I came back home an hour ago, after spending an hour or two on one of the meadows in between my hometown and the nearest village.
In this post, you'll see a small collection of insects, spiders, and plants that I photographed there. There is no other thematic thread between them, besides being photographed today in the meadow.
In this opening photograph, you can see a small moth from the Geometridae family. I'm not sure about the exact species. I'll say that the genus is probably Idaea, and the species may be the Idaea serpentata.
After taking this shot the moth flew away ...
... and soon landed on another grass where I could take this photograph in which you can take a look at the lower surface of the wings.
In this wide shot, you can take a good look at the entire meadow.
Here you can see a crab spider ...
... a very small, juvenile Xysticus. I mean, the genus is xysticus while the exact species is hard to tell with quite a few similar-looking xysticus present in the area.
This is the nymph of the Euchorthippus declivus grasshopper.
Here you can see another moth. The Chrysocrambus linetella. A species from the Crambidae family.
This lovely little flower that, from a certain angle, looks a bit like the head of some dinosaur, is part of a plant that I found on the edge of the meadow.
In the shade under the oak trees that grow around the sunny open space.
The name of the plant is Prunella laciniata.
The meadows are pretty dry these days. Shades of browns are the prevalent colors, so these juicy flowers were a welcome refreshment from the general atmosphere.
Lynx spiders can be usually seen resting, hunting, or eating the prey on the stems or leaves of grass, on flowers, and on all kinds of vegetation. But this one looked like floating in the air in between two stems of grass.
Since lynx spiders don't use webs to hunt, I suppose that this construction must have something to do with reproduction.
Oxyopes lineatus is the name of this Oxyopidae species.
A friend was also there with me. Here you can see her hand and the Melanargia galathea butterfly.
This is the Sphaerophoria scripta. A fly from the Syrphidae family. Nicely camouflaged on the top of the grass.
Here you can see another spider. Pisaura mirabilis. The female is guarding the nest with a bunch of young spiderlings in it.
This is the Pyrausta despicata, another moth from the Crambidae family.
Here you can see another flower, for a change. The Knautia arvensis. And a longhorn bee on that flower.
With this Anisoplia agricola beetle, the post is almost over.
Here you can see another beetle of the same species. As you, maybe, already noticed, the markings on the elytra can be slightly different from individual to individual. And now, with this second Anisoplia agricola, the post is definitively over.
Before the usual disclaimer that states that the photographs are my work, I'll give you some links to the sites I use to identify the species and to get bits of information that I didn't know before.
https://www.leps.it/ This is a great site that can help you identify moths and butterflies if you are in Europe or North Africa.
https://identify.plantnet.org/ This app can help with plants.
https://www.kerbtier.de/cgi-bin/enFOverview.cgi The focus of this site is on the beetles of Germany. Many species can be found in my more southern area as well. If I can't find the species, I can more often than not, at least find the family and genus. And then continue the search through the labyrinths of the Internet.
https://www.plantea.com.hr/zuckasta-celinscica/ This is about the Prunella laciniata. It's written in Croatian, for a change.
AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.
