on outstretched wings, and as such were difficult to get a picture of once they were warmed up. I did get a couple of shots for my effort, though.
The other butterflies which we saw a huge number of on this walk was the Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria). There are two Speckled Woods on Madeira, the other being the endemic P. xiphia, which, according to this website, is separated by "[the] fore-wings’ outer margin which are slightly convex and mostly brown, a distinctive but small white mark on costa on its marbled brown undersides and the two eye-spots on the upperside hind-wing." We only saw the normal Speckled Wood (photographed below), which looked far more like their continental counterparts than those from the UK.
The landscape started to look quite primeval, with scrub underneath towering, non-native Eucalyptus forest. There was plenty of dead wood, much of which had been ravaged by beetles and other wood borers, although we only saw a single weevil during our walk beetle-wise. Under stones were plenty of black ants, termites, the common woodlouse Armadillidium vulgare, the cricket Phanaeroptera (according to iNaturalist) and some small native cockroaches.
There seemed to be a lower density of lizards up here than down by the coast. Some of the males we saw on the walk up were spectacular in their colours, and the juveniles with their racing stripes. After we had seen the viewpoint, had some lunch, and were making our way back via a different route, we saw more and more lizards, until I estimated we'd seen upwards of 250 individuals in one afternoon. It was perhaps unsurprising that we saw so few insects.
On this same day, I managed to see every instar of Nezara viridula - the younger nymphs are very colourful and it's easy to presume they could be a different species, compared to the relatively plain colouration of the adults. This shield bug has become a pest species in some areas owing to its fast spread in recent years, particularly in places such as the US. Despite their pest status, their biology is still extremely interesting, not least because the adults will sing to each other using vibrations through the stems of plants as a courtship mechanism.
I often saw aggregations or small groups of nymphs together on leaves or plantain heads (their chemical defences help protect each other in a group), and they scattered quickly when disturbed.
The way back took us a lot longer, through farmland and small areas of forest, and we saw a large variety of scenery and creatures we may not otherwise have seen. At one point, Tom found a very small baby House Mouse / Rato-caseiro (Mus musculus) which tried to hide under his shoe on the path. It probably wasn't far from the nest as it looked very small, possibly just 'fledged'. Under a rock, Tom also found some flatworms, while I tried to photograph some beautiful Madeiran Banded Bees (Anthophora (Amegilla) maderae) on lavender.
Just as we were getting tired, we stumbled upon a lovely home-made honesty box which contained, among other things, a lot of local bananas. The delicious banana or two I had were probably single-handedly responsible for getting me back down the hills again!
I really enjoyed seeing all the Taro (Colocasia esculenta) growing in ditches and other damp spots around the island. Their large, leathery leaves look amazing, and some were enormous.
DAY 5: 25 FONTES
On our penultimate day, we took a trip to the 25 Fontes & Cascada del Risco in Rabaçal. In the absence of a rental car on this trip, we took a taxi there and back. Once we got going, the taxi driver seemed determined to be the fastest car on the road, overtaking every single other vehicle we encountered (even on the bends of the mountainous balcony roads) - so we got there in record time!
Once we got to the start of the trail, it was only 1.5km downhill to the little visitor's centre. We had read that there was a minibus service which operated up and down this trail, but it hadn't opened by the time we arrived so we walked instead - it was a great walk, and we saw some fascinating plants. At the visitor's centre, there were a lot of Madeira Chaffinches / Tentilhão da Madeira (Fringilla coelebs maderensis) hanging around, very close up in some instances.
It was a relatively steep up-and-down Levada trail, with fantastic views over the mountains and forest. The waterfalls were also lovely, and the cool base of the cliff was very refreshing.
The plant life was interesting here, and very diverse - the Sonchus trees we'd seen in winter were in flower, with fantastic giant dandelion-like flower heads. There were also giant daisies, giant clover, lots of large purple orchids (perhaps the Madeira Orchid Dactylorhiza foliosa), Hemlock Water-dropwort (Oenanthe crocata), and more.
One of the more interesting finds I didn't recognise until I was writing this blog and going through all the photos - an unusual fungus growing from the base of a tree. Unsurprisingly, this was a Laurel tree, and the fungus is likely Laurobasidium lauri, one of only two in its genus, which parasitises the Laurel tree Laurus novocanariensis. This fungus is endemic to Madeira and the Canaries, known here as Madre de louro, or Mother of Laurel.
