The twig on the parasol cover turns out to be an animal
Anja Bastiaansen thought she saw a twig on her parasol cover. But when she looked at it again, she saw that the ‘twig’ has legs. What you see in her photo is indeed an animal: a caterpillar. This is a caterpillar from the Tensioner family. These caterpillars have a strange way of locomotion because the middle part has no legs. This part is always stretched upwards in an arc when moving. Also, the rear end of the body is pulled to the front leg pairs, see this video. Hence the name tensioners.
The Tensioner caterpillar in the photo has a little brownish green color. I think this is the caterpillar of the pepper and salt moth. I’ve added a picture of the butterfly, so you get the name a bit.
Why is there a dragonfly on the bamboo stick?
Ronald Brans has two bamboo sticks in his garden and for a long time he saw one or two dragonflies on them. He sent me a picture asking which dragonfly this is. It is a bit difficult to see which species it is, because characteristic of this species are the black legs with yellow stripes. Yet I dare to put a name on it because of the color of the body. It is a bit straw brown so I think this is a female of the Wandering Darter. This species belongs in the corn bolt family. So it is a real dragonfly. Dragonflies can be divided into two groups: real dragonflies and damsels. The wandering dragonfly on the bamboo stick is in principle an invasion species that has since established itself definitively in our country since 2000. The bamboo stick is an excellent vantage point from which to attack prey.
What is the name of this plant, which suddenly develops snow peas after 25 years?
Rene Wisse sent me a photo of a plant that suddenly has snow peas after 25 years. He wondered what the name of that plant is. Coincidentally, I have already come across this plant with acquaintances, so I know that this is the trumpet flower. A logical name, because the flowers hang from the bush like a kind of trumpet. The fact that this trumpet flower is only now bearing fruit at Rene may be related to climate change. Originally, trumpet flowers were found in the warmer parts of North America. So it is a heat-loving plant. In recent years we have had increasingly warmer periods in the Netherlands. As a result, the flowering has continued and the pods have developed.
Why does a wasp take a mealworm?
William has placed a bowl of mealworms on his balcony for the birds. Recently he saw that a wasp landed in here, which after a struggle took such a mealworm with it. He wonders if wasps eat mealworms. Well, wasps themselves don’t eat like we do, but what wasps do is attack anything edible. They kill such prey and then bite pieces off it. They then grind these pieces in the mouth parts into a kind of paste. They then give this paste to their larvae. Such a mealworm is of course ideal, because it consists almost fifty percent of nutrient-rich proteins. In addition, a wasp hardly loses energy when ‘attacking’ such a mealworm. This is very different when a wasp attacks a spider, for example, because that can sometimes go wrong. Then the wasp is the prey. In this video from Natural Eckington you see a wasp with a mealworm.
An insect of about three centimeters, what is it?
Piet Hendriks wondered what the name of the fairly large insect he had spotted and photographed. In the photo you see a kind of fly, because this insect has two wings. In addition, the insect has a long golden-yellow body, large legs and large eyes. The name is hornet raptor fly. With a length of three centimeters, this predatory fly is the largest predatory fly in our country. Hornet robber flies are most common on barren meadows and moors where they hunt all kinds of insects from small elevations, such as sand heaps, cow pies or twigs. At the head of the hornet predatory fly is a short but strong snout with which this insect stabs prey. Simultaneously with this sting, the hornet robber fly injects a poisonous substance into that prey, which paralyzes that prey. The same poisonous substance digests the intestines into a kind of liquid, after which the predatory fly sucks the prey empty.
What weeds in my garden?
Erna van de Dungen sent me a photo of a manna grass-like plant. She would like to know what this is. I soon saw that this plant does not come from our native flora. It is therefore a garden plant and not a weed. Now I know some garden plants, but I had never seen these before. Fortunately I have some befriended gardeners such as Bert Klerks. He told me that this is a liriope muscari. He immediately added that this plant does indeed resemble a species of grass, but that it is not. This plant belongs to the asparagus family. The plant also has a Dutch name, which is lily grass. So the word grass is in it. Lily grass originates from East Asia and has beautiful purple flowers, see the photo. Lily grass grows just like grass from a kind of clump. It is originally a forest plant.
Waiting for privacy settings…
Soil life in pictures: the wolf spider – IVN Nature Education
The wolf spider does not weave a web, but roams the bottom in search of prey to eat. These spiders can grow to be half a centimeter, but also four. Wolf spiders can see well with all those eyes. So they are good hunters. The females store the fertilized eggs in a pouch.
Why is this salamander hiding under a clump of grass?
Bas Mutsaers reads, like so many Omroep Brabant radio listeners, the Stuifmail section every week. This time he has a question. While his wife was weeding, she saw a curled-up creature under a clump of grass. She carefully set the animal aside and discovered that it is a salamander. But what she and Bas wonder is which salamander this is and why it was found in the garden under the clump of grass and not in the water a hundred meters away. Looks like this is a small newt. Around this period, mid to late September, young newts crawl out of the water after having lived in it for a long period as larvae. They have now reached the adult stage and are now looking for a good place to hibernate. They usually do this at night. When morning comes, they look for a moist hiding place, such as a wet clump of grass. Incidentally, these animals also look slightly different during their land phase. They then have a somewhat dull dry skin. See the video of Martijn Hoekstra which is included in the garden.
Category beautiful photos
Patricia Smulders. sent me a photo for the best photos section. It is a photo of a water buffalo, with a white wagtail on the buffalo.
Nature tip: spider count
The National Spider Count 2022 will take place this weekend. This spider count is held every September, this year for the tenth time. Everyone can participate in the spider count, by looking for as many species of spiders as possible in their house and garden this weekend and passing that count via Tuintelling.nl.
Finding spiders can be done in many ways. You can search the garden on and between plants, under leaves, on the ground or between stones. But spiders can also be found in and around the house in corners, holes and along the edges of window frames or doors. You can search for nocturnal spiders even in the dark with a flashlight. Then to recognize the spiders, can you do the spider search map to use. The species book on the Tuintelling.nl website is new. There you will find photos and information about the most common spiders.
This is how the spider count works
• Find and count the spiders by searching your garden (and house) this weekend.
• Determine which species it is on the Spider Search card. If your spider does not resemble the species depicted, then search further on the internet or ask for help on the timeline of Tuintelling.nl.
• Submit your counts. Log in or register at Tuintelling.nl. Confirm the date and enter the number of specimens you have seen per species found via the button ‘enter count’. Make sure you don’t pass the same spin twice. If you see another spin later in the day or the next day, you simply create a new count and pass it on.