%201.jpg)
The wingspan is 20–25 millimetres (0.79–0.98 in). There are two generations per year, with adults on wing from May to October.
The larvae feed on Thymus species and Origanum vulgare.
Menemerus semilimbatus is a Mediterranean species widely distributed in Europe, southern Asia and in Africa. In the Americas, it has been reported for Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and USA.
These spiders are synanthropic living in gardens and inside and on the outside of houses. It is usually found on the walls of buildings where it stalks its prey.
The European mantis (Mantis religiosa) is a large hemimetabolic insect in the family of the Mantidae ('mantids'), which is the largest family of the order Mantodea (mantises). Their common name praying mantis is derived from the distinctive posture of the first pair of legs that can be observed in animals in repose. It resembles a praying attitude. Both males and females have elongated bodies with two pairs of wings. The most striking features that all Mantodea share are a very mobile, triangular head with large compound eyes and their first pair of legs (the 'raptorial legs'), which is highly modified for the efficient capture and restraint of fast-moving or flying prey.
%201.jpg)
The river cooter basks on logs or sun-warmed rocks, and is frequently found in the company of other aquatic basking turtles (sliders and painteds) sometimes piled up on top of each other. All are quick to slip into the water if disturbed. Diurnal by nature, P. concinna wakes with the warming sun to bask and forage. It can move with surprising speed in the water and on land. It is not unusual for it to wander from one body of fresh water to another, but many individuals seem to develop fairly large home ranges, which they seldom or never leave. It sleeps in the water, hidden under vegetation. In areas that are quite warm it remains active all winter, but in cooler climates can become dormant during the winter for up to two months, in the mud, underwater. It doesn't breathe during this time of low metabolism, but can utilize oxygen from the water, which it takes in through the cloaca. The river cooter prefers to be well hidden under aquatic plants during the winter dormancy period or while sleeping each night.
%202.jpg)
The false map turtle is a strong swimmer and prefers rivers and large creeks with moderate currents, containing aquatic vegetation, as well as snags or floating logs. They are also comfortable in deep and swift water. The turtles are present in oxbow lakes and sloughs, but are absent from lakes, ponds, or small streams. Basking is important to these turtles, and they may even be found on steep, slippery snags.
%201.jpg)
The pond slider (Trachemys scripta) is a species of common, medium-sized, semiaquatic turtle. Three subspecies are described, the most recognizable of which is the red-eared slider (T. s. elegans), which is popular in the pet trade and has been introduced to other parts of the world by people releasing it to the wild. Hatchling and juvenile pond sliders have a green upper shell (carapace), yellow bottom shell (plastron), and green and yellow stripes and markings on their skin. These patterns and colors in the skin and shell fade with age until the carapace is a muted olive green to brown and the plastron is a dull yellow or darker. Some sliders become almost black with few visible markings. The carapace is oval with a bit of rounding and a central crest with knobs, but these features soften and fade with age, adults being smoother and flatter. For determining an adult slider's sex, males typically have much longer front claws than adult females, while females usually have shorter, more slender tails than males. Their lifespans range from 20 to 50 years.
%203.jpg)
%201.jpg)
%202.jpg)
%201.jpg)
Podarcis muralis (common wall lizard) is a species of lizard with a large distribution in Europe and well-established introduced populations in North America, where it is also called the European wall lizard. It can grow to about 20 cm (7.9 in) in total length. The animal has shown variation in the places it has been introduced to. Fossils have been found in a cave in Greece dating to the early part of the Holocene.
%202.jpg)
%204.jpg)
Phaneroptera nana, common name southern sickle bush-cricket, is a species in the family Tettigoniidae and subfamily Phaneropterinae. It has become an invasive species in California where it may be called the Mediterranean katydid.
This bush cricket is native to mainland Europe, the Near East and North Africa. The Indo-Malayan species Phaneropera subcarinata, described by Bolívar, is morphologically similar to P. nana, and was classified under the P. nana name by Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl. As an invasive species, it has spread to the San Francisco Bay Area and may be widespread in the Los Angeles Basin, with records of its presence in California dating from at least 1952. In addition, it has been recorded in South America and hypothesized in the Annals of Carnegie Museum to have spread via shipping.
It mainly inhabits sunny and dry habitats, especially shrubs and low branches of trees.
%201.jpg)
%202.jpg)
The species name hirta comes from the Latin hirtus meaning rough hair or rough wool, referring to the coarse, fuzzy appearance of the beetle.
This species is present in Europe, in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco), in Russia (Western and Eastern Siberia), in Israel, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Paraguay, South America Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
It prefers areas with sandy soils. It can be found in open woods, in deciduous forests, in forest clearings, forest edges, in grasslands and wet meadows, but also in dry valleys and wet areas.
Lagria hirta can reach a length of 7–8 millimetres (0.28–0.31 in). These beetles have a soft and elongated body and a head and thorax brown or shiny black. The relatively elongated elytra are yellowish-brown and covered by dense fine light yellowish-brown hairs. The rest of the body is also hairy, but they are less clearly visible. Antennae, underside of body and legs are black. The eyes are remarkably large and round. Antennae are composed with eleven segments.