In the levada itself, there were lots of smallish water beetles, making their way between areas shaded by duckweed. I didn't need my compact camera here, as the water was so clear and undisturbed I could use the SLR as if there was nothing between the lens and the beetles.
There were also Rainbow Trout in the levada, hiding under the bridges, but in far lower numbers and much shyer than they were in winter. The walk was tiring but very enjoyable, and there was beautiful scenery to take in along the way.
DAY 6: PONTA DO BODE
Our final day also transpired to be the hottest of the week, so we were only active during the morning. We took a taxi to Ponta do Bode, where we hunted around on the beach - on our last trip, lots of useful-looking canes had washed up, but there was much less of a strandline this time, although I did find two nice fishing floats. The little stream which ran down to the the sea was full of Perez's Frogs / Rã-verde (Pelophylax perezi).
They were making such a racket it was audible from almost the other side of the beach, calling and fighting, which mostly seemed to concern squatting rights on various rocks which were peeking out of the shallow water. They were very cautious, jumping into the stream and hiding under the weeds at the slightest movement, and they rarely came back to the surface while I was sat next to their pools.
The sea was fairly choppy, and there were some surfers braving the heat to get in the water. It must have been lovely and cool, particularly compared to where we were on the rocks, with the sun beating down from above and reverberating off the stone. There were several people on the shoreline collecting limpets from the rocks further towards the water's edge.
One of my finds at this rocky cliff base was a dead Sally Lightfoot Crab (G. adscenscionis). The crab was large, and seeing a dead one is perhaps one of the only opportunities to see one of these nifty crabs up close. I studied, photographed, and drew its pincers, legs, carapace and patterns. It was a thing of beauty.
Everything about the crab is flat and streamlined, designed for slipping into cracks and clinging to rocks. The pincers and legs were arranged in such a way as to prevent any upwards-pointing lumps or spikes which could put the crab at risk of being ripped from its rock by a wave. From above, the colouration may also provide some camouflage by breaking up the crab's outline against the patterned rocks and flying sea-spray.
While I was looking at the crab, Tom had made a discovery of his own, which he brought over for me. It was an incredible rope-covered buoy, made of extremely hard, heavy plastic and adorned with a few Goose Barnacles - it had clearly been at sea for a while.
I looked up the text on the side and found that the company which had produced this buoy was For Yung Co. (活 揚), a Taiwanese plastic company which specialises in manufacturing fishing floats. This buoy is either a a trawl net float or a tuna longline float - it looks most like this one of the latter type, and the off-pink colour may even suggest that it had once been red, the colour bleached out during its long years at sea...
It was amazing to speculate exactly how far this buoy must have come - I saw no boats with similar buoys around Madeira, so perhaps it came from far offshore, from a boat closer to mainland Africa, or perhaps it was even lost somewhere back in Asia, in a completely different ocean. Whatever its story, we left it where it was; somebody will doubtless collect it, and marvel at it as we did.
It was highly interesting returning to this location at a different time of year. My expectations of Madeira in summer had been influenced by the fantastic diversity of invertebrates we had seen in the cooler months, which was not upheld during the drought-like conditions, but the season made it far easier to see and film underwater. I was interested to see that the demographic of lizards had changed, from brownish adults in winter to a mix of adults and juveniles, with some males decked out in bright blueish green. In conclusion, a lovely island which definitely has something for everyone at all times of the year, although if it's terrestrial invertebrates specifically you are searching for, then the winter months are significantly more productive.
Invertebrate highlights:
• Bug (Spilostethus pandurus)
• East Atlantic Sally lightfoot Crab (Grapsus adscensionis)
• Madeiran Banded Bee (Anthophora (Amegilla) maderae)
• Monarch Butterfly (Danaeus plexippus)
• Southern Green Shieldbug (Nezara viridula)
• Shieldbug (Dolycoris numidicus)
• Shieldbug (Brachynema cinctum)
• Speckled Wood (Pararge aegeria)
• Southern Green Shieldbug (Nezara viridula)
Reptiles & Amphibians:
• Madeira Wall Lizard (Teira dugesii)
• Perez's Frog (Rana perezi)