Protected Reptiles and Amphibians in France

The new list of protected reptiles and amphibians in France has for the first time included the four species of Viper, (Vipéridés).

Vipera aspis - Vipère aspic - Asp Viper
Vipera berus - Vipère péliade - Common Adder
Vipera seoanei - Vipère de Seoane - Seoane's viper.
Vipera ursinii - Vipère d'Orsini - Orsini's viper

For far too long these species have been persecuted and killed. This combined with the destruction of their natural habitat has resulted in a serious decline in numbers.

Needless to say this will not in itself prevent the continued harming of these valuable species but will send a signal to those with ears to hear and to those in authority

LINK TO LEGISLATIVE TEXT

Chris

Gendarmes are also Red and Black bugs, (Fire bugs), in France, not just Police personnel.

Fire bug Pyrrhocoris apterus le Pyrrhocore or Gendarme Many will know this highly successful common bug by the name of Gendarme or perhaps, depending on the region, names such as Suisse, Soldat, Punaise rouge, Cherche-midi or Punaise au corps de feu , all of which are widely used French vernacular names for this colourful insect. As most people will have noticed the "gendarmes" are gregarious and as such live in colonies, which can be described as "gendarmeries", and can number several hundred or even thousands of individuals. Their Black and Red colouration apparently contains a substance that gives them some immunity from predation and as such they make no attempt to hide and even have a very pronounced propensity for collective sunbathing, hence the name of " Cherche-midi " . Even in winter on a warm day a sunny stone wall or tree trunk will see them out and about. Click on photos to enlarge Being well equipped defensively ...

Deaths head hawkmoth and Great Peacock moth.

OK, size isn’t everything but the two largest moths we find in France are quite spectacular in both adult form and caterpillar and as such I think are worth a mention, they rarely fail to rise a "wow" when someone finds one. The Great Peacock Moth Saturnia pyri is the larger of the two and is Euorope largest moth with a wingspan of between 100 and 150mm, (4 to 6 inches), although some texts suggest that 200mm, (8inches), is possible. Click on images to enlarge Great Peacock Moth on my hand This is a species with only one generation a year with the adults usually emerging from mid April to mid May when they devote their short life entirely to reproduction as they live for perhaps 7 days and have no requirement to take nutrition. Pair of Great Peacock Moths mating Specifically a virgin female finds a place in a bush or tree where she emits nightly sex pheromones which diffuse into the air which can be picked up by males from as far as 5 km...

House Centipede - la Scutigére, (Scutigera coleoptrata) in France

Older French stone built houses invariably play host to a number of species and that includes these fascinating little guests although not all people are thrilled by their presence or their speed when they get a move on reaching speeds of up to 0.4 meters per second. Although in everyday usage they are called a centipede or “hundred feet” they actually only have 15 pairs of legs when fully grown giving them 30 legs. The last 2 legs are particularly long, longer in fact than their antennae reaching twice the length of the body and can be nearly 6 cm. They use these long legs to form a kind of lasso which is one of the methods they use to capture prey. Note that the common terms centipede and millipede are never meant to be factual and both are grouped together as myriapods or very many-footed. Eggs are laid in spring and the larvae when they hatch look like miniature versions of the adult but with only 4 pairs of legs. They gain a new pair with the first moult and t...

French wildlife and beekeeping

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