A pest from Africa

The southern green stinkbug (Nezara viridula) is a relatively new pest that originates from Ethiopia. The pest has a large number of host plants, but in horticulture this bug is mainly found in bell pepper cultivation. In the first instance, in The Netherlands, the southern green stink bug was only spotted at the end of the summer, but the bug has also shown itself earlier in the season in recent years.

Females lay around 30 to 130 eggs at a time. They do this in "glued together", yellow and white clusters at the bottom of the leaf. If they are just laid, they look like little pearls. Depending on the temperature, the eggs hatch after 4 days to 3 weeks and the empty eggs remain on the leaf. The nymphs initially stay together and do not yet affect the plant. They then go through different stages, each time shedding their skin, with each stage having a different appearance. In the fifth stage, the bugs begin to spread over the plant and eat it.

Widespread

Bryum argenteum or Silver moss is perhaps the most widespread moss in the world, although in many regions it is found primarily in human settlements. It is prevalent in atmospherically polluted areas. It can be found in large cities on tarred roads, on concrete structures (e.g. between paving stones, at the bases of walls, on roofs and windowsills) on soil as well as in waste areas, but also in more natural habitats.

Just a beautiful preparation

Here we see the images of a beautiful preparation made by Mike Smith. The cross section trough the ovary of Buddleia globosa shows many details. Note that the ovary (and later the seed capsule) is covered in tangled hairs (stellate-tomentose) and how the base of the style is also hairy. The second fluorescence image shows this in detail.

Ithytrichia lamellaris: ‘Not observed in a hundred years’

In a little stream in Limburg, the southernmost province in the Netherlands, an apparently unknown animal was unexpectedly found by members of the Macrofauna Workgroup Green Hearth Leudal. During the determination an animal with a very remarkable shape was noticed in a partly transparent tube, which was no larger than 4 mm. The segments of the abdomen of the animal were lobed like bellows of an accordion. In addition, there was a drop-shaped appendix on each lobe. This had to be something very special. Internet gave little to no result. Until an article with a photo attracted attention. In the photo you could see an animal that looked like the captured one. The headline: ‘Not observed in a hundred years’, indicated that something strange might have been caught?

Does this grow into a stink bug?

The Common green stinkbug or Palomena prasina is a common bug. You can find it in large parts of Europe, North Africa and the temperate parts of Asia. The bug has adapted to all kinds of biotopes such as forests, grasslands with suitable shrubs, marshes, gardens and parks, as long as food plants grow.

Primitive, but unique

Ferns are perhaps very old plants, but they are unique in their kind. They already occur in several hundred million year old fossils. After all, it was the first plant with roots and a real vascular system. In this way the ferns managed to extract water from the ground and use it for their further development. Because of the branches of the vessels it was also possible to get the water into the tops of the feathers or leaves. Ferns do not carry flowers. They therefore do not propagate with seeds, caused by fertilization of pistils with pollen through bees, beetles, birds, wind or otherwise. 

It hides in moss and lichen

When studying moss and lichen under the microscope, you will discover that in addition to the beautiful pictures it produces, a lot of animal life crawls around in it. If you walk through nature and see the many types of moss and lichen, you actually do not realize that. This is perhaps due to the fact that the animals are hardly visible to the naked eye.

Green curls

Cord moss or Funaria hygrometrica is one of the most common mosses in The Netherlands, especially in severely disturbed and nutrient-rich places such as vacant lots, semi-paved roads etc. A favorite habitat is burning places. A short time after the occurrence of a burn spot, Funaria hygrometrica is almost always present. The spread with spores via the air is extremely effective! In The Netherlands there are few large areas where there is so little disruption that there is no suitable place for Funaria hygrometrica, even if only temporarily.

Smell at a distance

The female silk worm moth (Bombyx mori) makes the pheromone bombykol in a special organ in her abdomen. When she is prepared to mate she releases this to attract males. A male silk worm moth has two long antennas that are very sensitive to the odor of the female. One single molecule is enough to cause a reaction in the sensory cells on the male's antenna. In this way he can locate the female. Even at a distance of 10 kilometers, he can still smell her!