The Painted lady A great migrant The Painted lady (Vanessa cardui) is a splendid butterfly that belongs to the Nymphalidae family. With a lively livery, it has a wingspan of about 54-60 mm, with bright and variegated colors on the front face of the wings. It's found all over the world and it's a long-range migratory butterfly . In Europe these butterflies come from North Africa in thousands, in April and May, but adults can't make it through the rigors of winter. The Painted lady feeds on the nectar of many species of flowers and is widespread in different types [...]

Black alder The wood of Venice The black alder (Alnus glutinosa) is a tree that can reach a height of 20-25 meters. It loves to live in damp places, it is found along rivers and streams and in swampy woods. Its roots host bacteria capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen which is thus transmitted to the soil. In this way the black alder performs a real reclamation and also serves to consolidate landslide banks and slopes subject to landslides. Bloom takes place in spring, in the form of male inflorescences, long and pendulous, and female inflorescences, small in tufts. Pollination takes [...]

Episyrphus balteatus ❄️?? A little air acrobat It's a little Diptera from the Syrphid family. It is completely harmless and has the shape of a fly but, like most of the Syrphids, it imitates the much more dangerous wasps as a defense strategy. In fact, the abdomen is orange with narrow black bands. Episyrphus adults feed on nectar and pollen grains which they crush with their front legs. Thus they promote the pollination of many plants The larvae, on the other hand, are predators of aphids and caterpillars: they devour up to 200 of them during development! Sometimes the adults [...]

Yellow iris ??The iris of the European swamps ??The yellow iris or yellow flag (scientific name Iris pseudacorus, Iridaceae family) is a beautiful herbaceous plant that grows spontaneously in marshy soils, along canals and ditches, together with other plants that prefer humidity. It has a rigid stem with leaves almost as long as the stem, which look like sword blades ?️, and yellow flowers ? that bloom one after the other, reflecting their beauty in the waterways. It reaches a height of 150 cm.⁉️ Did you know? ?Yellow iris is mainly pollinated by bees and bumblebees ? which crawl inside [...]

Silver Y ?? A letter written on wings ?? Silver Y (Autographa gamma) is a moth of the Noctuidae family. Its name derives from the design in the shape of the letter gamma (ie Y), white / silver, present in the center of the fore wings. The ground color of the wings is greyish brown, variable and mimetic. It's an active moth especially at dusk and at night ?, apart from those on the last flight of the year who are active even in daylight hours. The caterpillar ? develops on numerous plants including clover and lettuce. ⁉️ Did you [...]