On the 4th of August 2013 been to my mother-in-law’s country house in Pristannoye.
Some quite spectacular Defilippia minos bee-flies were sitting on the paths:
Plenty of blister beetles on flowers, these I believe to be Mylabris quadripunctatus:
Saratov
In June 2012 been to Saratov again, but got sick and made only two photos.
At that time of year, Saratov vicinities swarm with various blister beetles. Those on the photo are Mylabris quadripunctatus, parasites of grasshopper oothecae (notably those of Italian Locust):
The green-winged Oedaleus decorus:
Saratov
Tired of smoke from the forest fires, I packed and left to Saratov in South-East Russia, where my wife (then a girlfriend) is originally from. Saratov is located in the steppe zone, and the fauna has many Mediterranean and Turanian elements. When I started to catch moths at light, the species composition reminded me of Portugal, although Saratov is, in fact, located on the latitude of London!
Most of the time we spent at my future mother-in-law’s country house near the village of Pristannoye.
A spectacular blister beetle Mylabris fabricii, a parasite of grasshopper oothecae:
Southern Darter (Sympetrum meridionale):
Vlad Proklov's wildlife blog 