Steve's Nature Blog: Silver-leaved Nightshade

Wednesday, 24 May 2017

Old School Spiders and Killer Spuds

We'll start where we left off last week at the derelict dwellings and make our way down to the heart of the village but before we do I've just seen something large and red fly by my nose and land on that wild carrot over there. What a magnificent specimen (and go compare that for a facial appendage). Those fantastically large antennae mark him out as one of the Longhorn Beetles (family Cerambycidae). The antennae are used primarily for smelling the air but in some insects they actually help to stabilize their flight (which is a bit counter-intuitive as you'd think that they would make the creature a bit of an awkward flier). But when you think of a tightrope walker with a long balancing pole it makes a bit more sense.

This is something I wasn't expecting to find, a terrace full of potatoes planted on the hillside totally out of context with everything around it. The flowers are rather pretty and very similar to Silver-leaved Nightshade. The reason for this is that they are both in the same family (Solanaceae) and like all members of the Nightshade family they contain the poison solanine as a natural insecticide. Potato poisoning is rare but not unknown: in 1979 a group of 78 schoolboys from south London were poisoned and although they survived to tell the tale (previous cases have been fatal) they were pretty ill and some were confused and hallucinating for several days afterwards. My grandmother's old maxim: 'never eat green potatoes' turns out to be good advice. Although the green is merely chlorophyll found in all green plants (for which reason I'd always rather discounted my grandmother's warning) it is an indicator of the build-up of solanine. Ah, the old 'uns knew a thing or two. Generally the amounts of solanine in spuds (and tomatoes and aubergines too for that matter who are also in the same family) is too low to cause any problems at all.

This is what passes for Central Drive in Ferma and I see that a colony of ants are using those black water pipes as a motorway. They seem to be moving house judging by the number of eggs and pupae being transported down the hill. We always think of bees and wasps as being natural compatriots but ants fall into the same group of insects too; the Hymenoptera. How they are related within the group has always been a bit of a puzzle as it all depends upon which aspects of their anatomy and/or behaviour you use as your yardstick. Anyhow, a few years back a group of scientists led by Bryan Davis in California decided to solve the puzzle once and for all by scouring the countryside for ants, wasps and bees of all denominations and taking DNA samples (I'm not sure that I'd have volunteered to be a part of that team). They sequenced the genomes and found that the majority of wasps went their own way from a common ancestor at an early stage. A few, the scolid wasps and allies, along with the bees and ants decided upon a different evolutionary path. The bees and ants then parted with the scolids and finally the bees and ants separated. All except the thread-waisted wasps which followed the bees' evolutionary path (so maybe we should call them thread-waisted bees?). So, when did we learn that ants are more closely related to bees than wasps are? Not until 2013 which just goes to show how much there is still to be discovered about the natural world. [1]

Oh look, a red spotted dandelion. Ye gods! The spots are alive. The area is literally crawling with little red animals. A quick leg count under the hand lens – eight so they're arachnids. They are a type of mite going by the name of Balaustium. There are a couple of clues to identifying this genus: firstly, unlike other members of the Erythraeidae family they are pollen feeders rather than predators and secondly they have a noticeable gap between the second and third legs. Apparently, although they are vegetarian they can give you a nip so maybe it's not a good idea to let them swarm up your left leg like that.

I see that you've gone for the squishing method of mite removal rather than the gentle brush. Maybe not so wise, your leg now looks like a war zone. No matter, come and have a look at this harrow I've just stumbled upon. Is this the original Harrow-on-the-Hill? I wouldn't have thought that this is the most useful piece of equipment you could have on a steep hillside like this but it explains how the potatoes got planted. There's another one of our jumping spiders down there look. There is a controversial theory that these spiders are socially superior to other spiders and this would appear to be supporting evidence for that theory. How so? He's obviously an Old Harrovian. He's even in the school colours.

