29 July
The third heat wave of this year is approaching, bringing a clear sky, weak to moderate winds and 27.4°C (10:39 AM) before noon.
+-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+ | Species | Location | Status | +-------------------------+---------------------------------|--------+ | Celastrina argiolus | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Coenonympha pamphilus | Mixed Field / Zone I / II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Maniola jurtina | Yard / Mixed Field / Zone I / | Adult | | | III | | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Pieris rapae | Yard / Mixed Field / Zone I / | Adult | | | II / III | | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Polyommatus icarus | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Thymelicus sylvestris | Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Vanessa atalanta | Yard / Zone II | Adult | |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| |-------------------------|---------------------------------|--------| | Calopteryx splendens | Zone II | Adult | +-------------------------+---------------------------------+--------+
Only a new, quite small hotspot of C. argiolus was discovered in the extended section of Z II leading to the Meisel forest. T. sylvestris has started to decline while V. atalanta is increasing slowly, meaning that late summer is beginning. Besides some alfalfa and common snowberries, which C. argiolus feeds on, there's hardly any relevant vegetation.
Contrary to recent reports by our public broadcaster (MDR), insect populations already have started to decline again last year. Instead of promoting shady Max Planck Society research that claims to not publish any data before 2035 (!) and cite two researcher's mere opinions just because one of them saw a scarce swallowtail in Leipzig [1], they really should start to keep quiet already – so far they did nothing but promote "publish or perish" junk and now they resort to cheap opinions for plain clickbait (why do I have to pay for this, seriously).
/oblog/