DUSTY DAYS ON THE COASTAL MEADOWS part 2 - The more substantial part

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As I already mentioned in a short intro post published a couple of days ago ...

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... the atmosphere high above this part of the Mediterranean was pretty dusty, creating a very particular atmosphere at the end of the day.

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I went out of the house every afternoon to spend quite a few hours on my favorite stretch of coastline, about 5 - 6 kilometers from where I live, near the village called Liznjan.

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The meadows looked fantastic in that strange light. Here you can see the diurnal Zygaena filipendulae moth, resting on the dry grass.

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Some minuscule flies were swarming, low above the vegetation. They looked like little ghosts ... or fairies, when caught on photograph.

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At one point ...

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... while rambling through the grass ...

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... I came across what looked like an archipelago of small islands made of beautiful, aromatic yellow flowers.

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The Helichrysum italicum plant, commonly known as curry plant or immortelle, grows on dry, rocky or sandy terrain near the sea, and forms these dense, shrub - like formations with a layer of flowers at the top.

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When I came closer ...

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... to take a better look through the macro lens ...

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... an intricate, intensely yellow macro - landscape was revealed.

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The wasp - mimicking Plagionotus floralis longhorn beetles were feeding and resting, well camouflaged among the tiny flowers.

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Some small cockroach, I don't know the exact species, was also grazing for pollen on these rich, colorful fields.

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I found more Helichrysum italicum plants under the tall tree - heather shrubs ...

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... and I noticed what looked like a small, dried out bud fallen from the shrub above. The thing was somehow attached to the flower. Soon I noticed more of them scattered around the flowers.

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When I overturned one of those, I saw a hole, an entrance, and after some minutes the head of a minuscule larva came out. Soon the casing was in its proper position again.

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On another cluster of flowers of the same plant, I found a slightly different little shell ... but it was the same kind of construction ...

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... with the same kind of larva inside.

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I took a few shots from a much lower angle, and when I enlarged the photographs on the camera's screen, I was glad to see that I succeeded in portraying the larva while feeding on pollen. It took a lot of waiting and patience on a hot & humid day, while being contorted in a weird yoga - like position, surrounded by tall grass and various spiky vegetation. I never noticed this kind of larvae before, and I can't tell you the name of the species ... yet ... although I'm pretty sure that it is some casebearer moth species. While the larva was enjoying the abundance of minuscule yellow grains ...

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... the sun was floating behind distant layers of dust.

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I photographed this minuscule, recently hatched nymph of the Oecanthus pellucens tree cricket ...

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... and then continued ...

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... my walk through the grass.

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Some Marbled white (Melanargia galathea) butterflies were resting on the tops of various grasses.

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Others were flying around.

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Grasshoppers were resting or chewing the still green grass.

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I don't know what species exactly is this ... quite a few confusingly similar - looking ones are present on these meadows.

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And so, I was sniffing around, enjoying the unusual atmosphere ...

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... there was something interesting on every step ... although it sounds like I took all this shots on the same day, because it's easier to put together some kind of narrative that way, the photographs were accumulated during three strange days, with the day before yesterday being the last one.

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This is the elegantly constructed casing of another larva, a much bigger one than those you saw earlier in this post. What follows ...

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... it's another up - close, macro look at the carpet made of Helichrysum italicum flowers. The Staria lunata shield bug was feeding there ... and then while I was photographing the bug ...

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... a small moth landed nearby ...

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... and started running around the yellow cluster. I took a couple of shots, and only when I view them enlarged on the screen of the camera to select which ones to delete, I noticed the legs of the crab spider, blurred in the foreground.

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The Runcinia grammica crab spider climbed from somewhere underneath the flower ...

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... and started observing the moth ... while patiently waiting for the opportunity.

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After some minutes, when the moth, unaware of the danger, came very close, almost touching the small predator ...

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... the spider grabbed him ...

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... and dragged him under the flowers ...

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... where he can enjoy the meal in a relatively secure place ...

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... less exposed to birds and other potential predators.

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There, among the leaves and twigs of the Helichrysum italicum ...

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... while the sun was going down ...

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... I found another little spider ... the Heliophanus tribulosus jumping spider.

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This big, robust wolf spider (Lycosidae family, don't know the exact species) was photographed nearby, on the same group of plants.

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After some time, about five minutes or so ...

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... the crab spider brought the moth to a stem of some grass, and then down that straw into the dense, intricate vegetation near the ground.

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And now ...

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... with this ant and leafhopper, resting on the same straw of grass ... it's time to end the story about the last few days on the coastal meadows.

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As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work - THE END.



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14 comments
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Wonderful photography dear, loved the clarity, details, colours. It's a picture perfect work. This is pure professional work, you should give it a try, Professional wildlife photographer. Always love to see your work. 😊🙏

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(Edited)

What a ayuba to chill in the evening hour. Those are amazing photos especially that grasshopper - I like the close shot.

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Impresive beautifoolll cuullll niiceee exceleeeennnt bravoooo ;)) maestro dominatore dei inseki ;))

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We appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by zoology team (oscurity,nelinoeva) on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!

Nice work! great repertoire of beautiful photos!

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What an amazing collection.

Loved looking at this with my coffee.

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The yellow of the Oecanthus pellucens tree cricket, wow! The shots of the sun were cool, the dust made it interesting.

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True. :) The dust made these few ordinary days look kind of special.

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Once again I am transported to an alien micro world by your photography.

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Great. :) Glad you liked the journey. I wouldn't be so inspired to create these reports about nature here, if I hadn't a cool platform, and an audience that likes to watch this stuff.

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