European part of Russia

Not a report,but observations of nature.
I spent the last few days in the Lipetsk region. Dry and warm, 5/10 degrees. Several species of active diptera, not counting the usual slender "autumn-winter" mosquitoes, golden-eyes, I caught a grain on the wall of the house, I observed several pieces of leaf - eating fratores on the withered vegetation, and in some places multicolored adalia were clustered. but most of all, I was struck by a micro-fly that flew both day and nightyou

Near Bryansk, too, many insects still fly and crawl. In the second half of October, it was -10 at night, frost lay all day, the swamps were frozen, fishermen in some places began ice fishing, while males of Operophtera brumata flew during the day at +4, caddisflies swarmed in some places, and the night frost did not interfere with them. In November, it got warmer, there are a lot of mosquitoes crowding around the water and some other small things. Today, brumata and small insects of various sizes also flew in the rain at 8-10 degrees.

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Ah ... it looks like Romald's in Ecuador....

Well, to be more precise: "And ... well, like Sinyaev in Colombia."

Recently - Pskov region, Palkinsky district.
I will be grateful for the definition of buzzers

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Recently - Pskov region, Palkinsky district.
I will be grateful for the definition of buzzers

first row, from left to right: 1-4 - Anchomenus dorsalis, 5 - Panagaeus cruxmajor.
Second row (counting from left to right) 3-Platynus (Limodromus) assimilis, 4-Pterostichus oblongopunctatus, 6-Bolitophagus reticulatus, 8-Carabus granulatus.

This post was edited by Dmitrich - 17.11.2014 18: 47

We have in the Pskov region after a 15-degree frost, today +2..
What's wrong with nature? There is almost no snow cover.

We have in the Pskov region after a 15-degree frost, today +2..
What's wrong with nature? There is almost no snow cover.

In Moscow, the same thing: yesterday -10; today 0. There is no snow cover, so light powder. See in the trail. there won't be a bug this year. It will freeze all over. Sadness.

In Moscow, the same thing: yesterday -10; today 0. There is no snow cover, so light powder. See in the trail. there won't be a bug this year. It will freeze all over. Sadness.

Yes nifiga bug will not-riding already sleeps for a long time. The ground was frozen by 10 centimes, and below-warm, but crumbly. In addition, winter freezing of half a meter is actually normal for us!

After exploring the forest paths-a young entomologist's sleep is strong!July 2012, Kaluga region

Maksim M. Great photos! especially photos of the catch on the light trap!

Yaroslavl, 27.02.2015 8-30 am. T -1 degrees, the outer wall of the house is an active male pretender (probably Ptinus fur). The season, however


This post was edited by Elizar - 27.02.2015 08: 54

Yaroslavl, 27.02.2015 8-30 am. T -1 degrees, the outer wall of the house is an active male pretender (probably Ptinus fur). The season, however

female looking to warm up

Yaroslavl, 27.02.2015 8-30 am. T -1 degrees, the outer wall of the house is an active male pretender (probably Ptinus fur). The season, however

I hope it was assembled? Has the season started?

I hope it was assembled? Has the season started?

;

Near Bryansk, on March 9, the flight of overwintering lepidoptera began. As in the previous year, again earlier than the average multi-year terms due to the changeable low-snow dry and not very frosty winter. A few spring and winter shots below.

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Near Bryansk, on March 9, the flight of overwintering lepidoptera began. As in the previous year, again earlier than the average multi-year terms due to the changeable low-snow dry and not very frosty winter. A few spring and winter shots below.

N. vaualbum didn't come across?

Have you ever seen N. vaualbum?

In the place where I was on March 9, N. vaualbum was never encountered. I haven't got to the place where they live yet, so I want to see it next weekend, if only the weather doesn't let me down.

March 10 this year, south-west of the Bryansk region, mixed forest. There is no snow (only in very dark places). .+10C. It flew: Gonepteryx rhamni - 2 pcs. And there was a glimpse of a common Springbird - most likely her. I picked up the bark on dead pine needles - some woodlice - the rest are sleeping what ? Well, small spiders run quickly through the fallen leaves, but the web is already stretched between the trees.

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yesterday I dug in a rotten log)

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Leningrad region. Xanthomelas chase lemongrass trees.

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It's already spring outside Volgograd! Cinderellas are blooming.

