Several of the animal species listed below are those you hopefully can
see in the archipelago. There live about 3 340 species of animals on Madeira
and the majority are of course insects.
Please click on the linked names to view photos of each
species in larger size, of which all is photographed within the Madeira
archipelago. Photographs on non-linked species below are highly welcome!
Butterflies
Large White Pieris brassicae wollastoni (Rare)
Small
White Pieris rapae (Widespread)
Clouded
Yellow Colias croceus (Widespread)
Madeira Brimstone Gonepteryx maderensis (Scarce)
Small
Copper Lycaena phlaeas phlaeoides (Widespread)
Long-tailed
Blue Lampides boeticus (Common)
Lang's Short-tailed Blue Leptotes pirithous (1 record; 2007)
Queen of Spain Fritillary Issoria lathonia (Scarce visitor)
Red
Admiral Vanessa atalanta (Widespread)
Indian
Red Admiral Vanessa vulcanica (Scarce visitor)
Painted
Lady Vanessa cardui (Widespread)
Monarch
Danaus plexippus (Localized)
Plain Tiger Danaus chrysippus (Rare visitor)
Madeiran Grayling Hipparchia maderensis (Localized)
Speckled
Wood Pararge a. aegeria (Widespread)
Madeiran
Speckled Wood Pararge xiphia (Localized)
Moths
The moths are quite common with about 260 species, more than 50 of them
being endemics. One family is striking due to the size of its members,
the Hawk Moths (Sphingidae), of which many are migrating species.
Following Hawk Moths can be seen:
Hummingbird Hawk Moth Macroglossum stellatarum
Death's
Head Hawk Moth Acherontia atropos
Convolvulus
Hawk Moth Agrius convolvuli
(Madeiran)
Spurge Hawk Moth Hyles tithymali gecki
Striped Hawk Moth Hyles lineata livornica
Dragonflies
Small Bluetail Ischnura pumilio
Blue
Emperor Anax imperator
Lesser Emperor Anax parthenope
Vagrant Emperor Anax ephippiger
Red-veined
Darter Sympetrum fonscolombii
Common
Darter Sympetrum striolatum
Island Darter Sympetrum nigrifemur
Identifying Dragonflies is far from easy, but if you have photographed
a dragonfly and are unsure of what species it is, you can get help and
ID support from the crew behind the excellent website DragonflyPix,
which is worth a visit for all the great photos of dragonflies.
Spiders (which pay attention)
There are several species of wolf spiders living on each of the islands
(Madeira, Deserta Grande and Porto Santo):
Madeira Funnel-web Spider Tegenaria maderiana
Madeiran
Wolf Spider Hogna maderiana
Deserta
Grande Wolf Spider Hogna ingens
Porto Santo Wolf Spider Hogna scmitzi
Heer's Wolf Spider Hogna heeri
Wolf Spider Hogna insularum
Banded
Garden Spider Argiope trifasciata
Wasp
Spider Argiope bruennichi
Tent-web
Spider Cyrtophora citricola
Amphibians and Reptiles
Perez's
Frog Pelophylax perezi (introduced and widespread; The
river beds in Machico, São Vicente and Fajä da Nogueira are
reliable sites as well as Tanque Pond on Porto Santo)
Madeiran
Wall Lizard Teira dugesii
Canarian Lizard Gallotia gallotia (introduced, only seen
in Funchal)
Moorish Gecko Tarentola mauritanica (introduced; often heard
in evening/night in central Funchal, but rarely seen in broad daylight).
Mammals
Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus (introduced)
House Mouse Mus domesticus (introduced)
Black Rat Rattus rattus (introduced)
Brown Rat Rattus norvegicus (introduced)
Feral Cat (introduced)
Bats
Madeira Pipistrelle Pipistrellus maderensis
Lesser Noctule Nyctalis leisleri verrucosus
Grey Long-eared Bat Plecotus austriacus
Trip
list of Madeiran animals (PDF 23 KB, with english
and scientific names). This list contains 50 species of land and sea animals
such as butterflies, dragonflies, whales and dolphins, and others, of
which several are most likely to see during a visit in the Madeira archipelago.
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