The elytra of the females are more extended backward than in the males and the female's abdomen looks from above wider than in the males. The male, in addition to its slimmer body, is distinguished from the females by their larger eyes and by the length of the last segment of the antennae, which is nearly twice the corresponding segment in the female. The hind wings are transparent.
The fully formed beetles can be seen from late May to September. The adult beetles feed on nectar and pollen. Females lay the eggs in the soil where they hatch after about eight days. The larvae live in the humus where they feed on decaying vegetables. After having overwintered larvae pupate in early summer of the next year and a new generation of beetles will then developed.
This plant prefers limey soils; it is occasionally grown as an ornamental plant but perhaps more often for the powerful properties some herbalists ascribe to it. Propagation is by root cuttings or seed. It is widely naturalised outside its native range, for example in North America.
Common vervain has been held in high esteem since classical antiquity; it has long been associated with divine and other supernatural forces, and it has an equally long-standing use as a medicinal plant. Herbal capsules are used as a soporific drug in much the same way as for the better known valerian.
Verbena officinalis herb has been used in the traditional Austrian medicine internally (as tea or liqueur) for treatment of infections and fever. Medical use of Common Vervain is usually as a herbal tea; Nicholas Culpeper's 1652 The English Physitian discusses folk uses. "Vervain", presumably this species, is one of the original 38 Bach flower remedies, prescribed against "over-enthusiasm". In the modern era, it is sometimes considered a powerful "ally" of poets and writers, as its relaxing effects can relieve writer's block. It cannot be considered safe to use during pregnancy as it might cause miscarriages.
While common vervain is not native to North America, it has been introduced there and the Pawnee have adopted it as an entheogen enhancer and in oneiromancy, and is often referred to as the North American version of Calea zacatechichi.
In western Eurasia, the term "verbena" or "vervain" usually refers to this, the most widespread and common member of the mostly American genus occurring there. It was called "tears of Isis" in Ancient Egypt, and later on "Juno's tears". In Ancient Greece, it was dedicated to Eos Erigineia. In the early Christian era, folk legend stated that Common Vervain was used to staunch Jesus' wounds after his removal from the cross; hence names like "Holy Herb" or (e.g. in Wales) "Devil's bane"
Because of the association with the Passion of Christ, it came to be used in ointments to drive out and repel "demonic" illness. Vervain flowers are engraved on cimaruta, Italian anti-stregheria charms. In the 1870 The History and Practice of Magic by "Paul Christian" (Jean-Baptiste Pitois) it is employed in the preparation of a mandragora charm
Hazlitt's Faiths and Folklore (1905) quotes Aubrey's Miscellanies (1721): "Vervain and Dill / Hinder witches from their will."
A Royal Navy Arabis-class sloop of the World War I era was named HMS Verbena, and in World War II a Group 1 Flower-class corvette bore the same name; a Group 2 vessel of the latter class was called HMS Vervain. The only Verbena widely found in England in a native state is common vervain, though it is just as possible that the names reference the popular ornamental verbenas, such as the garden vervain.
%201.jpg)
Phaneroptera nana, common name southern sickle bush-cricket, is a species in the family Tettigoniidae and subfamily Phaneropterinae. It has become an invasive species in California where it may be called the Mediterranean katydid.
This bush cricket is native to mainland Europe, the Near East and North Africa.[3] The Indo-Malayan species Phaneropera subcarinata, described by Bolívar, is morphologically similar to P. nana, and was classified under the P. nana name by Carl Brunner von Wattenwyl. As an invasive species, it has spread to the San Francisco Bay Area and may be widespread in the Los Angeles Basin, with records of its presence in California dating from at least 1952. In addition, it has been recorded in South America and hypothesized in the Annals of Carnegie Museum to have spread via shipping.
It mainly inhabits sunny and dry habitats, especially shrubs and low branches of trees.
Anacridium aegyptium, the Egyptian grasshopper or Egyptian locust, is a species of insect belonging to the subfamily Cyrtacanthacridinae.
This quite common species is present in most of Europe, the Afrotropical realm, eastern Palearctic realm, the Near East, and North Africa, and recently seen in Cape Town, South Africa.
These grasshoppers inhabit trees and shrubs, scrub land, maquis, and orchards in warm and bright environments, at an elevation from sea level to 1,500 m.
%201.jpg)
The blue rock thrush (Monticola solitarius) is a species of chat. This thrush-like Old World flycatcher was formerly placed in the family Turdidae. It breeds in southern Europe, northwest Africa, and from Central Asia to northern China and Malaysia. The blue rock thrush is the official national bird of Malta (the word for it in Maltese being Merill) and was shown on the Lm 1 coins that were part of the country's former currency.