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Povylazeli snakes Pskov region

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Today, for the first time in the coming season, I went out into nature. I went out of town, to a well - known place-1.5 km south of the town of Sedeyevo, which is located at the southern end of the city of Kohma. The weather was beautiful-sunny, warm. While driving along Kohma, I noticed a mother and stepmother blooming in one of the flower beds. But despite the early arrival of spring, there is still a lot of snow outside the city, little thawing (mainly along the border of the forest and open spaces), and no flowers are out of the question. Insect activity was also extremely low. I had hoped for springwoods and Nymphalis vaualbum, but my hopes were not to be fulfilled. All that was found were two Nymphalis xanthomelas and a leafhopper Acleris sp. So, so far, it's bleak. There is probably no summer in the world, the nights are cold, although I personally did not check (I will check on Thursday and Friday during a trip to the dacha in the Shuisky district, these will be the last warm days before the cold snap, it's a sin not to try). And, unfortunately, as mentioned above, a serious cold snap is expected at the beginning of next week.

In addition, on the same day, a colleague in the hobby Oleg received a message that while walking with children in the forest park area on the south-eastern outskirts of Ivanovo, several Nymphalis xanthomelas, one Gonepteryx rhamni and several other moths were noticed.

my findings from yesterday

and today a little bit

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Such small beetles are much more aesthetically pleasing to straighten and stick to the die

Such small beetles are much more aesthetically pleasing to straighten and stick to the die

I agree I will try later but somehow I tried it didn't work out only soaked weakly only there is no experience I broke off a couple of legs and threw them((((((((((

Closer to May, nemoralis and granulatus will go train on them-they are strong and there are a lot of them,it is interesting and time-consuming to mount a trifle,it depends on the quality of soaking,if they are fresh-better to lie in the stain for a few days so that the joints become plastic,because immediately after death the joints are non-plastic.

March 19-21, 2015, Ivanovo region, Shuisky district, Krasnoarmeyskoye village, Sergeevo village and their surroundings. The first serious field trip of the coming season, the main goals of which were to collect Archiearinae (especially Boudinotiana notha), Nymphalis vaualbum, as well as to check the presence / absence of summer in the light at this time of year under the not quite normal weather conditions created at this time. Most of the goals outlined above were achieved, some were not, but let's talk about everything in order.
Thursday, March 12, pleased with its clear, sunny, and most importantly - warm and windless weather, favorable for the summer of various butterflies. This day began with a tour of a large thawed area running along the edge of a pine forest near the bank of the Teza River. Spring girls were not seen here. Then I moved to another thawed path that runs along the edge of a mixed forest and an abandoned agricultural field to the side of the village of Krasnoarmeyskoye. Here I caught a male Archiearis parthenias and met, but could not collect, most likely a female of this species. I must say that the snow in open areas (fields, meadows, the coast of the Teza River) has almost disappeared, lies in separate insignificant fragments. And only in the most shady places and in the depths of the forest, a large amount of snow remains. Next, I decided to explore the snow-free areas that are located on the side of the village of Sergeevo (0.5 km to the west), walking through a field near the edge of a mixed forest. Places here are special - only here in the vicinity of my dacha Boudinotiana notha is regularly found. Of course, this species was caught many other places in the vicinity of the village of Krasnoarmeysky and nearby settlements, but always irregularly and in the amount of no more than one specimen. And only in this place (0.5 - 1.5 km West of the village of Sergeyevo) there is a stable population of B. notha with a relatively high number. This species is not caught here in a single number. So this time we managed to collect one male, but at least one more failed to catch. Perhaps there were more of them, but I managed to reach this place relatively late, at two o'clock in the afternoon. The spring girls were probably already finishing flying. In addition, he collected in this place some kind of butterfly from the group of micro-lepidoptera, most likely Diurnea fagella from the Chimabachidae family. As for the swinging mace butterflies, there were a lot of them, but they were all represented exclusively by wintering species. The species composition on both days of the trip, as well as in all the places visited, was approximately the same: Gonepteryx rhamni (massively), N. xanthomelas (massively), Aglais urticae (often), Polygonia c-album (often), N. vaualbum (singly), A. io (only one was seen). N. vaualbum Unfortunately, neither on the first nor on the second day of the trip was it possible to collect it.

