THIRTY-SEVEN MINUTES WITH CORNUS SANGUINEA

A month ago, in the first week of May, I spent half an hour observing the flowers and pollinators on one of the shrubs that form hedges on the edge of the meadows. Half an hour isn't much time, so don't expect the post to be very long. However, I saw some insects and managed to take a few photographs, so there is still a good chance you'll find something interesting in this small package.

(Enlargeable)

It all happened about a hundred meters from the stretch of road between the villages of Shishan and Valtura, an area that I have visited quite often lately.

(Enlargeable)

The shrub in question, the main protagonist of the post, is Cornus sanguinea. That's its scientific name. The plant is commonly known as the common dogwood or bloody dogwood.

(Enlargeable)

Here you can see a tiny beetle that has just landed on the flower bud when the photograph was taken. Its wings are still partially unfolded. I was prepared to photograph a cluster of Cornus sanguinea flower buds when the beetle entered the scene. The scientific name of this species from the Scraptiidae family is Anaspis flava. In the following photograph ...

(Enlargeable)

... the same beetle is moving towards the nearest fully developed flower.

(Enlargeable)

The blooming season had only recently started, so flowers and flower buds in different stages of development could be seen on Cornus sanguinea shrubs.

(Enlargeable)

This photograph shows two clusters of flowerbuds growing near each other. The greenish-yellow buds in the foreground are bigger and closer to spreading the petals and becoming small, star-like flowers.

(Enlargeable)

Here you can see a very photogenic cluster made of just one fully developed flower in the center, surrounded by a bunch of flower buds. In the following photograph ...

(Enlargeable)

... I used the macro lens to get a bit closer and show you all the tiny details of a Cornus sanguinea flower. As you can see, each hermaphrodite flower has four small petals and four fairly long stamens, arranged in a simple, elegant geometry with the pistil in the center.
These flowers are too small to be visually striking to the naked eye, but a look through the macro lens reveals an unexpected beauty.

(Enlargeable)

Here you can see a cluster with open flowers scaterred among the flower buds; the ratio among them is about two to one in favor of the buds. If you take the time to explore the details in the above photograph, especially if you enlarge the picture by clicking on it, you'll notice an ant and a tiny black beetle exploring the flowers.

(Enlargeable)

This shot shows the same scene more up close. You can take a better look at the ant feeding on nectar. With quite a few very similar-looking species of small ants present in the area, I can't tell you which one exactly you are looking at here.
The black beetle is out of focus in this photograph, but nothing is stopping me from telling you the scientific name of the species - Meligethes flavimanus. It belongs to the Nitidulidae family. You'll be able to take a better look at this species in the following shot.

(Enlargeable)

Here you can see the Meligethes flavimanus, and the Anaspis flava, a species from the Scraptiidae family, introduced at the beginning of the post, sharing the food on the same flower. Both beetles feed mainly on pollen, but do consume nectar as well. The following photograph ...

(Enlargeable)

... shows the same scene a second or two later. The beetles are in a slightly different pose; that's the only difference.

(Enlargeable)

This is the biggest insect I photographed on that occasion while exploring the Cornus sanguinea in bloom...

(Enlargeable)

... the Panorpa germanica, one of the only two scorpion fly species present in my area. The main source of food for this species is small carcasses of other insects. Scorpion flies often explore the edges of webs built by spiders in search of dead insects or just body parts left after the spider's meal. They also hunt aphids sometimes. Vegetarian part of their diet includes plant sap and nectar. In this post ...

(Enlargeable)

... you can see a Panorpa germanica enjoying the abundance of nectar distributed in many tiny, star-shaped cups.

(Enlargeable)

These insects got their common name becouse of the scorpion-like tail that in males ends with what looks like a pincer. That thing isn't there for hunting or as a defense tool; the end of the tail is part of the genitalia and is used to hold the female during mating.

(Enlargeable)

This shot is here mainly to allow you a short break from the macro view. If you feel like exploring the small details in the picture, you may notice that in two of the five clusters of flower buds shown in the shot, there is a single fully developed flower right in the center.

(Enlargeable)

Here you can see a tiny spider I photographed on one of the leaves of the shrub. The name of the species is Nigma puella. It belongs to the Dictynidae family. This is a female.

(Enlargeable)

With two of its hind legs, the spider was spinning the silk. In the following photograph ...

(Enlargeable)

... the threads are visible. Nigma puella creates small horizontal webs over the top surface of the leaf, leaving just a narrow space between the leaf's surface and the web.

(Enlargeable)

Here you can see a small fly from the Lauxaniidae family, I can't tell you the name of the species, cleaning its forelegs while resting on the Cornus sanguinea leaf.

(Enlargeable)

I took these two shots when the fly landed on the nearby flower buds. In the following photograph ...

(Enlargeable)

... the same fly is on the flowers, surrounded by Meligethes flavimanus beetles.

(Enlargeable)

Here you can see the fly feeding on nectar.

(Enlargeable)

Most Lauxaniidae in their adult stage feed on fungi and decaying plant or animal material, but some prefer nectar.

(Enlargeable)

This is the Grammoptera ruficornis, a beetle from the Cerambycidae family. The small pollen and nectar-eating longhorn beetle was resting on the flower buds near a fully developed flower.

AND THAT'S ALL FOR TODAY. THE POST ENDS HERE. AS ALWAYS, ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK.

The following links will take you to the sites with more information about the protagonists of today's post. I found some stuff about them there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornus_sanguinea
https://baza.biomap.pl/en/taxon/species-anaspis_flava/photos_tx
https://www.gbif.org/species/4453023
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panorpa_germanica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigma_puella
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lauxaniidae
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grammoptera_ruficornis