Photo-essay

MACRO OCTOBER IN MARLERA - Episode One - ON THE FIRST OF OCTOBER

October is unusually warm this year here where I live. The weather can be even hot around noon. It feels like summer with a bit of autumn early in the morning. The flora & fauna is thriving in these conditions. Insects are everywhere and many plants are in bloom. That's why I take a couple of hours each day to visit the area called Marlera and see what I can catch through my macro lens and bring to the audience here on Hive.

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Marlera is a coastal area near the village of Liznjan, about five or six kilometers from where I live. The place appeared in many of my posts, and since there is always something new to discover in a place like that, especially if you have a macro lens to assist your search, I'm pretty sure that many of my future posts will also be set in Marlera. In each episode of this series, I'll present what I found and photographed in a few hours of one specific day.

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This is the Helichrysum italicum, an aromatic plant that grows on dry, stony terrain, often near the sea.

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Here you can see the mantis I found on the plant shown in the previous photograph. This relatively small mantis has some similarities with the European mantis nymphs but this is actually an adult of another species. This is a female of the Heldreich's Dwarf Mantis (Ameles heldreichi).

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The tiny Helichrysum italicum flowers grow on small flowerheads and those flowerheads grow in clusters. In my experience, a single flowerhead like the one shown in this photograph is a rare find.

Here you can see the dry remains of a typical cluster made of quite a few lovely yellow flowerheads.

While photographing the single, still fresh flowerhead, I noticed a small spider on the stem underneath the flowers.

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This is the Runcinia grammica, a crab spider from the Thomisidae family. I mean, all the species from that family are commonly known as crab spiders, but that common name is often applied to some spiders from other families as well.

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The Runcinia grammica shown in these photographs is a very small, juvenile Runcinia grammica female.

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I was exceptionally lucky that day when it came to finding spiders on the Helichrysum italicum pant. You can see a jumping spider here. Can't tell you the name of this species from the Salticidae family. To me, it looks like the genus is probably Pellenes. But that could also be wrong, so ... it's safe to say that I don't know shit in this case and be better off not writing my speculations. In the following photograph ...

... you can exit the macro view for a moment and take a look at the entire plant, for a change.

When it comes to this grasshopper, the name of the species is Aiolopus strepens. In the following photograph ...

... the grasshopper can be seen in its entirety. I mean, almost. A small fragment is still hidden by a leaf.

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This spider has built a horizontal web on the same Helichrysum italicum plant. The name of the species is Uloborus walckenaerius. The family- Uloboridae. Now, I could say a few things about Uloboridae being the only non-venomous spider family like I said in practically every post in which this species appeared, but I won't. Nope. I'm sick of repeating it.

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Here you can see another dry Helichrysum italicum flowerhead that marks the end of the first half of this post. The second half will be dedicated to another plant and the insects around it.

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The plant in question is Dittrichia viscosa. At the end of summer, this plant starts producing a large quantity of yellow flowers that will be present during the good chunk of autumn. In the following photograph ...

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... you can see the European mantis (Mantis religiosa) posing on the top of the Dittrichia viscosa.

The pretty big insect looked great among the yellow flowers.

Here you can see the small moth I had never seen before the first of October.

Photographing something new is always very exciting. If an insect I regularly encounter flies or jumps away before I get a good clear shot - no big deal. But if that happens while I'm photographing a species or situation completely new to me ... well, I get pissed.

This moth belongs to the Choreutidae family. The name of the species is Tebenna micalis.

If you take a good look at all the details of this shot, you'll notice two bugs from the Rhopalidae family. In the following photograph ...

... I came closer to one of them. The name of the species is Liorhyssus hyalinus.

At one point it looked like the bugs were chasing each other across the plant.

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On the tall dry grass around Dittrichia viscosa, I found another interesting moth. I'm not sure about this species from the Pterophoridae family. Could be the Amblyptilia acanthadactyla. Or the Platyptilia gonodactyla. Or something else, perhaps. In the following photograph ...

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... the focus is on the Dittrichia viscosa flowers again. The flowers and the small moth from the Crambidae family. The name of the species is Pyrausta purpuralis.

