Expedition to the Don

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Zhuk, 28.08.2008 9:25

Location: Volgograd region, Frolovsky district, Zimovsky farm. I was there from 7 to 16 August. I lived with my dad at a campsite. The conditions are quite normal. We were pleased with the houses on stilts, just like in the tropics (the Don river floods very much in the spring).
Nature: forest-steppe. The forests are represented by pine plantations and old alder forests with an undergrowth of blackberries. Just come across just huge, old willows and oaks, which are probably 100 years old. There are a huge number of dunes in the steppes. Sometimes it felt like you were in the desert. There are also chalk mountains (a la Divnogorye in the Voronezh region). Well, a huge number of all sorts of lakes and streams near the Don. From animals a huge variety of birds, vipers / snakes, turtles, hedgehogs, ground squirrels and much more. Pisces is generally a separate topic. In the river there are pike perch, chehon, catfish, sterlet, bream, bream, silver carp (up to 3 m long) and much more.

Okay, here we go
6.08. At 5 am we leave rainy Moscow. And then, somewhere in the Tula region, the long-awaited sun came out, and the weather improved noticeably. We were driving on the M6 highway, as well as on Elton. The road is just dead in the stump, so you can't really accelerate. Columns of trucks with watermelons and other shantraps were heading for Moscow, so the return trip promised to be long. Somewhere at 8 pm we got to the campsite, and tired and depressed, we found out that there were no empty houses . So we had to spend the night in the car.

7.08. The house issue has been resolved. During the night, it rained heavily and turned noticeably colder. After sorting things out, I decided to take a walk around the campsite's surroundings, which consisted of planting ash trees. The first finds were Brintesia circe and Lycaena thersamon. Then, right at the entrance to the campsite, I caught a fresh Hamearis lucina . I decided to wander around the landings in which I caught a pair of Hipparchia volgensis and Maniola jurtina. Then I went to a clearing in the forest, where I found a lot of Arethusana arethusa. Lizards were running everywhere, and mantis mantises were perched on the flowers. Lycaena tityrus, Celastrina argiolus, Cupido argiades, Plebejus argus, Polyommatus icarus, Chazara briseis and Coenonympha pamphilus also flew. I didn't see anything new from the butterflies, so I decided to turn over all sorts of rocks and snags in search of beetles. Found blapsov sp, tenturii nomos, tenebrio sp, many different small beetles. There were still some beetles. At this time, my father was examining the fallen trunk of an oak tree and almost stepped on a huge viper, which, hissing, retreated under this trunk. Inspection of the trunk was immediately canceled . Then we went along the forest road and came to a sandy area on the edge of the forest, where opatrums and some yellow beetles were caught under rocks. On the way back, I found a crushed viper in which I collected some karapuzikov, kozheedov and ontofagus. Already near the base, I caught another flying Colias erate. I buried a few glasses of beer in the plantings. That was the end of the tour. The weather seems to have improved, the sun has come out.

8.08. In the morning we went to Frolovo, bought food. The temperature had already passed 28 and was rising higher. After returning, I decided to walk around the base again and found out that Hipparchia volgensis is a very popular species in these places. On one trunk of the derivative sat as many as 5 individuals. Also, butterflies sat on human excrement, which was full in these plantings due to the lack of a toilet at the neighboring campsite . Having caught enough of them, I went out into the clearing. The males of Brintesia circe, who were guarding their territories, were fighting in the sun. There were also a lot of Chazara briseis, arethus is already smaller and all flown. In the evening, I caught Synopsia sociaria in the light of an ordinary light bulb and ?Hypomecis punctinalis.
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9.08. In the morning I went to the forest-steppe near the base. The sun was already noticeably hot. On the road after the rain left a few puddles and I immediately took them to the sign. When I came to one of these pools, I saw a lot of different butterflies. There were Papilio machaon, Polyommatus icarus, Plebejus argus and Polyommatus coridon that I caught. In general, there were a lot of korydons in this place and they were all fresh. Moving away from the puddles, I decided to walk to the alder forest near the road. Everything flew the same, plus Lycaena phlaeas, Melanargia galathea and Argynnis pandora – the most bastard butterfly of those places! How I've been trying to catch her, I just can't find the words!. Also caught a cute scoop Euclidia fortalitium and were found thickets of canaplets . Returning back to the road, I decided to explore the puddles under the forest canopy, and for good reason. Apatura metis was sitting near the puddle! It gave up to me somewhere from the 5th call. It turned out to be a very fresh male. Then we decided to take another road, which was surrounded by pine forests. After examining them, I realized that there was no one there except for the males of pandora. On the road near the forest there was only one puddle and I decided to just stupidly wave a net over it and collect all the butterflies at once. And after browsing in the net, in addition to all sorts of argus and corydons, there was a fresh male Pseudophilotes vicrama! I caught another huge locust and released it. I never saw them again. There were also strange colias that looked like a hybrid of Erate and something else like crocea. On the way back, we found a dead hare and I immediately put it away from the road for bait. On this day, the first fishing trip to the light in the steppe was organized, although not on a DRL, but on a small lamp from the headlight. It flew somewhere at 23.30. There was a full moon and I assumed that I would not catch anything, as Scopula decorata was popped. Later, Narraga fasciolaria and various eublemmas flew. The garlic woman also crawled into the light. The flight ended at about 1 am…