Some photos:

















Boudinotiana notha (Hubner, 1803)





B. notha biotope (0.5 km West of Sergeyevo village, Shuisky district)





In the evening of the same day, I started trying to catch the light. There were fears that due to the dry, clear and cold weather in the evening and at night there would be no summer, but these fears were in vain. I was flying, but most of them were overwintered butterflies. The Elachistidae : Depressariinae moth flew in large numbers. In addition, between 19:30 and 20:40, 11 specimens of higher mottled lepidoptera were collected (scoops: 10 specimens from 4 species and one moth). Scoops were represented only by wintering species, the species composition was as follows: Eupsilia transversa (5 specimens), Lithophane consocia (2 specimens), Lithophane furcifera (2 specimens) and Conistra vaccinii (1 specimen). The moth is Phigalia pilosaria. Interestingly, the summer scoop started abruptly at 19: 30 and ended just as abruptly at 20: 40 (I turned off the lamp at 21: 30), and the last butterfly that flew into the light was the moth P. pilosaria. In addition, butterflies (scoops and moth) did not arrive evenly during the above period of time, but as if in "waves": first two or three butterflies will arrive, then no one flies for ten to fifteen minutes, then two or three pieces will arrive again, then again 10 - 15 minutes break, and so on until the end of the summer. It is very strange that Brachionycha nubeculosa and Achlya flavicornis, one of the earliest butterfly species in my area, were absent that night.



Males of Boudinotiana notha (Hubner, 1803) and Archiearis parthenias (Linnaeus, 1761):



Next, I ask for the help of our esteemed micro-lepidopteran experts in identifying the butterfly presented below. Did I correctly identify it as Diurnea fagella? If not correct, then the question is-who is it?





On the second day of the trip, Friday, March 20, I first went to the site of B. notha in the vicinity of the village of Sergeevo, then walked along the edge of the forest near the village of Krasnoarmeyskoye. It was a little colder than the previous day, the wind blew. B. notha this time did not meet, perhaps because he arrived at the place too early (at 11 o'clock in the afternoon), while springboks begin to fly somewhere in the middle of the day, when it warms up properly. But with Archiearis parthenias this day was lucky. As in many places, the forest around the village of Krasnoarmeyskoye has recently begun to be dug with "safety harrows" in order to prevent further spread of fire and threat to the settlement in the event of a forest fire. In the spring, these harrows are heavily transported, they form a lot of dirt, which, in turn, A. parthenias flock to. While walking along the edge of the forest along such a harrow, five A. parthenias flew up from it, three of which were caught. It was just before the solar eclipse. I didn't see a single spring girl again in this or any other places I visited during that day. With the beginning of the eclipse, the spring days completely disappeared, and the number of mace-whiskered lepidoptera sharply decreased. Two cases were observed. vaualbum, none of which could be collected.





















In the woods, birds began to build nests:



In the evening and at night, the weather conditions were exactly the same as in the previous ones, with the only difference being that it was more overcast. The flight of butterflies to light was longer (up to 21:10) and active, and the species composition also differed significantly. In total, 17 higher mottled lepidoptera were collected (five species of scoops and two species of moth), and this is only what was collected (not all of the arrived ones were taken). Moreover, in addition to the three species of scoops wintering at the adult stage, two new species of scoops arrived for this season (wintering at the pupal stage). The species composition of scoops was as follows: B. nubeculosa (2 specimens), Orthosia incerta (1 specimen), Lithophane ornitopus (3 specimens), C. vaccinii (2 specimens), C. ?vaccinii / ligula (1 specimen), Eupsilia transversa (6 specimens). A specimen of Conistra sp. arrived, which is noticeably different from the standard vaccinii and may turn out to be ligula by all signs (if the assumption is confirmed, it will be a new species for the Ivanovo region). In addition, I was pleased with three specimens of L. ornitopus, which is not the most common species in my area. The first moth was exactly the same as the previous evening - P. pilosaria and is not particularly interesting. The second one was much more interesting and valuable. Apocheima hispidaria is a very rare species in the Ivanovo region, previously known from a single specimen (which was also collected by me in the village of Krasnoarmeyskoye in 2011), so this is only the second specimen of this species in my collection. Apart from me, no one else caught this species in the Ivanovo region, and it is absent in the work of E. M. Antonov and A. M. Tikhomirov "Moth flies (LEPIDOPTERA, GEOMETRIDAE) of the Ivanovo region".



