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This was in Tommie’s woods, what is it?
Tommie Rijkers came across something strange on April 23. When I saw the photo I immediately saw that this is not a moss, not a plant or even a fungus, but something completely different. This is a myxomycete, which we still call slime mold in Dutch. Hopefully this will change soon, because this name creates all kinds of confusion.
What Bram has seen is white witch butter. Together with yellow witch’s butter, these two myxomycetes are also sometimes called runflowers. Personally, I think that you are putting people on a completely strange track. The word flower was chosen in that name because the organism resembles it. Unfortunately, that adds to the confusion, because this organism has no flowers. The word run also misleads people. That word is related to the English “tan” which means tanning.
It used to be thought that these specific myxomycetes/slime molds could only be found on oak bark. Oak bark contains tannic acid, which we call run in Dutch. Oak bark was ground in the run mill to extract the tannic acid/run and take it to the tanneries to tan the hides. This process turns the hides into leather.
White and yellow witch’s butter are therefore not fungi or mushrooms, but myxomycetes. These organisms do not have hyphae, while fungi do. They are often single-celled creatures. The body, called plasmodium, of white witch’s butter is brittle, spongy and delicate and it moves around. Hence the slime trail or crawl trail. Witch butters feed on micro-organisms that can be found on various natural and non-natural surfaces. You mainly see witch’s butter on dead wood.
A special appearance on the window
On May 2, Gaby Donders-Lubeck was quite impressed by a crane fly on the window. She wonders if that crane fly is rare. What she has seen is the female of a black woodcock. Like all other crane flies, it belongs to the order Diptera (two-winged) in the crane fly family.
This crane fly is not rare. In addition to the black wood crane fly, there is another closely related species: the orange wood crane fly. Both wood crane flies can hardly be told apart, because they are both extremely variable in color. The females of both species are larger than the males and have a tapering abdomen. Males of both species, like many other crane flies, have beautiful forked antennae. But in both of these species they look somewhat like antlers.
These crane flies often surprise friend and foe when they fly. They then look much more like large parasitic wasps than crane flies. In recent years, they have been observed more often than before, because fortunately the Netherlands has much more natural forest management and therefore there is more dead wood in the forests. The tapered abdomen of the female black wood crane is ideal for easily depositing eggs in dead wood.
Finally, Gaby was very lucky, because a little later the mating of a female and a male of the black wood crane took place on her window!
A beautiful scene on the wisteria
On August 30, Bas Bertrand saw a beautiful scene in the wisteria in his garden. He thought he saw eggs and larvae of a ladybug there, but unfortunately that is not the case. What he did see and record were eggs and larvae/nymphs of the berry shield bug. Bugs have an incomplete metamorphosis, so they hatch from the eggs as animals that resemble the adult animal. Ladybugs, on the other hand, undergo a complete metamorphosis. That is why the larvae of a ladybug do not look like a ladybug at all.
Adult berry shield bugs grow to a maximum size of fourteen millimeters. You mainly encounter them between April and November. This species of bugs mainly lives on blackthorn and various species of the rose family, but also on herbaceous plants. On these plants, these bugs suck plant juices from the fruits, but also from the flowers. This can cause deformities in the plants and also in the fruits.
In addition to being food for the berry shield bugs, they also use it as a means of defense. That stinks a lot! See also other stink bugs. Berry shield bugs overwinter as adults and so do ladybugs.
Beautiful photos section
In the beautiful photos section, this time a photo taken by Tom and Nellie van den Heuvel. In September they saw this beautiful moth called apple branch flying happily around.
Nature tip
On Saturday, November 8, from eight to ten o’clock in the evening, you can look for tawny owls and other nightlife in the Oisterwijk forest.
The most famous owl call is that of the tawny owl. The male’s ‘owl’ is often answered by an even more pleasant cry from the female. In the evenings the call of the tawny owl is extra intrusive. With a bit of luck we will hear the call, but of course nature cannot be controlled. In any case, it is nice to be able to spend some time in the nature reserve after sunset, because that is normally not allowed.
More information
- Registration is required and can be done via this link.
- Participation costs 16 euros, members of Natuurmonumenten pay 11.20 euros.
- The starting point is the visitor center of the Oisterwijkse Bossen en Vennen aan de Van Tienhovenlaan 4 in Oisterwijk.
- This evening walk is aimed at adults. Older children are also welcome if accompanied by an adult.
- Flashlights are not allowed, we walk in the dark.
- Wear sturdy walking shoes.
- Wear clothes that suit the weather.
- Always check yourself for ticks afterwards.
- Dogs are not allowed.