Here you can see a type of caterpillar I regularly encounter but I'm still unable to identify the species. I'm pretty sure that is a moth larva, not a caterpillar that will turn into a butterfly one day. That's all I can tell you here. In the following photograph ...

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... you can see the entire caterpillar.

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This is the nymph of the Taylorilygus apicalis, a bug from the Miridae family.

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Here you can see another moth from the Crambidae family feeding on the flowers.

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The name of this species is Hydriris ornatalis.

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AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS HERE ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.

Comments · 23

@goldenoakfarm(77)· 1053d
I thought to open the post from your blog and it opened right up, all the photos. So who knows...

The European mantis on the yellow flowers is stunning! The pattern on the Tebenna micalis looks like it should be on a Persian carpet. Lots of very cool insects!
@goldenoakfarm(77)· 1053d
It's odd that none of these 3 posts loaded a photo but all the other posts I opened had no problem. Wonder what's going on?
@b-hive(64)· 1057d
Weather is changing badly.

Loving the photos! So clear.
@iskawrites(69)· 1057d
The photos are so cool, the insects and flowers look astonishing as always.
@rafzat(71)· 1057d
Did you ever study about animals or was that what you studied at the University? How did you know their species?
@fun.farms(46)· 1057d
Even though the Mantis you photographed is small! I do find it rather creepy that it seems to be staring straight at me. Perhaps deciding if it can eat me or not !LOL

The tiny "Helichrysum italicum" flowers are definitely most unusual, that's for sure!

Have a great day, and some awesome Nature photos you shared Today !VSC !ALIVE 😎
@discovery-it(69)· 1057d

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@pizzabot(60)· 1057d
PIZZA!

$PIZZA slices delivered: @jlinaresp_(2/10) tipped @borjan
@jlinaresp(80)· 1057d
Another absolutely wonderful "entomological display"... You are something of a "bug hypnotist" my friend! ha ha ha :))... Thanks for sharing this!

!discovery 38 !VSC !PIZZA !BBH
@dsc-r2cornell(67)· 1057d
Congratulations, your post has been upvoted by @dsc-r2cornell, which is the curating account for @R2cornell's Discord Community.

Manually curated by @jasonmunapasee
@lee1938(68)· 1057d
#hive #posh
@gunting(69)· 1057d
The spider that you show is very beautiful, its shape looks very clear and it looks new too
@albertocova(63)· 1057d
Y la oruga también está muy original y creativa esa fotografía.
@albertocova(63)· 1057d
Saludos mi amigo , de todas las fotos que publicó a lo largo de año y medio que llevo viendo tu contenido la que siempre me ha gustado es cuando fotografías Mantis religiosa.
@the-lead(73)· 1057d
This is so lovely and unique, I love them all.
@diding(50)· 1057d
I saw two mantises in here but we have that called European mantis. I have so many in my moringga plant. That jumping 🕷 spider was my favorite challenging thing to catch when I was a so little monster back in primary school. Interesting macro power which brings good captured photos. Well done 👏 ✔️ 👍
@seki1(71)· 1057d
A lovely catalogue of insect life as always 😀
@ma3str0(62)· 1057d
What a dope image of that brown coloured mantis! ..he looks so aware of your presence - wild! As always, jumping spiders bring a smile to my face - that one was way too cute, haha! Awesome pics as always. You are an ace with your zoom!
@th4488(62)· 1057d
Both Helichrysum italicum and Dittrichia viscosa got a lot of bugs, worm and flies to attract. They look very beautiful, though it's another fact that maximum number of species are not known to me. It seems Marlera is a perfect place for you to capture different kinds of them. Episode 1 is very enjoyable. I'll be awaiting the next one.
@biyimi(69)· 1057d
We have different types of species of flower and that's why creation is beautiful. These are really great photographs you take here
@parauri(72)· 1058d
Impressive your walks, here I can appreciate your photographs and learn from them. All the life you show is impressive, the plants that are home to a great variety of insects and I want to highlight the small Liorhyssus hyalinus, because I am struck by how their bodies are covered with pollen from the flowers. Welcome October!

A hug 💙
@qwr(62)· 1058d
Very good to know about different species of plants and insects. The way you captured the light is awsome.
@kawsar8035(75)· 1058d
You find some beautiful insects and flowers and natural beauty of nature in coastal area which is really nice.