In two days, seven non-wintering, new-season lepidopteran species were collected at once: A. parthenias, B. notha, P. pilosaria, A. hispidaria, B. nubeculosa, O. incerta, and possibly D. fagella. Thus, the lepidopterous season in the Ivanovo region is officially open. And in general, the results of fishing for light in the aggregate of two evenings were far from the worst. Years to light at the moment there is. And then after the message of Gennadyich URL #3668 in the topic "Moscow and the Moscow region" ("zero years, or rather it was not") somehow it was all very sad. It's just a pity that in the near future everything will stop again - with the arrival of a powerful Atlantic cyclone, snow and rain will come to the middle zone of Russia and a strong cold snap.


Аpocheima hispidaria (Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775)



Lithophane ornitopus (Hufnagel, 1766)



This post was edited by TEMPUS - 03/21/2015 14: 33

March 19-21, 2015, Ivanovo region, Shuisky district, Krasnoarmeyskoye village, Sergeevo village and their surroundings.

Who's that?" Lithophane consocia?


The post was edited by Gennadich - 21.03.2015 16: 09

Yes, it is.

Today, despite the cold snap to -5, I walked around the outskirts of Yaroslavl in order to look at beetles
I went to the forest belt along the railway, where there are continuous pockets of sapwood and a lot of dead elms, under the bark of which, mainly, I was looking for beetles.
Bottom line (what I found, not all of it was taken):
Tachyta nana (Gyllenhal, 1810)
Dromius quadraticollis A. Morawitz, 1862
Dromius fenestratus (Fabricius, 1794)
Phosphuga atrata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Bothrideres contractus (Geoffroy, 1785)
Adalia bipunctata (Linnaeus, 1758)
Triplax aenea (Schaller, 1783)
Litargus connexus (Geoffroy, 1785)
Bitoma crenata (Fabricius, 1775)
Corticeus bicolor (Olivier, 1790)
Rhagium mordax (DeGeer, 1775)
Phratora sp.
Dorytomus sp.
The most interesting find, of course, is a small series of Bothrideres contractus!
In general, the season started successfully!

Good day to all forum participants. While spring once again took a break, and outside the window is cold and strong biting wind, I offer you a report on last year's trip to the Yuzhsky district of the Ivanovo region, which took place on May 26, 2014. What these places are and what they are interesting for, I have already written in detail in previous reports (see, for example, the message URL#2833), but in short-dry pine forests on sandy soil, identical to the platform of the Nerskaya platform in the Moscow region or the village of Starye Omutischi in the Vladimir region. The route was extremely simple - having reached by transport from the city of Yuzha to the village of Mosta, I simply walked in the opposite direction, simultaneously examining various open spaces (roadsides, forest edges, clearings, a clearing for power lines). The weather was warm and sunny, favoring the activity of various insects. And indeed, there were a lot of butterflies that day. Checkers began to fly. The first butterfly collected after getting out of a taxi in the village of Mosta was Melitaea cinxia. Subsequently, this species was found on the rest of the way, in addition, also on this day in large numbers were collectedMelitaea athalia and in the number of two specimens - Melitaea didyma. Violets (Boloria euphrosyne) flew from mother-of-pearl with might and main, but the close species Boloria selene had not yet begun to fly. There were a lot of pigeons, and, first of all, raspberries (Callophrys rubi), of which there were a great many along the way. We can say that this is the most massive representative of the family in this place. Scolitantides orion pigeons also flew in large numbers in the glades with Sedum sp. Along the way, seven copies were collected out of several dozen seen. Single specimens were found in chervonets Lycaena phlaeas and L. tityrus. There were only a few whiteflies, Colias myrmidone had only just flown, and three specimens were collected - two males and a white female. Later, on the next trip to the same place (June 7, 2014), they will meet in much larger numbers (dozens of pieces). Few other whiteflies were observed, mostly banal species-Anthocharis cardamines, Pieris napi / rapae, Leptidea sp. There were no sailboats at all this time, although on a previous trip to the same place (May 18, 2014, see message URL#2833 in this topic), two submarines were collected. But perhaps the most interesting butterfly collected on this day belonged to a group of different mustaches. It turned out to be a male Gynaephora selenitica !!! Fresh, perfect quality! In addition, in the area of the village of Mosta on the forest edges on the same day, at least two dozen more individuals of this species were seen in flight, but due to their rapid flight along a complex zigzag trajectory, it is extremely difficult to catch, only one was caught. Moths of Bupalus piniaria were also found in large numbers. Below I present a small number of photos from those places.

















