Every Sunday there is also a new episode of the Stuifmail podcast. Listen to it here:
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Beautiful mushroom with golden glow
Esther Bosch sent me a photo in which she reported that the mushroom she photographed had a golden glow. What she found is indeed a very beautiful mushroom, but looking is also all you have to do with it. The name of this mushroom is green tuberous manite. The green tuberous manite is one of the most poisonous mushrooms on earth. In addition to its beauty, this mushroom also has a nice honey-like scent. But appearances can be deceiving here, because eating a small amount, about thirty to fifty grams, of this mushroom is already deadly. This poisons the liver. The consequences are only visible 24 hours after eating the mushroom. Before that, the ill-fated eater of the mushroom already has diarrhea and stomach upsets, but they disappear again. The patient then probably thinks the problem is over and does not go to the hospital or to the doctor. It is known that approximately fifteen percent of the victims die within ten days and that people who survive by chance never fully recover. Do you want to read more about it, then check out this link.
Caterpillar strewn with eggs
Bert Markgraaf sent me a photo of a caterpillar on which a parasitic wasp has deposited its eggs. Bert didn’t have a question, but asked if I could write a story. I think this is a moth patch caterpillar, which has been parasitized by one of the many species of common parasitic wasps. We know about four thousand species of parasitic wasps in our country. This includes about 1500 species of common parasitic wasps. The female parasitic wasps do not have a stinger, but an ovipositor. With this they lay their eggs in or on prey, such as caterpillars or butterfly pupae. They are slender built insects with a very thin ‘wasp waist’. The length varies within the species from 0.3 to 4.2 centimeters. I think the largest is the wood ichneumon wasp where the female has a length of 4 centimeters. In Bert’s photo you can see that an ordinary parasitic wasp has deposited eggs on a caterpillar of the gypsy moth. The ichneumon wasp larvae hatch from those eggs and then feast on a rudderless and somewhat paralyzed caterpillar. The caterpillars then do not produce butterflies, but a new generation of parasitic wasps. On this somewhat longer English video you can see how this works.
Insect on shutter
Thea Roeken saw an insect on her roller shutter. She wonders what insect this is. In the photo you can clearly see a grasshopper. I can report that this grasshopper belongs to the family of short-legged insects belonging to the right-winged insects. The short blades are so called because they have short antennae compared to the long blades – such as saber grasshoppers. We also call these short-legged locusts the real locusts. And those real locusts include a few species, such as the field locusts. Thea has photographed such a field locust. But because the photo is very dark, I can’t see any features that would allow me to name this grasshopper correctly. I see too few distinguishing features, so we speak of a field locust spec. All these grasshoppers have very well-developed jumping hind legs, clear wings and therefore short antennae.
Big path seen
Giovanni de Waal came across a path, about ten centimeters long. He asked if this is a special species. The answer is no. This is a common toad, I think a female. Females of the common toad can grow to be at least eleven centimeters in our country. In southern Europe, such an ordinary female toad can even grow to fifteen centimeters. Males are smaller and grow up to nine centimeters. If you look closely, you can see that this toad has thicker front legs. The thicker front legs are needed by the males to cling onto the backs of the females. Outside the reproductive period, toads are often found on land and rely on their camouflage, their skin is brown clod-like. If the toad is attacked, the common toad will play dead. If this does not help, the animal will inflate itself. The front legs are then extended and the head is held down. Often the enemies then drip off. If the animal is picked up anyway, they make strange squeaking noises.
Plant found against the forest of Dwingeloo
Ruud van Heerebeek came across a plant near the Dwingeloose bos, but could not find out what species it is. He sent me a picture. The name of this plant is royal herb. This plant used to be called liverwort. Queen’s herb likes moist soil and therefore likes to be in moist forests, at ditch or water sides and in swamp areas. The plant can easily reach a height of one meter and has very dense white-pink to pink-red tubular flowers at the top, as you can see in the photo. You often see this species together with plants of the real valerian.
The stem of the plant has a slightly soft red color and the leaves somewhat resemble hemp leaves. The name liverwort is based on the fact that people used to make tea against colds from this plant. This tea was also used as a laxative. However, if one took too much of this tea, the tea would affect the liver. The tea could also cause liver cancer.
Large snail found along the canal dike in Best
Andor Jansen found a very large snail of up to eight centimeters along the canal dike in Best and sent me a photo. I immediately recognized the snail from my Limburg period. This is a vineyard snail. In principle, these snails only occur in South Limburg, because of the high calcium requirement that this snail needs to make its large snail shell. How the vineyard snail ended up in Best is a mystery to me. Who knows, these snails are advancing north or is this a fluke. Vineyard snails can stretch up to twelve centimeters and carry a house of up to five centimeters in size. It is also this snail that is known as a delicacy in French cuisine. The French speak of escargots. I wonder if more vineyard snails will be found near Best or elsewhere in Brabant in the coming years or if this is one that has escaped from French cuisine.
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Finding brown toads in the backyard – Christian Olivier
The brown toad (bufo bufo) is one of the most common amphibians in the Netherlands. It’s so common, it could even be in your own backyard. This video explains this and Christian Olivier goes looking for the brown toad in his backyard. On Christian’s website you can find more beautiful nature films.
Not an albatross, but what big bird landed in the garden?
Eric van den Boogaard saw two large birds in his garden. He thought of an albatross. But in the photo he sent, I recognized a herring gull. Albatrosses only live at sea. They hardly ever come ashore. Herring gulls, on the other hand, are increasingly seen roaming inland to avoid nest robbers on the coast. Just like oystercatchers, they find ideal conditions to build a nest on various types of – mainly flat – roofs.
They are resourceful birds that can find food anywhere. They are therefore omnivores, eating fish and shellfish but just as easily discarded chips or bread. They also eat earthworms in pastures and together with other gull species they go to rubbish dumps or follow the plowing farmer on his tractor when plowing the fields. A herring gull can grow up to sixty centimeters in length. The herring gull has a wingspan of between 130 and 150 centimeters. Quite a bird, if you see it in your garden.
Spotted in Germany
Patrick Heijmans saw a dragonfly or damselfly in Germany. He sent me a picture. In the photo I see a female of the Meadow Damselfly, but I think this female is missing a piece of the body. I don’t see the last part of her long back body. You can see that in the second photo below.
Weidebeek damselflies can grow up to 4.5 centimeters in size and are fairly common in and near the streams in Brabant. Running water is a requirement for this animal. Weidebeek damselflies are somewhat large damselflies within the damselfly group of dragonflies. After mating, which sometimes lasts about fifteen minutes, the female deposits eggs on plant parts. They are sometimes under water. Sometimes she disappears completely under water. They hatch before the following winter and the larvae then remain in the water for eighteen months. Then they climb out of the water and become such a beautiful meadow damselfly.
Beautiful photos section
In the section beautiful photos this time one of Gerry de Wit. He wants to show how beautiful this garden spider, with prey, looks.
Nature tip
The heather is blooming again! From the beginning of August, most fields turn purple. Take a quick look if you can, the intense color will already level off in September. Our forest rangers have listed the most beautiful routes with flowering heather for you.
More information:
• Receive the ‘Top 10 heath routes’ for free through this link.
• Top 10 animals and plants on the heath via this link
• You can see which excursions there are on the heath through this link.
• My favorite is the Huisvennen-Kampina route, near Boxtel. You find it here.
I wish everyone a lot of walking pleasure on our beautiful heathlands!