First of all :) this is a vertical episode ...
... and the story will be told from up to the bottom, with some minor ups and downs along the way ... and although all these posts look vertical when you scroll them ... this one follows a deeper verticality :) due to its elevator like narrative structure ...
... we'll start up here ... among the big flowers ...
... and a multitude of insects that enjoy the great quantity of nectar that these flowers are able to produce ... and we'll end at the bottom of the plant ...
... traveling in some sort of imaginary elevator ...
... along the long stem of this remarkable plant ... but first ... before we really start this tour, a little digression ... once upon a time, approximately a few months ago, I made two episodes about this plant in the SPRINGTIME ADVENTURES series ... it was pretty different in those days, I didn't know what will grow from those large thorny leaves and could be interesting to take a look at those older posts and see how the plant and community of invertebrates around it changes through the seasons聽 to have聽 a larger, and :) a bit epic picture of all this ... so I'll put two Links here ... this one ...
https://steemit.com/photography/@borjan/springtime-adventures-episode-4-sheltering-thorns
... and this ...
https://steemit.com/photography/@borjan/springtime-adventures-episode-24-sheltering-thorns-revisited
... and with that out of the way ... let's continue ...
... these flowers are pretty big ... and here, below the flower, is the wasp Megascolia maculata, and you can see, that in confront of the flower, this is an exceptionally large insect, it's called also Mammoth wasp, and is easy to understand why ...
... it's big ... hairy ... and has a pair of impressive tusks, more ebony than ivory and not exactly like those prehistoric ones ... but still ...
... we'll return back to this wasp, but for now, it's time to let her fly away ...
... and ...
... slowly go down ...
... to visit these crickets ... still in development ...
... and ...
... this beautiful beetles that are shining ...
... in many shades of green ...聽
... and here we see ... something pretty hard to define ...
... only when moves, and in doing so, shows a leg and antennae, and in a more uniform and favorable light, it's clear enough that is a little moth ...
... nearby ... these small beetles are mating ...
... and this little spider has made his home in the tunnel of the folded leaf ...
... at the ends of these long thorny leaves ...
... other spiders are hangin' around ...
... and some of them ...
... have caught a meal ... and if we zoom out the picture a bit ...
... we can see the cricket in the see of thorns ...
... but let's go back to the small details ... like this ... some sort of fangs on some worm-like head, apparently ...
... but if we zoom a bit out, we'll see that they are on the opposite side of the body ... this insect is enveloped and protected by the thorny leaf ...
... Earwigs are very common ...
... but that fact doesn't make them less strange and interesting ...
... and now ...
... let's break ...
... this macro view ...
... with ...
... a larger perspective ...
... and then ...
... let's go up ...
... among the flowers ...
... to observe ...
... the mammoth wasps ...
... usually ...
... I see them once in a while ...
... not very often ...
... on the open meadows ... or on the small plants near the sea ...
... always one wasp at the time ...
... but here ...
... when this big thistle is blooming ...
... they come in plural :) ...
... while taking these photographs ...
... I counted 12 of them ...
... and 12 of these large, and usually solitary insects, in one place ... it's a spectacle ...
... when feeding, they are pretty calm and nonaggressive...
... easy to photograph ...
... and they are mixing very well ...
... with bumblebees ...
... which are also ...
... the regular visitors here ...
... along with ...
... a variety ...
... of beetles ...
... bugs ...
... and these beautiful ...
... swallowtail butterflies ...
... and now ...
... after ...
... this big dose ...
... of wasps & nectar ...
... let's ...
... slowly ...
... dive back down ...
... while observing ...
... things along the way ...
...these beetles with long antennae are mating in big numbers on the leaves...
... and sometimes ...
... also below...
... for these little flies that are present in every episode ...
... and in solid numbers ...
... is also the mating season ...
... many small moths ...
... of a few different species ...
... can also be found here ...
... this minuscule yellow spider ...
... is hidden between the thorns ...
... this strange beetle ...
... that is a bit like a limpet, is now walking on the leaf, but often you can find it standing still just like a limpet ...
... and more down ...
... many young Argiope spiders have made their webs ...
... and many large adult crickets ...
... very well camouflaged ...
... are gathering together ...
... here ...
... at the bottom ...
... and ...
... and we can have a cool perspective on the happenings upstairs from here.
And now ...
... another round ...
聽 ... up ...
... back ...
... to the flowers ...聽
... that are standing like chimneys ...
... back to the big wasps ...
... here I will stop and publish because there is a storm here and electricity could go down and I could lose my progress ... save as a draft isn't working... this post will be longer a bit later ... keep that in mind :) please
... and now, let's continue :) ...
... with some smaller wasps ...
... among the flowers ...
... and then down again ...
... with ...
... a little stop ...
... halfway down ...
... to take ...
... a good look ...
... at this beautiful shiny beetle ...
... and the way the light reflects on it ...
... and ...
... with the photograph of the large spider at the bottom of the plant ...
... end a few shots ...
... of the common earwig in the early morning light ...
... it's time ...
... to end this post ... that's it for today ... have a good day ... or night ... wherever on the planet you are ...
( As always in these posts on Steemit, all the photographs, and GIFS made from some of those photographs, are my work )
... yap :)
.... THE END. :D Let's finish this with some shine.
聽