I took the following photographs ...
... during the last three days, on short walks along the edges of my hometown ...
... in small groves and on the meadows ... always around noon, because the mornings were pretty cold and sleepy, but in the middle of the sunny day, the temperature was fine, and I found some insect activity to put in the pictures.
This caterpillar of the "cutworm type" that spends the day curled in the soil and comes out to feed on the foliage at night ...
... is the larva of the very common and widespread Noctua pronuba moth.
I found it under some rotting branch on the ground, and I put it on the large leaf of the Arum alpinum plant to take these shots ... here, on the last picture in the series, you can see the caterpillar leaving the green surface in search for a new dark sheltered place to rest in.
These are the Lamium purpureum plants in bloom ... this nettle - like plant is commonly known as red dead-nettle. Although superficially very similar to species of Urtica (true nettles) in appearance, it's not related and does not sting, that's the reason for the"dead-nettle" name ... on the following shot ...
... you can take a better, more up close look at one of these very common, but also very interestingly shaped flowers. You can see the red pollen situated in the right place to get easily attached to the fur of bees and bumblebees when they feed on nectar at the bottom of the flower.
This elegant small flower ...
... belongs to the Erodium moschatum plant from the Geraniaceae family.
I don't know what else to say about this plant, haven't found much information about it on the internet.
On this enlargeable shot you can see the same kind of flower in a nice arrangement with the red leaf of the same plant ... the red leaves occur when the plant has some troubles, mostly with low temperatures.
Springtails can be found throughout the winter in sheltered, humid places ... like under the thick layers of fallen foliage, ad example ... but when the day is humid and slightly warmer ...
... they can be seen jumping around leaves and flowers ... like some strange, minuscule rabbits. This is the Sminthurus viridis springtail, they can be green or yellow ... or anything in between.
Some small pines were growing in the area ... so I took this pollen cones portrait along the way ...
... and I found another red leaf, surrounded by green needles this time.
This is another lovely flower ... a flower of the Vinca major plant ... that belongs to this habitat, because it's native to the Mediterranean area ... but is also widespread in many other parts of the world as an invasive and problematic weed.
This is a detail of some dry plant ... probably some seeds ...
... it looked cool, like some interesting sculpture ... so I took two sots, with and without the flash ... but I can't tell you which plant is this.
On a small patch of meadow covered with some clover and very short grass ...
... I found these small larvae ...
... of some leaf beetle ... I don't know the exact species, but they definitely look like some Chrysomelidae larvae.
A bit further ... at the edge of a pine grove by some house in construction ... that is like that, in construction for more than a decade now ...
... I found this interesting collection of wood ... clearly a product of some mysterious human intervention.
This is the Muscari neglectum plant ...
... here you can take a better look at those tiny flowers that look a bit like some insect eggs ... or something like that.
Here I got even closer with the macro lens ... and on the following shot ...
... you can take a wider look at the plant and its surroundings.
While photographing some desiccated plant partially covered with silk ...
... after some minutes of observing the details of the plant ... I noticed a small, hairy spider with great camouflage ...
... and then, very soon, I noticed a spider in the minuscule silky nest, while another one of the same kind was crouched on the seed pod of that plant. They are hard to observe on this plant, so if you enlarge the photograph you may take a better look at the details.
Here you can see one of those spiders from a different angle.
I was fascinated by these spiders, by their nests and camouflage, so I took another, very similar shot ... and now ...
... with this closing portrait of the Veronica persica flower, it's time to end the post. If the weather will continue to be nice enough, and I'll keep finding time to do some photography, this series will have a part two, maybe even part three before the first day of spring ... if not, this will end up to be IN THE LAST DAYS OF WINTER - part one & only.
As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work ... TO BE CONTINUED ... MAYBE ...