Flowering broom





While I was chasing another myrmidon, I accidentally scraped a net on a broom bush. When I started to take out the butterfly I caught, I also noticed a caterpillar in the net, which may have fallen into the net from a damaged bush. According to images from the network, it looks like Pseudoterpna pruinata, but there is no absolute certainty. Help me figure out if I'm right in my assumption?





Catch



Scolitantides orion (Pallas, 1771)



Gynaephora selenitica (Esper, 1789)



This post was edited by TEMPUS - 03/29/2015 12: 08

I didn't look at the date. We have snow up to our knees... =)

This morning, on the way to work, I looked hopefully at the white brick wall under the spotlight! I saw an unfamiliar spot, came closer, and there was Apocheima hispidaria! And on the street -1 and snow! My pants are full of joy, I searched again and found Lithophane ornitopus! Well, spring has come to me)

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I took a walk outside the city today to well-known places (the vicinity of the city of Kohma, the town of Sedeyevo). In the open spaces, the snow has almost disappeared. However, in the forest, especially in shady places, there is still plenty of snow. I was pleased that the number and area of thawed areas in the forest increased significantly compared to the previous visit to this place. The area of artificial pine planting, which was initially crossed by a dirt road, along which my route ran that day, was almost completely free of snow. The section of natural birch forest following it in the course of priming was also partially cleared of snow. The latter circumstance allowed us to hope for a possible encounter with spring moth (Geometridae: Archiearinae), as well as for the search and collection of spring moth (Phigalia pilosaria, Lycia sp.) on tree trunks. Neither one nor the other could be implemented, and the main reason for this is bad weather. Although it was relatively warm (about +7 degrees), it was very windy, and the sun was blocked by some kind of high translucent cloud cover, so it shone dimly and practically did not warm. Therefore, the activity of lepidoptera was low. In relatively large numbers, only one species was found - Nymphalis xanthomelas, and because of the cool weather, they flew sluggishly, reluctantly. Another species seen flying on this day is N. vaualbum in the amount of one individual, which was not caught. No other lepidopteran species were encountered along the entire route. The search for spring moth on tree trunks was also unsuccessful. All that was found were two caterpillars of Phragmatobia fuliginosa. In general, not very successful results of the walk.















During the walk, for the first time in the coming season, I met a blooming mother-and-stepmother directly in the forest, and not in some wasteland or flower bed in the city.



Caterpillars of P. fuliginosa sitting on the trunks of birch trees and basking in the sun peeking out from behind a veil of cirrus clouds.





Easter (April 12) is expected (finally!!!) the arrival of spring heat. So something else will happen. Spring is coming.

Today I looked at the traps-they are located on the pripechnaya side of a mixed forest, not far from the city,specifically to control the activity of beetles,and so the first nemoralis and several pecilius were caught.So the carabuses that wintered over the imago began to crawl and very soon they will start to please the beetles....

Just now, a colleague called and said that a beetle was crawling on the sidewalk. It turned out to be a male purple T-shirt!
So the soil has already thawed (even in the city) and the beetles have climbed!!!

And yesterday, a colleague brought me some kind of swimmer in a cigarette pack, but I'm in beetles in general, about 50 mm by eye. And I ask him why he brought it to me, I need butterflies! And a brilliant answer: "What's the difference?"

And yesterday, a colleague brought me some kind of swimmer in a cigarette pack, but I'm in beetles in general, about 50 mm by eye. And I ask him why he brought it to me, I need butterflies! And a brilliant answer: "What's the difference?"

It's good when colleagues help with the fees. IMHO any Ditiskus.
P. S. You at least left it?

This post was edited by Black Coleopter - 04/10/2015 19: 58

Just now, a colleague called and said that a beetle was crawling on the sidewalk. It turned out to be a male purple T-shirt!
So the soil has already thawed (even in the city) and the beetles have climbed!!!    

Also today, I put a male purple T-shirt in the stain near the city...