romunov’s blog et al

Had a few minutes and I went photohunting. I have a bush of Philadelphus coronarius next to my garden and this is what I managed to capture on a photo cell.

Above mentioned bush in full bloom.

Hopefully Maarten will be able to chip in the species. I still don’t have a dissection microscope and haven’t been able to ID it. It’s a hoverfly (Syrphidae).

Possibly a muscid (Muscidae).

Another muscid-like fly.

“Rainbow child spider” (Araniella sp., det.: M. Gregorič).

This is the kind of folks that keeps me company and hangs around the house. This one was photographed on the black lawn. There is a la familia of a male, two females and a calf roe deers visiting me regularly. This appears to be the female. Others are spread around the adjacent woods.

Courtesy of Eva Z., my designated photographer from now on.

I just felt like I should post this one.

I had 4 EUR to spare, went out and had my biolove picture printed on a coffee mug. All I need now is start drinking coffee.

I’ve drawn this in a couple of minutes with a program that can handle vectors - InkScape. The whole gig [of the program] is that you can resize freely without (almost) loss of quality). I’ve dubbed this one “BioLove”.

Two butterfly friends and I went to Karst region to map Callimorpha quadripunctata. We did 7 locations (1 hours per location, on the average). Most of the terrain was not suitable for the moth, but those that were, really stood out. A few pics under the fold.

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Been a bit busy with the camera. I’ve tucked pictures under the fold to haste page load.

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Even though I still have to study in July, not all is bad. As I was reading the script in the shade in front of the house, something “huge” flew by. My butterfly radar went up like Jerry Falwell’s penis in a gay bar, and I quickly realized this is something “new” for me. Surely enough, the thing started basking on Pyrus tree bark, and I quickly dashed for my camera upstairs. When I returned, it was gone - of course. But a small stroll around the pond quickly bore some fruit. The butterfly was sucking on a very ripe and damaged pear. Trying to take a picture, I of course scared it away to the tree top, hence the blurry image due to zoom, sorry.

Oh, this is Apatura iris, by the way, from a family of butterflies called Nymphalidae. Notice the blue shine on upper side of the wings. This is characteristic of males. A similar species is Apatura ilia, and you can separate them apart by a few markings. First, A. iris has only two eye spots on the upper wing side, but you can see 4, because two upper ones on the underside of front wings are shining through. Underside of the hind wings also differ. Also, in A. iris, the white band on hind wings (still upper side) is more linear than in A. ilia, which has a more wavy line. I’ll return to this post as soon as I can score some A. ilia pictures and compare them later. No point in writing about various characters if you can’t really compare them. However you can always go to leps.it and see it there. My picture pales in comparison to the wonderful work of lepidopterologists who contribute to mentioned professional site.

We visited some nice karst meadows a few days ago. My camera isn’t currently available, so I’m posting pics from an anonymous photographer. With her consent, of course. Sorry, no butterfly pictures.

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As I was rushing to the city (Ljubljana), I, in a haste, pulled on some socks and my army boots and off I went. I first felt a slight fold due to a sock that eventually faded away. Or so I thought. As I pulled the boots off a few minutes ago, I noticed something I hadn’t expected, but wasn’t surprised either, on my socks.

And this fell out when I turned over the boot.

Yes, it’s a cricket, Acheta domestica. This one must have escaped my not so escape proof cricket cage. Luckily I don’t keep scorpions as pets.

I’ve been a naughty boy… again. I should have studied, but I really had to take advantage of the beautiful sunny weather. Went butterfly and dragonfly hunting, and then some more. 9 pics inside.

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I’ve added a few extra pictures I didn’t publish here to the butterfly society web page.

I got a dichotomous orchids of Slovenia key from my docent for botany. I managed to ID one of the orchids growing on the hill next door.
I think I’m correct when I say that this is pictured specimen of Dactylorhizon (prstasta kukavica). I can’t decide on the species, though.

I’m thinking either D. maculata agg. or D. comosa.

According to the key, characters favouring D. maculata agg.:
- upper stem leaves don’t reach lower flowers (socvetje?)
- stem under the flowers thick 1,5-3 mm
- outter side flower leaves in blunt angle

Characters favouring D. comosa:
- stem hollow (I think it’s hollow, it sure feels like it, but I didn’t open it to be sure)
- flowers from May to June

I will leave the possibility that this is a hybrid, but if I had to decide the species, I would say D. comosa.

I’ve been busy outside again, and here are some of common finds around here. I’ve tucked everything under the fold to hasten main page load.

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What is suppose to be a 20 minutes trip home, took me three hours this time. I stoppped by some walls and meadows to check on butterflies and lizards.

Catch #1: Everes argiades, a pretty common little tiny butterfly with little “tail” on hind wings.

Catch #2: Podarcis muralis - Common wall lizard. I observed three animals and slightly interrupted their daily routine when I tried to get a close up of one of little fellas. These animals are highly variable. Compare this one to one I photographed about one week ago some distance away.

This is one from the three. Notice the nicked tail. It’s commonly known that lizards will drop tails to avoid being eaten. A strategy that often works quite well, especially when you’re caught in the open.

A bit less known is the scientific term of this action - autotomy.

I also saw Alcedo atthis - King fisher. A bird known for its fishing skills. I basically only saw a blue dot propelling slightly above the water, but there aren’t many blue birds around here.

I’ve recently become a proud owner of three new identification keys, namely “Field guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe” by Douwe and illustrations by the famous Lewington, Reptiles & amphibians of Britain and Europe by Arnold & Ovenden (Collins field guide) and last but not least, another one from Collins publishing, Bird guide by Mullarney et al. Bird guide was really cheap and it would be a shame to pass the oportunity. Very comprehensive, lots of pictures, seems to have good data. I’ve seen most bird watchers use it.

The Reptiles & amphibians already helped me confirm identification of Podarcis muralis I photographed some days ago. FGT Dragonflies of Britain and Europe seems nice and I can’t wait to try it out.

Oh, and here’s the P. muralis. Not the best picture, but it will have to do. This beast is very common around here (and elsewhere). This is, according to the book, a male.

It has been a while since my last post. I guarantee you, my school work has kept me busy and away from reading about current events. Perhaps that’s a good thing.
I haven’t read anything interesting about (during the course of my “obligate” reading) to write about. I swore I will not write about molecular subjects. They’re popular enough.

I’ll leave you with a few pics from my little trip a few days ago. From what I hear, such nice weather will be in short supply for a while now. Weather forecast promised 15°C plunge and snow. Some “spring”.

Anyway, more under the fold.

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Went to the Genovan aquarium in — Genova, duh. As someone with a bit of knowledge of the “trade”, I didn’t find it that impressive, other than the raw power needed to filter and maintain the entire complex (filtration and water quality wise).
More under the fold.
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