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Is this a cockroach and is she laying an egg?
Anne Douwes saw an insect in a bag of foam on September 11. Later she found another on the garden door. That last insect appeared to be laying an egg. Is this true and are they cockroaches, she wants to know. To start with the last question: yes, these are cockroaches. To be precise, cross-banded cockroaches. In addition, the female of the cross-banded cockroach in the photo is indeed busy depositing an egg packet on the garden door. In principle, the females carry such a package on their abdomen for a number of weeks. They do this to protect the package. After a few weeks, the egg packet is deposited in a warm, dark and moist place, such as cracks, crevices and therefore also warm garden doors. The number of eggs in such a package varies per species. It can range from thirty to a maximum of sixty eggs. Depending on the temperature, but also on the food in the package, the eggs hatch after approximately four weeks. The young cockroaches, also called nymphs, are wingless. They go through a series of molts until they become winged adults/imagos. Would you like to know more about the cross-banded cockroach? then see this link.
Found a mushroom, but which one?
Franja Mulders saw a mushroom during a walk on Sunday afternoon, September 21. She hasn’t found out which one it is. So I am asked to give her an answer. What she saw is the beautiful fruiting body of the fungus with the beautiful name vermilion wood fungus. The great thing about this fungus is that even the bottom (see the photo below) where the tubes are located is bright orange.
These fungi are saprophyte tree fungi. They live on dead branches and dead trunks of deciduous trees. You see them on birch trees, various types of cherry and also on mountain ash. The color of these fungi can vary from intense orange to vermilion red. Vermilion red is a color that can even be seen as a bright red stripe on the Dutch flag. The fruiting bodies of the tree fungus are used as shelter, but are also eaten by many species of beetles. Apparently vermilion wood mushrooms are used as a styptic medicine in Nepal.
Two galls, which are they?
Yvonne Rommelaars photographed two galls on October 3 during a beautiful autumn walk in the Leijpark in Tilburg. She would like to know which galls are involved. I think the galls in photo 1 are platelet galls and the galls in photo 2 are lens galls. The platelet galls are also called oak cup galls or cup gall for short. They occur on the leaves of the pedunculate oak. Fertilized female gall wasps lay their eggs on the veins of oak leaves. At the locations where the eggs are laid, abnormal growth occurs and platelet galls are formed. Larvae live in these galls and extract food from the leaves. In October, adult female wasps (not males) emerge from these platelet galls, which lay unfertilized eggs in flower buds. These flower buds grow into other gall forms in the spring. This produces both female and male gall wasps. The eggs of the fertilized gall wasp then produce platelet galls.
The lens galls in photo 2 occur on the leaves of the pedunculate oak. These lens galls are formed because the fertilized females of the lens gall wasp lay their eggs on the underside of the oak leaves. These leaves then form lens galls, which only contain the larvae of female lens gall wasps. They hibernate in those lens galls. By the way, the lens galls detach from the leaf sooner than the leaf falls from the tree. Lens galls that remain on the leaf and fall with the leaf down do not hatch and dry up. The larvae in the loose lens galls develop further in the ground. In the spring, usually in May, the unfertilized females of the lens gall wasp lay their eggs on the young leaves, but also on the flower stalks of the pedunculate oak. These so-called berry galls (no photo) can contain both female and male gall wasps. Then the cycle repeats.
Is this a rare black snail?
Ad Heesbeen saw a black slug on October 2. He wonders if this is a special snail. In our country we have two black slugs: the black road slug and the black ground slug. A characteristic difference between the two snails is the white stripe, also called a keel, on the back. Ad’s black slug has such a white keel, so this is the black slug. Black earth snails, like the black road snail, are not rare. They are true native slugs. You can simply encounter them on your walk through damp areas. Black earth snails are among the largest slugs in our country. They can reach a length of more than eight inches. They have a relatively slender body and are usually uniformly black in color. Most black slugs have that beautiful white stripe, but there are also some where the stripe is barely visible or not visible at all. These snails are most commonly found in natural forests and undergrowth. In addition, in pure coniferous forests, also called pine or spruce fields. Because the once planted pine fields are becoming increasingly natural, these black earth snails are becoming increasingly common in our province. They like to hide under rotting tree stumps, fallen tree trunks or even under loose bark.
Seen in Norway, a beautiful butterfly
On September 28, Jack Ven saw a beautiful butterfly land on a wicker chair in Norway. He thinks it’s some kind of moth, but which one? I think the landed moth is a spearhead moth, which is known to be quite rare in our country. According to the Butterfly Foundation, only a few butterflies are found in the Veluwe and in our province. This moth is easily recognizable by the white spear points that extend from the wide outer white transverse bands into the wing margin. This moth is also recognizable by the black and white markings on the fore and hind wings, which consist of an alternation of black and white transverse bands. The caterpillars of the spearhead spanner are mainly found on the following host plants: birch, wild gale and blueberry. After pupation, the spearhead moths emerge. These are also diurnal. Especially in sunny or warm weather. You can see males during the day because they try to find a female by spreading scent. You can also encounter females during the day, when they are laying their eggs.
Beautiful photos section
In the beautiful photos section, this time a photo taken by Yvonne Rommelaars. She captured a common thistlehorn beetle enjoying some rays of sunshine on a leaf.
Nature tip
A slide lecture about wild bees will take place on Thursday, November 20 at eight o’clock in the evening in the De Groenhoeve hall on the Artillerieweg in Uden.
More than three hundred species occur in our country, in addition to the well-known honey bee. We call them wild bees because they are native here and therefore occur ‘in the wild’. We also count the more than twenty species of bumblebees among our wild bees. They form colonies with many animals in one nest. However, most native bees do everything alone and are therefore called solitary bees. Because they do not sting us and are therefore not a nuisance, they are unknown. Many of these species focus on certain plants and are highly threatened by the negative influence of humans on the flora. The species are often named after their appearance or behavior. You can find, among others: sand bees, cuckoo bees, mason bees, mask bees, wallpapering bees, wool bees, blood bees and silk bees.
The fascinating lecture will be given by Pieter van Breugel. Participation is free, reservations are not necessary. For more information, please contact Jan-Willem Hermans on telephone number 06-51853275.