Grassland Flowers 7

It’s spring now. Flowers are blooming and insects are buzzing. So I’m busy with them.

This is the last post of the Bashang Grassland trip series. After this, I’m going to post what I found and what I did in spring. Of course, I’ll share my other trip/outdoor stories and photos here in the future.

Unknown Species
Place: Datan Grassland
Date: 7/8/2008

Family: Ranunculaceae
Species:Paeonia obovata Maxim.
Place: Yudaokou
Date: 7/9/2008

Family: Scrophulariaceae
Species: Veronica sp.
Place: General Pond
Date: 7/10/2008

Family: Labiatae
Species: Thymus vulgaris L.
Place: General Pond
Date: 7/10/2008

Family: Boraginaceae
Species: Myosotis Sylvatica
Place: Jixielinchang
Date: 7/11/2008

Family: Polemoniaceae
Species: Polemonium villosum
Place: Jixielinchang
Date: 7/11/2008

Family: Rosaceae
Species: Potentilla sp.
Place: General Pond
Date: 7/10/2008

Family: Scrophulariaceae
Species: Cymbaria sp.
Place: Datan Grassland
Date: 7/8/2008

Family: Plumbaginaceae
Species: Limonium bicolor
Place: Duolun
Date: 7/8/2008

Odds And Ends of The Trip

A snail which was “very very big” in An Bo’s eyes…
Place: Tanghekou
Date: 7/6/2008

A poor damselfly
Place: Tanghekou
Date: 7/6/2008

An antlion
Place: Yudaokou
Date: 7/9/2008

A wasp
Place: Datan Grassland
Date: 7/8/2008

A blister beetle
Place: Datan Grassland
Date: 7/8/2008

A syrphus fly
Place: Datan Grassland
Date: 7/8/2008

A chafer
Place: Datan Grassland
Date: 7/8/2008

A carrion beetle (Silpha perforata Gebler)
Place: Jixielinchang
Date: 7/11/2008

A flying dragonfly (Anax nigrofasciatus) was killed by a fast truck

I love its beautiful blue eyes
Place: Chengde
Date: 7/12/2008

Two Long-horned Beetles

The following beetles were two long-hored beetles of Eodorcadion I found during the bike trip to Bashang Grassland.

Eodorcadion virgatum
Place: Datan Grassland
Date: 7/8/2008

Eodorcadion sp.
Place: Kulongshan
Date: 7/7/2008

Reference: http://www.zin.ru/ANIMALIA/Coleoptera/eng/eodorcdn.htm

Grassland Flowers 6: “xxx sp.”

Family: Leguminosae
Species: Astragalus sp.
Place: Datan Grassland

Family: Polygonaceae
Species: Polygonum sp.
Place: Yudaokou

Family: Geraniaceae
Species: Geranium sp.
Place: Yudaokou

Family: Leguminosae
Species: Astragalus sp.
Place: General Pond

Family: Caryophyllaceae
Species: Silene sp.
Place: Jixielinchang

Family: Liliaceae
Species: Allium sp.
Place: Moon Lake

Family: Geraniaceae
Species: Geranium sp.
Place: Moon Lake

Reference：http://www.cvh.ac.cn/index.asp

Grassland Flowers 5

Family: Liliaceae
Species: Allium tenuissimum Linn.
Place: Datan Grassland

Family: Leguminosae
Species: Trifolium lupinaster Linn.
Place: General Pond

Family: Liliaceae
Species: Hemerocallis citrina Baroni
Place: Yudaokou

Family: Rosaceae
Species: Rosa davurica Pall.
Place: Yudaokou

Family: Linaceae
Species: Linum usitatissimum Linn. (flax)
Place: Datan Grassland

Family: Leguminosae
Species: Vicia unijuga A. Br.
Place: Datan Grassland

Family: Campanulaceae
Species: Campanula puncatata Lam.
Place: Yudaokou

Family: Caryophyllaceae
Species: Dianthus chinensis Linn.
Place: General Pond

Family: Caryophyllaceae
Species: Dianthus superbus Linn.
Place: Jixielinchang 

Family: Onagraceae
Species: Epilobium angustifolium Linn.
Place: Jixielinchang 

Family: Geraniaceae
Species: Geranium pratense Linn.
Place: Jixielinchang 

Reference: http://www.cvh.ac.cn/index.asp

Four Butterfly Species

Family: Satyridae
Species: Lasiommata deidamia Eversmann
Place: Datan Grassland (here)

Family: Pieridae
Species: Aporia crataegi Linnaeus
Place: Yudaokou (here)

Family: Pieridae
Species: Coenonympha oedippus Fabricius
Place: Yudaokou (here)

Family: Nymphalidae
Species: Melitaea sp. ( Melitaea diamina? )
Place: Jixielinchang (here)

Mating Damselflies

In the Heleocharis yokoscensis bush grow on the beach of General Pond there were many dragonflies and damselflies. I spent some time on recording their love process. They connected each other tightly to make a heart-shaped circle and fliy together.

Both damselflies and dragonflies live in water when they are young. So they have to lay their eggs on the plants or stones underwater. Maybe the long tail (the abdomen) can help them to lay eggs deeply. The male flies may even push their wifes totally in the water by their long abdomen to reach a deeper place (click here or here to see pictures, unavailable in Firefox) .

Place: General Pond (map)