Forest ranger Frans Kapteijns shares his knowledge of nature every week. Anyone can submit questions via [email protected]. This time, Frans pays attention to mating cockchafers on the cycle path where the female drags the male over that path, two different shield bugs that both suck plant juices and one of the two also eats insects and how bumblebees collect pollen and nectar and in which they transport it. Part one of this Stuifmail was already published on Saturday.
Mating cockchafers on a cycle path, strange place or not?
Nel Jansen sent me a photo of mating cockchafers that she had encountered on the cycle path. She thought it was a strange place, because the cockchafers are certainly in a lot of danger on such a cycle path. Well, the cockchafers, like so many insects, do not realize the danger of roads and paths. They have only one purpose, to reproduce and maintain the species. Once the adult cockchafers emerge from the soil, they only ‘think’ about two things, first eating and then mating.
They initially fly to oak trees and beech trees to feed heavily on the leaves for up to fifteen days. Female cockchafers are also busy eating, but in the meantime they also spread sex attractants/pheromones.
Once the male and female have found each other, mating usually starts on a tree branch or in the air. Perhaps you have ever seen a mating of cockchafers and you know that it is a very special mating. In many insects, especially beetles, the male sits on top of the female. It is different with cockchafers. Once the males have found the females, they hook up with each other. The male then immediately throws himself on his back and lies in that position behind her. At a certain point they both descend to the ground and the mating continues. The female then heads for a suitable place to deposit eggs and simply drags the male behind her.
Sometimes this produces very comical pictures, but this is the natural mating of cockchafers. After mating, the females crawl back into the ground to lay their eggs. So if you see such a strange situation, do not try to turn the male around, because then you will interrupt the natural process!
Garden with chard and two bugs, what species are they?
Bea Ramaekers, first of all, congratulations, because I was only able to answer your question on June 7, when you told me that was fine, because then it was immediately a birthday present. You sent me two pictures of insects on chard and you thought they were bugs and that’s right. The first photo shows a beautiful berry shield bug and the second photo shows a pajama shield bug.
Photo 1: 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.
Photo 2: Adult pajama shield bugs grow to a maximum size of 12 mm. You mainly encounter them between April and October. This species of bugs lives on various umbellifers and can often be found on the umbels of wild carrot, parsnip, angelica and ground elder.
Besides the fact that both stink bugs use plant juices as food, they also use them as a means of defense, which stinks enormously! The pajama shield bug certainly sometimes attacks other insects, such as lice. A berry shield bug does not do that.
Do bumblebees collect pollen with their tongues?
Bert Goossens saw that the bumblebee he photographed had a forked tongue and he thought that they were collecting pollen with it. Bumblebees use their forked tongues to collect nectar and not to collect pollen. They collect pollen with all their fur and they do this by digging through flowers with their hairy body. They then comb the loose pollen grains together with their front and middle legs. They then stick that collection of pollen with a little nectar, and then the tongue comes into play, creating firm clumps of pollen. They then put those pollen clumps in the slightly hollow hairy spots on the hind legs (the sixth legs) and in this way the bumblebees transport the pollen to their nests.
What does the tongue do? The tongue is a kind of straw, and therefore has the function of sucking nectar. The nectar once sucked is stored in a special honey stomach. After about one hundred and fifty flower visits, the bumblebee flies back to the nest with a full honey stomach. Once there, she transfers the nectar through her mouth to the hungry larvae or she fills special wax jars that serve as supplies. The bumblebee itself also uses nectar, its fuel for flying, by occasionally opening a special valve in the honey stomach and then that nectar ends up in its own midgut.
Seen a special insect, what is it?
Els van Maastrigt sent me beautiful photos of an insect and she wondered which insect it was. In the photos you see an insect with a long abdomen with alternating yellow and black stripes. In addition, the insect has two wings and therefore belongs to the flies and mosquitoes. Finally, the long legs ‘tell’ that this is a crane fly. The name is masked snakepaw. In this case I think it is a female, you can see this from the length of about 25 millimeters, because males are smaller. Masked longlegs are fairly common in our country and are native. This crane fly is one of almost ninety species of crane fly that are present in our country. Many people are scared of crane flies because of their size, but they are very harmless insects. They are mainly active at dusk and at night and are extremely attracted to light.
Adult crane flies are poor fliers and do not eat nectar or only eat nectar. Crane flies only live for a few days, mainly to mate. The masked snake gets its name from the two yellow spots at the beginning of the abdomen and the yellow stripe underneath.
Beautiful photos section
Photographed a special spider, namely the gravel wolf spider. This beautiful wolf spider is one of the largest wolf spiders in Central Europe. The beautiful photo was taken on the floodplains of the Maas, photographer Melissa van Esch.
Nature tip
On Sunday, June 14, you can look for traces from Roman times at the Haanwijk estate.
Haanwijk has been permanently inhabited since Roman times. At least finds have been made from this period that point to agriculture, artisan life and trade. District is derived from the Latin word ‘vicus’, which means fortress. And the rooster was introduced to our region by the Romans. The name Haanwijk may therefore have Roman origins. Take a walk and learn about this special history, and be sure to visit Museum Roman Halder, where you can see many more traces of the Romans with your own eyes.
Cruise on the Dommel
A special way to experience the area is a boat trip on the Dommel, the lifeline of the area with a rich history. The boat trips start and end at the jetty in Halder. There, participants exchange the mainland for the water and board a whisper boat from Vestingfietsen & Fern. You will sail past Maurick Castle in Vught and Oud Herlaar in Sint-Michielsgestel. The start is at 10.45 am and the last departure time is
- Start time: 10:45 am. Duration: about 1 hour
- Start and end location: jetty in Halder
- Costs: 13.50 euros per person. Protectors 10.50 euros per person. Children 6.75 euros per child (protectors 5.25 euros) and children up to 5 years free.
- Book and pay via here.
Nature walk
Expert guides from Natuurgroep Gestel and IVN will tell you everything about the estate, nature and its residents during a walk. The walk departs from the Buitenlokaal at 1 p.m. Registration is not necessary.
Museum Roman Halder
- Open: 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM.
- Museum walk start time: 1:30 PM.
- Costs: 5 euros per person. Protectors 4 euros and children up to 12 years free.
- More information click here.
The Skew Schup
- Open: 12:00 to 14:30
- More information click here.