%202.jpg)
There are six subspecies of barn swallow, which breed across the Northern Hemisphere. Four are strongly migratory, and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. Its huge range means that the barn swallow is not endangered, although there may be local population declines due to specific threats.
The barn swallow is a bird of open country that normally nests in man-made structures and consequently has spread with human expansion. It builds a cup nest from mud pellets in barns or similar structures and feeds on insects caught in flight. This species lives in close association with humans, and its insect-eating habits mean that it is tolerated by humans; this acceptance was reinforced in the past by superstitions regarding the bird and its nest. There are frequent cultural references to the barn swallow in literary and religious works due to both its living in close proximity to humans and its annual migration. The barn swallow is the national bird of Austria and Estonia.
Standing up to 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) tall, adults weigh from 1 to 2 kg (2 to 4 lb). They have a white head and neck with a broad black stripe that extends from the eye to the black crest. The body and wings are grey above and the underparts are greyish-white, with some black on the flanks. The long, sharply pointed beak is pinkish-yellow and the legs are brown.
The birds breed colonially in spring in heronries, usually building their nests high in trees. A clutch of usually three to five bluish-green eggs is laid. Both birds incubate the eggs for around 25 days, and then both feed the chicks, which fledge when 7-8 weeks old. Many juveniles do not survive their first winter, but if they do, they can expect to live for about 5 years.
In Ancient Egypt, the deity Bennu was depicted as a heron in New Kingdom artwork. In Ancient Rome, the heron was a bird of divination. Roast heron was once a specially prized dish; when George Neville became Archbishop of York in 1465, 400 herons were served to the guests.
The East Iberian sand racer or East Iberian psammodromus (Psammodromus edwarsianus) is a species of lizards in the family Lacertidae. It is found in Spain and France.
This small uncommon lizard, is one of three Psammodromus species of lizards that is found in Spain and France. (Others being P. hispanicus (mainly found in the central peninsular strip) and P. occidentalis (mainly found in the Western peninsular strip)) P. edwarsianus is predominately found on the Eastern side of Spain and Southern France. (The Eastern peninsular, mainly land areas bordering onto the Mediterranean Sea).
Habitat: Scrubland, planted with short grasses and low growing shrub plants, also open meadows with gentle slopes littered with large stones and rocks, that can be used for shelter. This is a very small lizard and life expectancy is no more than around two years.
This lizard is active here in Southern Spain all year round (images below were taken in the month of December). It tends to move in short fast bursts for cover into shrubs or under stones, but will also stay motionless for a while, thus relying on its markings and colouration for stealth mode.
Mating season begins in March till July, 2 to 5 eggs are laid, and buried in the soil. Incubation lasts between 8 to 9 weeks. August to September, can see a second laying of eggs.
These delicate small Lizards mainly prey on various insects and grubs, especially larvae (caterpillars) of lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), also small beetles and their larvae, Spiders and grasshoppers will all be on the lizard’s menu as well.
They become prey themselves to multiple predators, like Sea-Birds, Raptors, Shrikes and Egrets, also, Foxes and the larger lizards will also take the opportunity to prey on this small lizard.
As to date, (16.08. 2022) no official protection laws for this species are yet in place, which I personally find disapointing.
Pieris rapae is a small- to medium-sized butterfly species of the whites-and-yellows family Pieridae. It is known in Europe as the small white, in North America as the cabbage white or cabbage butterfly,[note 1] on several continents as the small cabbage white, and in New Zealand as the white butterfly. The butterfly is recognizable by its white color with small black dots on its wings, and it can be distinguished from P. brassicae by its larger size and the black band at the tip of its forewings.
The caterpillar of this species, often referred to as the "imported cabbageworm", is a pest to crucifer crops such as cabbage, kale, bok choy and broccoli. Pieris rapae is widespread in Europe and Asia; it is believed to have originated in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Europe, and to have spread across Eurasia thanks to the diversification of brassicaceous crops and the development of human trade routes. Over the past two centuries, it spread to North Africa, North America, New Zealand, and Australia, as a result of accidental introductions.
%201%20.jpg)
Mediterranean species: southern Europe and northern Africa. In France, especially in the south.
%202.jpg)
%201.jpg)
%201.jpg)
Ceriana vespiformis is a species of hoverfly. It is a typical wasp mimic, is 10–11 mm long, and has very long antennae for a hoverfly.
C. vespiformis has been reported in mature oak forest and from Mediterranean scrub, where adults visit flowers to feed on nectar. Larvae are found in white mulberry (Morus alba) sap. Adult are seen in Southern Europe from late May to September.
This species' range is mainly Mediterranean (Southern Europe and North Africa). Specimens have been found in Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Albania, Croatia, Greece, Romania, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel and parts of North Africa. Two specimens have been found in the Netherlands.
The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In the United Kingdom, where no other kestrel species commonly occurs, it is generally just called "kestrel".
This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America. It has colonized a few oceanic islands, but vagrant individuals are generally rare; in the whole of Micronesia for example, the species was only recorded twice each on Guam and Saipan in the Marianas.
