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Icaro, Medick, and Vetch. (62)
peter_stoeckl
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1629 W: 287 N: 3646]](http://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif) (10219) | Icaro, Medick, and Vetch.
Plenty of rain in May and June created carpets of dense vegetation filled with blossoms even in the dry parts of eastern Austria in early summer this year.
Medicago lupulina (Linnaeus, 1753)
Medick / Hopfenklee
Medicago lupulina has very small yellow flowers grouped in tight bunches. A common flowering plant that is distributed through all of Europe, a great part of Asia, North Africa, Canaries, Madeira, North America, it is growing in dry limestone grounds and coastal sand dunes. It is a common sight in natural pastures, and a pleasant source of nectar.
Vicia angustifolia (Linnaeus, 1759)
Syn.: Vicia sativa ssp. angustifolia (Gaudin, 1829)
Narrow-Leaved Vetch / Schmalblättrige Wicke
Vetches are nitrogen fixing leguminous plants, often sown as fodder for cattle and horses, still growing wild in areas that have been taken out of cultivation since decades. They have also been part of early human diet as remains found at early Neolithic sites in Syria, Turkey, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia tell us.
Both Medick and Vetches are favoured feeding plants for the caterpillars of various species of blue butterflies, like the one shown here. Some blues are hard to identify, and I often end up with mistaking the
Common Blue
Polyommatus icarus (Rottemburg, 1775)
for another species. Here, the undersides seemed to indicate Amanda’s Blue to me - but I was wrong. Ivan (Argus) just sent me a convincing documentation of P. amanda from Sweden for comparison. He considers my posting's butterfly to be a variation of P. icarus. I am grateful for his expert advice. Thank you, Ivan.
References:
Tom Tolman, Richard Lewington: Die Tagfalter Europas und Nordwestafrikas, Stuttgart 1998.
C. Jonko: European Butterflies. http://www.lepidoptera.pl
Walter Schön: Portal für Schmetterlinge und Raupen
http://www.schmetterling-raupe.de
E. Vitek., A.Ch. Mrkwicka, W. Adler, E. Horak., W. Fleck, B. Haslehner: Wiens Pflanzenwelt, Vienna, 2004
Camera:
SONY DSC-H5, 3072 x 2304 pixel, sRGB, 18mm macro-zoom setting (equiv. 110mm at conventional 35mm SLR), F/4, 1/640 sec., ISO-125; -0.3 bias, no tripod, no flash; 20.06.2008, 09:51.
Postwork:
Photoshop Elements, slightly cropped, downsized to the web, selectively resharpened, levels slightly adjusted.
Thank you for looking.
Have a very good day. |
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