ALONG THE COASTLINE IN JULY - Part One

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(Edited)

These are some old shots from the golden, sunny meadows ...

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... it was the summer of 2016 ...

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... and I was spending most of my time walking through tall grass in search of insects and spiders, exploring the coastal environment, enjoying the carefree days and chasing butterflies.

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As you can see on these opening shots, I caught two different small blue butterflies ... but since there are quite a few similar looking species present in the area, I can't tell you which ones exactly are these.

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Here you can see a mating couple of Fritillary butterflies ...

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... that look a lot like Melitaea cinxia ... but I'm far from being sure about the species ... and for the same reasons as before, with the blue butterflies, because there are quite a few similar looking species present in the area.

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I didn't encounter only butterflies on my summer ramblings, back then, in 2016.

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These beetles ... some Anisoplia chafer species ...

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... are always present in big numbers on the coastal meadows ... in some areas, practically every ear of grass carries at least one of them.

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Dixus sphaerocephalus it's an interesting ground beetle species ... with its big had that in combination with the thorax is almost the half of the entire body, it stands out from many similar looking species that run around these meadows. It's very common here, and present in big numbers, but rarely seen because it spends most of the time near ground or underground. I encounter this insect sometimes in the morning or at dusk, when it climbs on the ears of grass to collect the seeds. It's very shy and fast ... very difficult to photograph.

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This Common red soldier beetle (Rhagonycha fulva) on this photograph ...

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... is eating the pollen ... or nectar ... or both ... but adults of this species feed also on aphids ...mainly on aphids, actually. The flower in question is the Anthemis arvensis ...

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... this plant produces plenty of flowers along the coast, in stony areas with short grass ... in this case near the sea.

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The spiky Juncus acutus plant ...

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... often grows in muddy or sandy habitats even closer to the sea, but can be found also here, at the edge of an ordinary grassland.

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This juvenile Neoscona adianta spider has built an elegant silky sphere on another spiky
coastal plant - the Scolymus hispanicus.

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This shelter made of ears of the Briza maxima grass glued together with silky threads it's a work of some sack spider species ... that is hiding inside.

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Here you can see the pretty large Yellow sack spider (Cheiracanthium Punctorium) out of its sack.

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This small spider ... and the one on the following photograph ...

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... were photographed among the yellow flowers ...

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... of the Spartium junceum shrub ... that grows in groups that look like islands in the grass.

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Wild roses (Rosa canina) often grow among Spartium junceum shrubs. This caterpillar of the Orgyia antiqua moth was photographed on that plant ...

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... along with some other insects ... the large Anacridium aegyptium grasshopper ...

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... and the small Cryptocephalus bipunctatus leaf beetle.

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Cryptocephalus trimaculatus is a very similar species, of the same size. This one was photographed on the meadow, on some kind of Trifolium plant.

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Cryptocephalus moraei it's a considerably smaller species ... here you can see it climbing on the long stem of grass ... and on the following picture ...

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... you can take a better, more up close look at this minuscule leaf beetle.

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While the grass near the sea is mostly pretty dry, brown and yellow ...

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... in some places, near the cultivated fields, the atmosphere is still green ... and red poppies are in bloom ... creating lovely pastoral scenes.

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This spotted asparagus beetle, the Crioceris duodecimpunctata ...

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... was photographed in one of those green areas.

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Here you can see a bunch of some small flies that died in a small pool of water at the bottom of some large plant in that area, that gets a bit of water from the nearby cabbage fields.

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With this shot I'm moving away from the cultivated area ... here you can see a mating pair of the very common diurnal moths Zygaena filipendulae.

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This Sehirus luctuosus shield bug ...

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... has climbed on the top of the grass ... and now is ready to fly away.

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The Ampedus nigerrimus click beetle is resting on the stem of grass, about halfway to the top. These beetles are getting active at dusk.

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This large robber fly ... I don't know the exact species ... is resting on the top of the grass.

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The predatory bug Rhynocoris iracundus is crawling down the stem of some plant.

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This small wild bee is feeding in the center of the large dandelion - like flower of the Urospermum dalechampii plant.

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This other, much bigger wild bee species, is buzzing around the cluster of small Marrubium vulgare flowers.

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This is a mating couple of small Hesperiidae butterflies ... I don't know the exact species ...

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... it could be the Ochlodes sylvanus ... or Thymelicus sylvestris ... they look very similar ...

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... and now ...

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... with this closing shot of the Melanargia galathea butterfly ... is time to end this summer journey through the meadows ... as always, the photographs are my work - THE END.



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5 comments
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beautiful insects...I will have to share these photos with my daughter - she's obsessed with insects right now.

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all these little animal pictures are so beautiful and cool .... extraordinary and interesting.

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I love all your photography!! Awesome photography and nice shots, great work 👍

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