A couple of months ago, on 21th of June, I drove about sixty - seventy kilometers north of my hometown, to the wooded, rural area around the city of Pazin, situated in the central part of Istra. 

<a href="https://images.ecency.com/DQmNgVpnJ31npdegCiZwmjYEcuKT4LM69LQBuZ4LkoNtL7f/img_3073i19i58i83_cetiroshtro.jpg"><img 
src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmNgVpnJ31npdegCiZwmjYEcuKT4LM69LQBuZ4LkoNtL7f/img_3073i19i58i83_cetiroshtro.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

The weather was really nice. Not too hot and moderately windy. 

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src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmXvgkhmrdpy22KzfUrNtzpoBeK8v8UhHscrPoxLyfNHMV/img_3082_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

The last rain fell only a couple of weeks before. The vegetation was lush and green, and the current draught, accompanied by frequent wildfires hasn't yet become the main theme of the summer.

<a href="https://images.ecency.com/DQmf8Ci4SoEWKQfyZNYEXijf86jhjByFrTjg5s7SPWyCkWC/img_3076_izhoshtreno.jpg"><img 
src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmf8Ci4SoEWKQfyZNYEXijf86jhjByFrTjg5s7SPWyCkWC/img_3076_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

As you can see in this photograph, a friend was also there with me. The small human figure nicely accentuates the grandeur of the surrounding nature. We left the car on the outskirts of a small village whose name I have completely forgotten and continued walking along the narrow path that leads into the woods.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmWPRHMiYnnipF8z8QeAotpmhcWqDPeMULGYe1dfv6weMy/img_3083_malo.jpg)

Here you can see one of only a couple of flowers found on the dense growth of Lamium garganicum plants that were prospering in the shade under the trees.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmUHH9rsQJXsziAYG8q8wUmMgzEZ5HXSU1LftswAJYeZ5e/img_3100_samomalo.jpg)

This shiny beetle was also photographed there, on one of those plants. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmdNj3SU3ggzecM99h1KkEdiaroBtHyFkAdMu96kaxPcAE/img_3111_malo.jpg)

The name of the species is Chrysolina fastuosa. It's a leaf beetle. A member of the large varied, and often very colorful Chrysomelidae family.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmQCgCCkeoQA7cSjr2ty17NjiGBZtdn64vquLXc7toLRwz/img_3122_malo.jpg)

A minute or two later and a meter or two further, I noticed a cricket.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmcQig8brtPt7fJai6koSVA3pNh4mm7SvNb9heBS7qN9Z6/img_3120_malo.jpg)

A well-camouflaged green bushcricket. Can't tell you the name of the species. The family is obviously Tettigoniidae. The genus is probably Isophya. But the species? I don't know.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmYN9wzStwAPtKje1PFDteWjTRCp7XCUZbKE3SRwfrmQgf/img_3135_malo.jpg)

This little inchworm that ended up on the palm of my friend's hand was hanging from the lower branches of a nearby tree.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmSy3ewbX1NaNqc2iXzLib7LWNP9wLQjKXAhZpsY3ZM3t5/img_3137_samomalo.jpg)

I took these two photographs, and then ...

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmeX9LW21DWuWprrcu2zVomza2GP57e37aUhyM91S3YGin/img_3141_malo.jpg)

... the caterpillar was encouraged to grab a leaf and leave the hand.

<a href="https://images.ecency.com/DQmX74AeA5uho28S9cSJyc69688Auep5iLuRtfuPmGVyh5L/img_3157_izhoshtreno.jpg"><img 
src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmX74AeA5uho28S9cSJyc69688Auep5iLuRtfuPmGVyh5L/img_3157_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

Here again, I can't tell you the exact species. But I can say that this is definitively the larva of some moth species from the Geometridae family. Quite a few Geometridae moths present in the area have similar larvae making the identification without an adult pretty confusing.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmZyCM6dm6B13UenDAcg5TSgDP9PuTCrzA8tTp2ZgWSCWW/img_3147_malo.jpg)

When they assume their typical mimetic pose, these twig-like caterpillars are very hard to notice.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmXK1mHYCUqAynFQJ5i1hPRQ5WYwXrWaoZL8htEQvdTQgu/img_3188_malo.jpg)

This interesting artwork was created by some kind of leaf-mining insect. Larvae of moths, flies, beetles, or sawflies could have done that. Quite a few species can be considered leafminers in their feeding habits. In the following photograph ...

