Following is a list of the most common insects on the island of Lanzarote. In this post you can read about these creatures, their features and interesting facts. In addition, there is information about where to find these insects if you’d like to spot them.

Punta Parda or Elphinstonia Charlonia is a type of butterfly in the family Pieridae. The butterflies occur in dry, grassy vegetation on calcareous bottom and rocky areas even until a height of 250 meters. The caterpillars feed on Boleum asperum, Reseda Phyteuma and Eruca vesicaria, they eat the leaves and maturing seeds of these plants. The Punta Parda has multiple generations in a year and overwinters as a pupa. The butterfly flies in the months march, april, may, september and october.

Photo by Michel Tarrier

Icargo Dos Puntos or  Polyommatus Icarus  is a butterfly of the Lycaenidae family. It occurs in most types of grasslands, dry chapped free of grass lanes to moderately moist meadows. The caterpillar feeds on leaves. The top of the wings of the male butterfly is blue and on the female brown. The common Icargo Dos Puntos flies depending from the geographical location and the height of the airfield in one to three generations in a year. The butterfly flies in the months of April, May, June, July, August, September and October.

Photo by Kristian Peters

Utetheisa pulchella is a butterfly with a wingspan between 29 and 42 millimeters. The front wing is creamy colour with a variable pattern of numerous angular red blotches and smaller black spots. The Utetheisa pulchella occurs mainly in dry and open spaces. The butterfly species overwinters as a caterpillar.

Photo by Aqualune

Dactylopius Coccus Cochinilla is an insect that is cultivated for its carmine dye. The insect is can be found as a parasite on the disks of a cactus. Dactylopius Coccus cochinilla are oval shaped and soft-bodied insects. The females are wingless and about 5 mm long. The males are smaller and have wings.Traditionally, cochineal was used for colouring fabrics,Today, it is used as a fabric and cosmetics dye and as a natural food colouring.

Photo by Frank Vincentz

Pentatomidae or also known as Chinche De Campo have five-piece antennas, a four-piece snout and three-piece feet. The back is shield shaped. Many species are green or brown, some very colorful. The body length ranges from 0.5 to 2.5 cm. The insects are usually dealing with large groups feeding on various plants in fields and meadows. They especially like cotton, corn, soybeans, ornamental trees, shrubs, vines and weeds.

Photo by Bruce Marlin

Eumenidae or Katamenes, most eumenine species are black or brown, and commonly marked with strikingly contrasting patterns of yellow, white, orange, or red. The wasps are medium- to large-sized wasps, 9 to 20 mm long. Eumenine wasps are diverse in nest building. The wasps may either use existing cavities,such as beetle tunnels in wood, abandoned nests. Eumenine wasps are harmless, and should never be killed. The wasps are important for pest control in gardens and farms.

Photo by Bruce Marlin

Nesarpalus Solitarius are mostly 11,5mm long. The color is variable. Many species are brown to black, sometimes with metallic luster, but also red, yellow and green, blue and purple colours occur. Although they vary widely in size, they are remarkably uniform in appearance, with long legs, powerful jaws and an oval to elongated oval carapace. Nesarpalus Solitarius are usually recognizable at first sight. The thorax and abdomen are clearly separated and the long legs are built for running. These insects are found in the high parts of the island.

Photo by Pascal Deschamps

Exochomus quadripustulatus are about 4 to 6 millimeters long. The color is quite variable; usually completely black with the front of the shield on each side two large red comma-shaped spots on the back two smaller round spots. The insect lives of both aphids and scale insects. Striking behavior characteristic of these tiny insects is that they, in contrast to most other ladybirds, have less of a tendency to fly off and stick to a tree.

Photo by Gilles San Martin