💾 Archived View for magda.cities.yesterweb.org › oblog › 2024-june.gmi captured on 2024-08-31 at 12:13:40. Gemini links have been rewritten to link to archived content
⬅️ Previous capture (2024-08-18)
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Single logs from this month:
Once again, weather conditions were mixed with higher humidity.
Species that already were seen in May and returned:
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Species that were last seen in April and returned:
Species making their first appearances:
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2024 now marks the first year in which I managed to observe both forms of A. levana; previous years only recorded either f. levana or f. prosa likely due to consistently-high rates of parasitoides that can wipe out up to more than 90% of my local population and up to 100% in my yard alone.
Three species have seen population gains, with the most notable butterfly being M. galathea having expanded to Zone III, Mixed Field and "Bog Hill". M. athalia is slowly expanding to Zone II whilst becoming stable at "Bog Hill", whereas O. sylvanus migrated from Zone II to Zone III and a higher chance of encountering it.
P. argus saw a sudden disappearance in mid-June and returned with much less individuals towards the end of this month. The generational change of P. icarus now extends to a whole month, whereas P. bellargus is set to take just as long before returning with its second generation.
The genus "Thymelicus" began to show up at the start of June, much sooner than expected. First observations, however, were hard to identify due to all individuals demonstrating characterics of both T. sylvestris and T. lineola – size and scent scales of T. sylvestris; black antenna tips of T. lineola. Only towards the end of the month I was able to discover individuals of both that allowed exact identifications.
While unconfirmed, there may be signs of A. urticae, which is declining across Europe and currently has not been observed, being present after all. Only time will tell if my suspicion gets confirmed or disproved.
In terms of damselfies, I. elegans made its very first appearance and established itself in two areas right off the bat (Zone III and my yard). C. mercuriale, on the other hand, saw a rather drastic decline in abundance due to town workers mowing this species' favorite spot next to the bike path bridge down. It remains to be seen whether they may migrate to a different spot altogether or remain at much lower numbers in the future.
One unidentified dragonfly appeared during my second-last field trip, though it remains unidentified. Overall, this hints at the possibility that all dragonflies may see a strong season compared to 2023.
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Three additional observations were made in my yard on the 26th, 27th and the 29th. One I. lathona quickly disappeared again on the 26th, whereas one M. galathea was seen resting on a wall on the 27th. Right in the midst of writing this, one T. acteon found a cooler spot in my yard to rest on, yet I had to tap at its wings a little to take a small glimpse at its upperwings to confirm that it is indeed the only Thymelicus sp. that I last saw in 2022.