I photographed the Coenonympha pamphilus butterfly on the following picture ...
... late in the afternoon, while rambling along the dusty road that leads to the sea ...
... some steps further, on the top of the same kind of grass, the wall barley (Hordeum murinum) ...
... I was photographing this small white moth, the Perittia farinella, that appears in big numbers on these meadows ... but usually some hours later, near the end of the day.
Some lady beetles were resting, hidden on the ear of grass ... always the same kind of grass, the Hordeum murinum that covers long stretches of terrain along the road. This is the Harmonia quadripunctata ... a species that sometimes looks like this, decorated only with cream - orange markings on the vivid red elytra ...
... and sometimes ... the iconic black spots, the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about lady beetles, are also present.
This is another species ... the Adalia decempunctata lady beetle. While these two species were resting ... not far from there, on the vegetation across the road ...
... Coccinella septempunctata was hunting for aphids.
Back on the wall barley ...
... I photographed this well camouflaged spider, the Tibellus oblongus ... that was waiting in ambush ...
... and this differently shaped, but also well camouflaged ambush predator - the Thomisus onustus crab spider.
On the thorny Scolymus hispanicus plant not far from there ...
... I noticed a structure made of silk ... and on the other side of the plant, invisible from this angle ...
... I found the author of that construction ...
... the Cheiracanthium erraticum sack spider ...
... these spiders build their sack - like dens on various plants ...
... they often make their creations by stitching two or more leaves ... but here, on the long leaf with many folds, of the Scolymus hispanicus thistle ...
... the spider can build a more solid construction ... it looks like a little fortress, really ...
... a little fortress protected by thorns.
After the photo shoot the spider entered its silky lair ...
... I photographed this froghopper, the Aphrophora pectoralis ...
... and then continued my walk ... directed to the sea ... along the way I took a shot of the Podarcis siculus lizard that was resting in the grass ...
... and soon arrived to the meadow with a nice view on the sea. On this photograph you can take a wider look at the coastal setting, and see the lovely yellow flowers of the Lotus corniculatus plant.
About 50 meters further along the coast ...
... another plant has decorated the meadow with nice touches of red ...
... these are the tiny flowers of the Rumex acetosella plant ...
... that was practically invisible in the dense grass before the flowers appeared.
This Amphimallon majale chafer was photographed on the shorter vegetation, closer to the sea ...
... these beetles are active at dusk and during the night, so I was pretty surprised to see it in the daylight.
A few steps further ... in the same kind of habitat, I found this caterpillar. I can't tell you the exact species, but I'm pretty sure that this is the larva of some moth from the Noctuidae family. On the following photograph ...
... you can take an up close look at the interesting structure that I found on the same dried out straw, near the caterpillar ... I don't know what is this ... it looks like some kind of cocoon ... maybe holds the eggs of some species ...
... and I don't know if it has something to do with the larva on these photographs.
Here you can see the Grapholita lunulana ...
... the small, glittering moth was photographed on the Euphorbia cyparissias plant, commonly known as the cypress spurge ...
... while enjoying the nectar from the tiny flowers.
Among the short grass, under the spurge, I caught a glimpse of some long hairy legs ...
... when I took a better look, I found an interesting spider o the other side of the leaf ...
... this is the Heriaeus hirtus crab spider ...
... although spiders of this species are mostly green, or green with pink markings, they can be white as well ...
... this one looks a bit like the ghost of a spider.
A few meters from the spider, I photographed this small beetle. Here I'm not sure about the species ... it could be the Rhagonycha lignosa, or some similar looking soldier beetle (Cantharidae family) ... I'm pretty sure about the family ... but when it comes to the exact species - I'm probably wrong.
The minuscule Brassicogethes aeneus pollen beetle was photographed on the small flower of the Vicia bithynica plant.
On the yellow, partially eaten Ranunculus bulbosus flower I photographed this small, very young nymph ...
... of the Acrometopa macropoda Bush-cricket ... and then ...
... on the nearby grass ...
... I found a pretty big, long - legged spider that I never saw before ...
... I can't tell you the exact species ... nor anything else about this spider ... after an hour-long search on the Internet, that was longer and more exhausting than everything else in this post together, I have no idea what kind of spider is this ... haven't found anything similar in lists of European species that I usually use.
After taking a few shots of the Silene latifolia plant ...
... that looked pretty elegant in the evening light ... I decided to go home.
As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work - THE END.
