SMALL ARTHROPODS & THE THORNY PLANT NEAR THE BEACH

The 23rd of June 2021 was a hot and humid day. The sky was covered with clouds. The strong summer sun wasn't hitting directly, but the air felt heavy and hard to breathe. The atmosphere was pretty exhausting even near the sea which can provide a bit of refreshment.

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I spent the afternoon on the stretch of coastline called Palera, a couple of kilometers from Liznjan and five or six kilometers from where I live. After a bit of swimming and snorkeling, I went walking across the meadows in search of spiders and insects, and I spent most of that hot and humid afternoon observing nature through the macro lens.

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In this post, I'll show you what I found on that occasion.

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This bug was photographed on the thorny leaves of the Scolymus hispanicus plant. Can't tell you what species exactly is this, but the genus is Maccevethus, and the family is Rhopalidae, that much I know. It could be the Maccevethus caucasicus. Maybe.

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In this set of four photographs, the bug is cleaning its antennae.

This considerably smaller, completely black bug was found ...

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... and photographed a bit further, on another thorny plant of the same kind.

This is the female Orthocephalus coriaceus. A species from the Miridae family. The elongated males look considerably different.

The leaves of the Scolymus hispanicus provide a nice hiding place for many small arthropods. In this photograph, a beetle is resting, sheltered by the thorns.

In this case, the genus is Anisoplia, and the family is Scarabaeidae. It could be the Anisoplia agricola. Or the Anisoplia austriaca. Probably one of those two.

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Here you can take a break from the macro view and rest your eyes on the cloudy sky.

This fly was photographed on the leaf of a shrub that I wasn't able to identify because I don't have wider shots that show more than just a small detail of the leaf.

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As you can see, this predatory fly has just caught a small insect.

The fly is the Dioctria longicornis from the Asilidae and its prey is a small bug, probably from the Miridae family.

After sucking the liquified internal tissues of its prey, the fly left the exoskeleton and flew away.

A moment later a small moth landed on one of the neighboring leaves. Can't tell you the name of the species. The family is Gelechiidae.

On the herbaceous vegetation under the shrub, the Allagelena gracilens spider has built a pretty large horizontal web.

And now, before continuing with the small arthropods, you can take a look at the beach in this photograph.

This leafhopper was found on the Scolymus hispanicus plant.

Can't tell you the name or anything else about the species. The family is Cicadellidae.

A bit later, always on the thorny leaves of the same kind of plant, I came across a spider that has caught an Orthocephalus coriaceus bug.

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The spider is the Philodromus albidus, a species from the Philodromidae family.

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This was the last scene I photographed on the 23rd of June 2021, so the post must end here.

The following links will take you to the sites with more information about some of the protagonists of this post. I found some stuff about them there.
https://ukrbin.com/index.php?id=38688&taxamodesp=1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolymus_hispanicus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthocephalus_coriaceus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anisoplia
https://observation.org/species/8215/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelechiidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philodromus_albidus

AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS HERE ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.