SUMMER ADVENTURES - Episode 11 - THORNS OF SUMMER
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 to have 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 ...
... 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 ...
... up ...
... back ...
... to the flowers ...
... 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.
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Wow that is one giant hornet. We have a pale faced hornet here that is as big as this guy and they make massive paper nests in the trees.
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Over here we have some that are black and white striped instead of black and yellow. They also make paper nests and I've been told they have a nasty sting, too.
Yeah that sounds like the pale faced hornets. They only bother you if you disturb their nest. Otherwise they are way more passive aggressive than the yellowjackets.
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Cool, never saw that species... I'll try to find some photos
I think it's this one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bald-faced_hornet
Bald-faced hornet
Dolichovespula maculata is a eusocial wasp of the cosmopolitan family Vespidae. Its colloquial names include the bald-faced hornet, bald hornet, white-faced hornet, white-tailed hornet, spruce wasp, blackjacket, and bull wasp. This species is a yellowjacket wasp, not a true hornet (genus Vespa). Colonies contain 400 to 700 workers, the largest recorded colony size in its genus, Dolichovespula.
These hornets and other big wasps are very impressive, great to have some species around
Right as i read this comment i found a giant ichneumon wasp laying eggs on a stump. I'll post some video of it.
uuu this sounds great :) do it ... the audience is awaiting
Here's a preview of what i found https://bugguide.net/node/view/290961 it was laying eggs under the bark with its long tails.
Great find ... here I see only small species of that kind ... and I see them very rarely.
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Wow! The biodiversity is amazing: all those creatures in just one patch of a single plant. Great post and very well done photos. Great work!
Thanks :) This many varieties of life during the spring and summer, surprises me and amazes me every year over and over again.
I love these posts! I have the same kind of thistles here, so I know how big they are, and those mammoth wasps are going to give me nightmares! Those things could take down a helicopter!
:D The helicopter hunters, they lay their eggs inside the helicopters
That's even creepier!
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:) Giant waps VS the helicopter army, could be a great trash movie of the Sharknado category
I can see the movie poster now!
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:D