A few weeks ago the small Tangerine tree in my garden was in bloom ...
... and I spent a few hours each day ...
... exploring the surprisingly varied fauna on that tree. From the very common Bush cricket nymphs ...
... to the strange scale insects that look like limpets.
This is the Tortoise wax scale (Ceroplastes japonicus) native to Eastern Asia ... but like many other insects connected with cultivated plants, this one also became a much widespread pest.
Here you can take a look underneath the waxy shell. As you can see, this interesting animal practically doesn't look like an insect anymore.
This lovely little pest is the Dialeurodes citri whitefly, that colonizes underside of the leaves.
Some flowers were still buds ...
... while some others just became small fruits.
Ants of this species were very active around the opened flowers.
There were quite a few species on the tree.
This one was occupied with aphids ...
... situated in the spirally deformed leaf. It looked like a minuscule galaxy ...
... with some little green aliens hanging there.
Predatory larvae of the Scymnus nigrinus ladybeetle ...
... were invading the place regularly.
Here is another aphid species ... a pinky one.
I saw these Psyllids appearing every evening.
And I saw them doing this cool little dance. Maybe it has something to do with mating, pheromone releasing and all that ... but I don't know ... maybe I'll learn one day.
Charming little pests.
Here you can see the Coreus marginatus bug on the decaying flower ... and on the following picture ...
... is the anatomic detail of the flower ... that fell on the leaf underneath.
This is the Issus lauri planthopper ... that is colored like the tangerine leaf.
This small jumping spider has caught the flying ant. On the following photograph ...
... you can see the scene from another angle.
Aphids are pretty numerous ... and here ...
... you can observe the birth of an aphid.
This aphid just exited the old exoskeleton.
The Chloromyia formosa fly is resting in the shade among the leaves ...
... just like this Rhagonycha fulva soldier beetle ...
... and this small moth ... that looks like some fallen plant detail ...
... TO BE CONTINUED ... as always in these series on HIVE, all the photographs are my work.
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From @borjan
In Agricultural Mindset