April is usually one of the best months for photographing plants and animals. I show some plants and insects that were photographed in gardens, parks and in the forest called Nagyerdő in Debrecen (some insects where collected when I did not have my camera with me and photographed later). Among the plants there will be quite common herbaceous ones that can be found all around Europe in ruderal plant communities - but I'll try to show them in a different perspective. Most people never notice how nice these common plants may be. And by showing some rare insects, I'd like to demonstrate that sometimes there is a suprising, hidden biodiversity even in cities. Sustaining a healthy environment in city parks and gardens (e.g. avoiding insecticides, leaving some decaying wood in parks, propagating native plant species, etc.) may be a great help for animal and plant biodiversity. Beside its intrinsic value, insect biodiversity has an economical value also: different bee and fly species pollinate different types of garden and agricultural plants; many insects prey on agricultural/horticultural pests; many help by accelerating the decomposition of dead organic material, etc. Location: Debrecen. Date: 09-22.04.2011.
