Wimbledon Common

Leave a comment 17 April 2023 Vlad Proklov

At last a decent day, +16° С and sunny. Been to Wimbledon Common.

Sallow is the ultimate insect attractant right now.
A Scathophaga sp., I wonder if it is possible to ID it from this photo:

Some yet unidentified fly:

Zhukovsky

Leave a comment 17 August 2022 Vlad Proklov

A hot, sunny day, +30° C. Been to TsAGI forest.

Rather surprisingly, all Tettigonia bush-crickets seen were T. caudata:

Elephant Hawkmoth (Deilephila elpenor) caterpillar:

Zhukovsky

Leave a comment 1 August 2022 Vlad Proklov

A warm, mostly overcast day with some sunny spells, +26° C. Been to TsAGI forest (a woodland in Zhukovsky I’ve never surveyed before for some unknown reason). Turned out to be an excellent location!

Sooty Copper (Lycaena tityrus) is the rarest of the four Copper butterfly species I’ve found in Zhukovsky so far:

The Scarce Copper (Lycaena virgaureae) is the commonest. Numerous males I’ve seen today were all battered, while this female was in mint condition:

Zhukovsky

Leave a comment 31 July 2022 Vlad Proklov

A warm, fairly sunny day, +26° C. Been to city park.

A male Stictoleptura rubra longhorn beetle:

Found a strong population of Blue-winged Grasshoppers in the city park! I’ve never seen this species here! Male:

Zhukovsky

Leave a comment 27 July 2022 Vlad Proklov

A hot, sunny day, +31° C. Been to city park.

Second brood of Speckled Woods (Pararge aegeria) is out. This species used to be monovoltine in Moscow region, but with the climate warming it is now bivoltine:

Leucozona glaucia hoverfly:

Zhukovsky

Leave a comment 15 July 2022 Vlad Proklov

A warm, moderately sunny day, +24° C. Been to city park.

Scarce Coppers (Lycaena virgaureae) are numerous:

Chrysolina varians leaf beetle on its foodplant, St. John’s Wort:

Bykovka

2 Comments 16 June 2022 Vlad Proklov

A warm, mostly sunny day, +24° C. Been to Bykovka river near Zhukovsky.

Mazarine Blue (Cyaniris semiargus):

Pale Clouded Yellow (Colias hyale):

Zhukovsky

Leave a comment 14 June 2022 Vlad Proklov

A warm, sunny morning and early afternoon, +27° C. Been to city park.

Lots of Paracorymbia maculicornis longhorn beetles on umbellifers:

Beat a Gorse Shieldbug (Piezodorus lituratus) from Russian Broom:

Zhukovsky

Leave a comment 8 June 2022 Vlad Proklov

A warm, sunny day, +22° C. Been to the city park.
Centrotus cornutus treehoppers:

I was very surprised to see numerous Speckled Woods (Pararge aegeria), I’ve never seen them in Zhukovsky! In fact, in Moscow region this butterfly used to be mostly confined to the North and West of the region, while Zhukovsky is in the Centre/South-East. But today it was the commonest species of butterfly!