It was about 28 °C and it was time for observing Jewel Beetles in the field. Our collecting trip started in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. But our first target was the Rhodope Mountains and its xerothermic hillsides.
We arrived to the hills of Plovdiv in the afternoon.
Went up on the hill and saw flowering Leucanthemum
sp.
Colourful Jewel Beetles were sitting on it: Anthaxia
bicolor Falderman, 1835…
…and Anthaxia scorzonerae (Frivaldszky, 1838).
On the south-facing slope Ulmus sp. was standing
sun exposed.
On the leaves the Jewel Beetle Lamprodila mirifica (Mulsant,
1855) was common.
At this place Agrilus auricollis Kiesenwetter, 1857
taken its development in Celtis australis L. (Ulmaceae).
View to the town. In the foreground the yellow flowers were
very attractive for some kinds of Jewel Beetles as for the species shown in the
following.
Anthaxia cichorii (Olivier, 1790).
Anthaxia olympica Kiesenwetter, 1880.
Acmaeoderella circassica (Reitter, 1890).
The 3 milimeters sized Trachys problematica Obenberger,
1918 could be found sitting on its hostplant: Stachys recta L.
Near the Rhodope Mountains we found
this orchard with Prunus avium L.
A few very shiny Jewel Beetles could be found sitting
on the leaves high into the treetops.
One of them was Lamprodila balcanica (Kirchsberg,
1876).
The common Ptosima undecimmaculata (Herbst, 1784) looks
like a fire salamander, but it is not toxic.
Carduus sp. with a Curculionidae inside of the
flower.
Iphiclides podalirius (Linnaeus, 1758) flew around.
Back again on the hills of Plovdiv. In the foreground
Pistacia sp. is shown. Chrysobothris leonhardi Obenberger, 1916 could be
observed while swarmed around this dry branches.
On the leaves of Quercus sp. Agrilus buresi Obenberger,
1935 could be found.
Also Agrilus graminis Kiesenwetter, 1857 swarmed
around.
From Plovdiv we went to the legendary valley of
Struma in the southwestern part of Bulgaria. On half of the way we found this
nice place to collect.
Anthaxia millefolii (Fabricius, 1801) on a yellow
flower. This is one of the commonest species of Buprestidae in the eastern mediterranean area.
Lacerta viridis (Laurenti, 1768) climbed on a
cherry tree.
On the ground grew a spiny plant called Eryngium
campestre L.
It is the hostplant of Anthaxia hypomelaena
(Illiger, 1803).
In dry grasslands inhabits numerous species of
Buprestidae, especially with small size.
Cylindromorphus filum (Gyllenhal, 1817). - Its
development takes place into the small stalks of different kinds of grass.
Picturesque village in the near of the Struma valley.
Anthaxia thalassophila ssp. pseudokervillei Niehuis, 1990 sat on a yellow flower.
Anthaxia discicollis Gory & Laporte, 1839 could
be found on flowers in the near of its hostplant: Juniperus sp.
Steppe zone with Artemisia sp. and different kind
of Carduoideae.
A common Jewel Beetle of such places is Meliboeus
parvulus Küster, 1852.
A colourful cuckoo wasp (Chrysididae) could be
observed, too.
Xerothermic hillside with Quercus sp.
Acmaeodera ottomana (Frivaldszky, 1837) sat on an oak twig.
Agrilus hyperici (Creutzer, 1799) on Hypericum sp.
One more cuckoo wasp: Chrysis fasciata Olivier,
1790.
Jewel Beetle of the eastern mediterranean area: Acmaeoderella cf. levantina
(Obenberger, 1934).
Undeterminated Dipsacaceae - hostplant for a very small kind of
Buprestidae.
Trachys troglodytes Gyllenhal, 1817. The larvae make mines within the leaves.
Swarmed around bushes of Quercus sp., the cuckoo
wasp (Chrysididae).
Anthaxia signaticollis (Krynicki, 1832) can be
found in orchards and on places with different kind of fruit trees. The adults
visiting white and yellow flowers.
Edge of the woods with Quercus sp.
Agrilus biguttatus (Fabricius, 1776) swarmed around
high branches.
Pinus nigra Arn. is the hostplant for some species of Jewel Beetles.
One inconspicuous species is Anthaxia thessalica
Brandl, 1981.
Last picture of the journey. Nice hillside 50
kilometers in south of Sofia.