Grumpy in Madeira

There are lots of weird and wonderful creepy crawlies on Madeira. They show up from time to time when you least expect them.

Here are just a few:

One of the most common that you’ll see is the good old cockroach. These insects have been around since dinosaur times. There are over 4500 different species over the world They thrive in warm, humid environments. This makes subtropical Madeira ideal for them.

The Madeira cockroach is a brown or tawny-olive colour and bigger than the ones in the Uk at around 4cm. They’re actually different species. In the UK, the most common is the German cockroach (brown) around 1.6cm long. The black ones are the Oriental cockroach around 2.9cm. The American cockroach is one of the biggest around 4 to 5 cm.

The German cockroach have wings but can’t fly. They use their two sets of wings to control the descent from a height or jump. The black Oriental males have wings but can’t use them even for assisted jumping. The female doesn’t even have wings. The American & Madeira cockroach can fly and are fast and agile movers.

The peoples next favourite are spiders and there’s quite a few. The most famous one is the Desertas Wolf Spider. Although it does not actually live on Madeira, it resides on the Deserta Grande Island. This spider has a leg span of up to 13cm and a body of around 4 cm. He’s a big boy.

There are nearly 2400 species of Wolf Spider around the world. However, this particular one is critically endangered. It is only found in one single valley (the Vale da Castanheira) on Deserta Grande. The Desertas are a chain of three islands off the coast of Madeira. They are a nature reserve and are only accessible by boat and accompanied by an official guide.

Back on Madeira there are enough spiders and bugs to keep us entertained.

There is the Long Bodied Cellar Spider, also known as Daddy Long Legs. Totally harmless unless your another spider that is. This one I’ve seen about the house.

The Tent-web Spider is a friendly spider. It likes to share webs with other tent-webs. This behavior makes it easier to mate. So if you find one you will probably find more. Never seen this one.

The Banded Argiope, also known as The Banded Garden Spider, has various colourings. They range from black and white stripes to yellow stripes. It builds an orb shaped egg sack in the middle of it’s web. They are venomous to other insects and can bite a human but it doesn’t really bother us.

This one I’ve seen in the garden. I took a photo it’s not very clear but you can see the stripes.

As well as spiders there are lots and lots of bugs. Far too many to mention them all.

The Seed Bug is quite cool, they feed on plants and seeds. Very colourful and bright.

There common throughout Europe. I’ve not seen this bug in our garden

One bug I have seen lots of is the Southern Green Shield Bug also known as a Stink Bug. They produce an unpleasant smell when disturbed. They feed on plants and crops. They come in lots of colours brown, green, red and all colours between

I’ve seen the green type in our garden.

While there are no snakes in Madeira, There is a rumour that The Flower Pot snake has been accidentally introduced. It is a fascinating snake, who doesn’t need a partner to breed. Have a read of the link.

This is a blind snake. It feeds on insect eggs and larvae. It spend all it’s time underground. It can’t bite so is not harmful to humans or pets. It can grow to 6 inches.

I’ve never seen one.

There is also the Portuguese Millipede, totally harmless. You will definitely see these in Madeira. It’s called Vaca Preto or Vaca Negra which means Black Cow, “Why” who knows!!!! Maybe one of our Portuguese friends/relatives can explain. Maria doesn’t know.

They live outside most of the time but when it rains, for some reason they come indoors. They have nothing to eat inside so they curl up and die. Very Strange.

There is also a creepy crawlie that is also totally harmless. It is actually beneficial to the household. However, everybody hates them. It’s the House Centipede. They are mostly active at night. It is a great hunter of Mosquitos, silverfish, spiders even cockroaches. It even eats bed bugs WTF!!!! That means it has to get into your bed!!!!

I know bed bugs are not nice. I’d shit myself if I pulled back the duvet to find one (or more) of these. They could be having a family night out.

I’ve had some questionable looking beasts in my bed over the years but nothing that bad. 😏

They can get to a good size too.

I started doing this post on beasties because of this little fella. I found him on our door frame last night.

Isn’t he cool!!!

I didn’t know there were Stick Insects in Madeira. Seemingly, there are two species breeding here at the moment. I’m trying to find out what type our little guy is. They are nocturnal, he was gone the next morning. Hopefully he’s still around the garden somewhere.

I just hope Smokey didn’t eat him.

There are lots more beasties on Madeira, these were just a few.

I hope you enjoyed and are not itching too much.

🤪