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10.08. Again we went to the place where there were puddles, but when we arrived, we found that there was not a single butterfly on them! It's strange ... yesterday we were sitting in piles, but today we are not alone. The temperature has already risen to 35 degrees. Huge carpenter bees began to fly everywhere, which Chet had never seen before. I went through the same places again, caught hiale, erate, corydons, pandoras, Briseids, mestizos. Pontia edusa, Amata phegea and Setina roscida flew from Novy. Under the old alder snags, I found a lot of blaps and all sorts of small ground beetles. Foot-and-mouth disease runs on the sands. Already closer to leaving, I caught a female corydon. I checked the glasses, there were a lot of small things, but 1 Carabus estreicheri put more glasses in that place. In the evening, fishing is brought to light again, but in a different place-on a huge sand dune. It is surrounded by an alder forest on one side and a pine forest on the other. It flew better than last night. Again Scopula decorata, Narraga fasciolaria and from the new Tephrina murinaria, Eupithecia sp, Hyles euphorbiae, Sphinx pinastri, Gonospileia triquetra and all sorts of eublemmas. Blaps and amars crawled across the sand in the dark.
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11.08. In the morning we went to the opposite bank of the Don – Melolongsky farm. The name speaks for itself. When we arrived, we saw a picture like in the photos from Divnogorya in the Voronezh Region. A very beautiful place where they shot the movie “They Fought For the Motherland”and where Vasily Shukshin died. There is also a burial site of about 300 Don Cossacks, most of them unidentified. Now back to the butterflies. The wind was very strong on the chalk hills, making it difficult to catch, but not hot. All the same hipparchia, circe, arethusa, briseids, corydons (finally caught a fresh female), argus, erate and incomprehensible colias flew, about which I wrote above. I also found a pair of Setina roscida. There was nothing else new there and we decided not to linger there. In the evening, I finally agreed to connect the DRL on the territory of the campsite. And at 23.00 the lamp lit up. And after about 30 minutes, a huge yellow creature appeared from the forest and began to run around the screen. I immediately caught it with a net. It turned out that this is a female Lasiocampa quercus, just huge. Other butterflies immediately followed: Eilema sp, Zeuzera pyrina, Tephrina arenacearia, Chlorissa viridata, Idaea sp, Lasiocampa trifolii, Notodonta ziczac, Acronicta sp, Catocala nupta, Catocala orientalis, Acantholipes regularis, Hadena compta, Hypena rostralis, Hypena opulenta and many different Herminiinae. After one o'clock in the morning, the flight ended immediately.
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12.08. The temperature has already risen to 38, there are no clouds in the sky. In the morning I checked the glasses, again came across Carabus estreicheri and many different ground beetles. The day didn't produce much results. From the new only Argynnis adippe. Already beaten arethusa colias, hipparchia and argiades fly everywhere. In the evening, snoa lov into the light. Zeuzera pyrina, Lasiocampa quercus, Lasiocampa trifolii, Thyatira batis, Catocala nupta, Catocala orientalis, Hadena compta, Noctua interposita, Ennomos autumnaria and many different small moth and scoops flew. A huge ant lion with a wingspan of about 10 cm also flew in.
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13.08. In the morning we went to look for Lake Beavers, which was located somewhere in the vicinity of the base. We never found the lake, but we did find a clearing in the forest. In total, I picked up a bunch of goldfish Trachypteris picta, Dicerca aenea and very beautiful and large Eurythyrea sp. Because of the temperature, which has already reached the mark of 39, it was very problematic to catch all this. Battered Apatura metis, Polygonia c-album, Brintesia circe flew from the butterflies there, landing on the flowing ash sap. Caught a female Lycaena dispar, and reached for the bag. In those 10 seconds, the butterfly dried up so quickly that its wings cracked. We drove back along the bank of the Don and, to our surprise, found simply picturesque meadows overgrown with some yellow bedstraw and blue-headed grass. Very beautiful places. But there were very few butterflies, they flew to all sorts of hipparchia, erata, and I started collecting beetles on bluehead. First came across: Chlorophorus sp, Trichodes sp. and all sorts of banal abscesses. But then I noticed some strange sawflies on the flowers. It turned out to be Myjodes subdipterus beetles! I almost freaked out! Next, I discovered Emenadia larvata! Just generally some kind of hot spot. Because of the heat, I didn't stay there long and decided to return here the next day. Yes, I almost forgot that there was still a huge amount of porcini mushrooms in this clearing . In the evening I caught the light. Everything was flying the same as before. From the new one, some very beautiful erebids, Drepana binaria, Cilix glaucata, female Zeuzera pyrina, Gastropacha populifolia, Amphipyra tragopoginis, Colobochyla salicalis, Nycteola sp and Cosmia diffinis. There were also a lot of beetles. Some nutcrackers, water-lovers, floaters, staphylinae and pollen-eaters flew. One of the fun ones was Polystichus vittatus.
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14.08. I was at the sawmill, caught the same goldfish and Clerus mutillarius. I went straight to that meadow. I dialed Myjodes subdipterus again, caught some interesting rider. Then I noticed a small beetle on a flower, came up, and it turned out to be a gold leaf
Acmaeodera flavofasciata! Then he picked up a few more pieces. Of the butterflies caught there Euplagia quadripunctaria and mestizo. In the evening proeril glasses, 2 more Carabus estreicheri and Silpha carinata. Then he would catch the light again. The flight was worse than last time, but Catocala electa, male Lasiocampa quercus and Tethea or arrived.
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15.08. Again at the sawmill and again the same zlatki, the current Eurythyrea is no longer there. Of the butterflies caught Carcharodus alceae, which before even was not. I went to the meadows. Myjodes subdipterus was already bigger than last time. I didn't catch anything else new there. Later in the evening, a snake was found on the territory of the campsite . Fishing on the light this day was not long, it flew very badly, caught a couple of banal shovels and moths. It was the last fishing trip in the world, and tomorrow I would have to pack up my things.