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmWJaDDaMiMvJrrKu5sa5D89qTK64achuqpu7kFvpx19YP/img_3189_malo.jpg)

... you can see a fairly similar feeding trail, but this one has a considerably lesser visual impact. This feeding - art just isn't as good.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmVRDWKXx5K73qhq4rCBCeHjhREXddyiZXCgDtC4mgnT5R/img_3161_malo.jpg)
 
A female Amata phegea moth was resting nearby. This diurnal species is very common and widespread in all kinds of habitats here in Istra. The family is Erebidae.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmVXGg5bCuCAoX1qkqWDrLbTEhwzGr4yBUC2kRNpnuLVZG/img_3192_malo.jpg)

Many fruits fallen from the field elm (Ulmus minor) ended up on the herbaceous vegetation under the tree.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmYzWZgnZsiDRFPKagMfBEkXYwR9oFA43qfDpSym41XTS2/img_3190_malo.jpg)

Some of them were slowly rotting and dissolving.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmaBTvXDGeSKX2F8oBgcBBZBHKCW7tQhuRcKySvbbQM6Um/img_3181_malo.jpg)

Soon I found another insect.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmX4b3pSjSSxBtTN7rDE1KDG4FRxuziBNji2fzjJ5ALetM/img_3169_samomalo.jpg)

The family is certainly Ichneumonidae. That's all I can tell you about this little wasp.

<a href="https://images.ecency.com/DQmSeHtf6kfBQ7LNgGqJsQ5ztJM28fzYtK1PjBDz7LPpckN/img_3186_izhoshtreno.jpg"><img 
src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmSeHtf6kfBQ7LNgGqJsQ5ztJM28fzYtK1PjBDz7LPpckN/img_3186_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

I don't know which plant produced this seed.

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src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmQaZsM97nEULeEsrL2jQVgKVhagr1zbGSQMocfF5U8mRb/img_3197_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

It has an interesting appearance. It looks a bit like a spermatozoon. On the leaf litter under this scene ...

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmVD6dBKxiNrSAM2K14AqCUrKoov141bsiPtM7k2TuELxM/img_3131_malo.jpg)

... I found another moth. It looks like some species from the Pyralidae family. Which one exactly? I don't know.

<a href="https://images.ecency.com/DQmXZqhu2st6qRyd979EBEPzw1NYzP2EKcHg472Qj4qvjEp/img_3134_izhoshtreno.jpg"><img 
src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmXZqhu2st6qRyd979EBEPzw1NYzP2EKcHg472Qj4qvjEp/img_3134_izhoshtreno.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

Its wings are still slightly folded because the moth recently came out of the pupa. It's a brand new moth.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmWdVq9uiPHpPi6WpwavkgjBppAUpP8Xo7gL5T8TnfgbnB/img_3128_malo.jpg)

Five or ten minutes later the moth climbed on one of the nearby herbaceous plants.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmcVWMe6Nw3bpRPqYaNSB2bKpgjNoGd6reGvwdNn1RoTUK/img_3126_malo.jpg)

I took one more shot, and then ...

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmSLFziuzxDX3kyRLqXcHAFXaeeZvfQxk26j3ervXZUST8/img_3125_malo.jpg)

... walked out of the shady green tunnel.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmW5btgra93KYvFcKB338RSh2isitrpJ3KPPv7fbB47kui/img_3093_malo.jpg)

Before continuing back to the car, I stop at the entrance to photograph this little spider.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmdWpFt6MLxk9cnxD17qVpCMtfYWJeUnNjG54eYy2Qi1vv/img_3087_malo.jpg)

I don't know the name of this species from the Araneidae family.

<a href="https://images.ecency.com/DQmR45u11CHEzpCUAw1Wzc2zx6xuP89LpS2czbZJZQH189x/img_3202i03i04_trooshtro.jpg"><img 
src="https://images.ecency.com/DQmR45u11CHEzpCUAw1Wzc2zx6xuP89LpS2czbZJZQH189x/img_3202i03i04_trooshtro.jpg"></a> (Enlargeable)

On the way back home we stopped by the roadside fruits & vegetables stand on the outskirts of the small town of Vodnjan. At his point, we were about twenty kilometers from home. While the friend was buying the stuff ...

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmVdiHHzWR3K9o8cjuMu4yL7XJzH7f5PsNSFbXSwkihdA1/img_3201_malo.jpg)

... I spent some time photographing this hanging concrete mixer.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmRSk6r1pdDqaaTnCgDXue5mfXQ5BAnRkfGW99sc9ELvoV/img_3200_malo.jpg)

Some apartment buildings were under construction not far from there.

The following links will take you to the sites with more information about the protagonists of this post. I found some stuff about them there.
https://www.leps.it/
https://www.plantea.com.hr/bjelopjegavi-ovnic/
https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/croatian-orthoptera-skakavci-i-zrikavci-hrvatske?tab=species
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysolina_fastuosa

AND THAT'S IT. AS ALWAYS IN THESE POSTS ON HIVE, THE PHOTOGRAPHS ARE MY WORK - THE END.