16.08. Last time we traveled around the vicinity of the base. The temperature rose to 42 degrees and all the grass dried up. The butterflies are already all flown, so I didn't take much of anything. I only caught a female swallowtail and Pyrgus alveus. He pulled out the glasses. Caught only 1 Carabus estreicheri. Then we had already forged our things and were preparing to leave tomorrow. In the evening, I walked for the last time under the lanterns on the territory of the base, caught a couple of moths and a shovel, and suddenly I see that a huge green creature, similar to a stickman, is slowly crawling along the asphalt under the lamp. I'm coming, emae! This is Saga pedo!!! I'm just freaking out! Naturally, I caught her. It turned out that it is very aggressive, all the time perevoraivalas on its back, spreading its long spiked limbs to the sides and opened its jaws. There wasn't more than one jar at hand, so I put it in the bucket because I hadn't decided what to do with it yet.
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17.08. We got up at 6 am. I felt very sorry for Dybka and let her go . At about 7 o'clock we left the campsite. After stopping at Frolovo to buy food, we headed for Moscow. It was hard to drive, as I had to constantly overtake trucks with watermelons and other garbage. We were in Moscow at about 12 o'clock in the morning. This was the end of another expedition to the Volgograd region.
The end.

This post was edited by Zhuk - 02.11.2008 12: 11

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25.09.2008 10:50, Olearius

Thank you so much for the report!
I collected it in these places in 2006-2007 at the beginning of the season,
now I looked at, you can say, my native places.
In the vicinity of X. Zimovsky, where you were staying, I
didn't catch anything good. But a little to the west-near X. Vyezdinsky (last
bus stop) - there are sandy steppes with richer vegetation (lapchatka, thyme, carnation, compound flowers), more specifically
to the northwest of Vyezdinsky, along the floodplain of the Don River. I recommend
this place.
There, for example, Cucullia naruenensis (I'm not an expert on scoops, this
one was identified in ZINA), Rhodostrophia jacularia, Digrammia rippertaria were found
on the opposite, Cretaceous bank of the Don, east of kh. Saushkin:
Moth species: Phyllometra culminaria, Protorhoe corollaria, Scopula immistaria.
Here are the cases ...

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