The Extra Bit

[1] Phylogenomics Resolves Evolutionary Relationships among Ants, Bees, and Wasps from Current Biology Volume 23, Issue 20, p2058–2062, 21 October 2013

I suppose I ought to tell you a bit about the village facilities in case you fancy a visit: plenty of places to stay including a hotel (Porto Belassario) and a number of self-catering apartments. There is also a campsite at nearby Koutsounari. A choice of places to eat and drink as well as a village store, a butcher, a baker (no candlestick maker), two hairdressers and a petrol station. And me of course. Everything you need really. Yes, we have no MacDonald's, KFC, faux Irish Pubs, rowdy nightclubs or strip joints(but we do have bananas in season).

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LINKS:

Share your nature thoughts, photos and comments on Naturalists (the facebook page that accompanies this blog)

See detailed pictures on Flickr

Read more about the flora and flora of the island in The Nature of Crete (Flipboard Magazine)

Explore the region with the #CreteNature interactive Hiking and Nature Map

Greek Butterflies and Moths

Aquaworld Aquarium

Visit Greece (National Government Tourist Office)

Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Hey hay!

Karteros

We’re off to Heraklion again this week folks but rather than revisit the Electric Wetlands I thought we’d stop off before we reach the big city and have a look at what’s about on the eastern side of the metropolis. So, with the inevitable sandwiches and orange juice to hand let’s take a look down this side road marked Karteros and see what we can find. Now I was not expecting this; a bucolic scene straight from my childhood with rectangular hay bales and broad unmown field edges bursting with life. Crete, as ever, is full of surprises. When we were young we used to make castles with secret entrances out of bales like this. I don’t think the farmer minded – after all his bales all finished up in one place so we were unpaid labour in a way. The other great joy of course was the field-side safaris; intrepid hunters in search of monstrous pythons (well grass snakes anyway). So let us don our pith helmets once more and go and explore the jungle.

Grass Skipper

Our first find. Flitting around at the base of the tall grasses are these Grass Skippers. It’s not surprising to find them here as their larvae feed on grasses and sedges. There are a couple of things that distinguish them from other butterflies. Firstly the tips of their antennae bend backwards like little crochet hooks and secondly they have a peculiar way of folding their wings when they come to rest (which isn’t often). That’s why they’re called Skippers – they restlessly skip from plant to plant.

Ah, a nice flat stone to flip. I wonder if anyone’s at home? An Ocellated Skink. These are quite common across the island and as you may recall we’ve met them before (see The Road to Nowhere) so we’ll let him go about his business.

Red Spider Mites

On the other hand this Corn Marigold is playing unwilling host to some creatures that we haven’t met yet, Red Spider Mites. These are short lived arachnids, related to spiders, scorpions, centipedes and millipedes. Their whole life cycle from egg to adult is only about three weeks but they hatch in such great numbers that they can totally defoliate a crop in those three weeks and as such can be quite an agricultural pest.

There are a few more on the leaves of this rather striking flower nestling amongst the Wall Barley.

Silver-leaved Nightshade

I’ve not come across this particular specimen down in the south east. It’s a Silver-leaved Nightshade. Like other Nightshades, its berries are poisonous and contain chemicals that can cause birth defects such as five legged cows and so on. Not totally without its uses however. After we’ve played about with it for a bit it finishes up in contraceptive pills and anything that slows the suicidal rate of expansion of the human race can’t be all bad.

Feral Pigeon (top) and Collared Dove (below)

I don’t know if you’ve noticed but up at this end of the field, near the buildings, we have two closely related birds flying about – Feral Pigeons and Collared Doves. When I was a young boy in the 1960s I don’t recall seeing a Collared Dove in England although they had started arriving, having spread from the Indian sub-continent the decade before. In the 1970s some fool thought that they’d make a nice addition to the fauna of the Bahamas from whence in the 1980s they took wing to Florida without even waiting for a Green Card. Nowadays they can be found from Alaska to Southern Mexico in the Americas and right up into the Arctic Circle in Europe. Here in Crete they were listed as a ‘rare resident restricted to Rethymno until 1989’ by Coghlan in A Birdwatching Guide to Crete (2001) with a further note regarding its spread along the north coast in 1990 and first appearance in the south west at Frangokastello.

The Collared Dove is a bit smarter and more street-wise than the dear old bumbling Feral Pigeon and is tending to displace him around the world. I’ve been keeping a count of both species in Ferma over the past four years where we used to have a regular flock of 17-18 Feral Pigeons and one pair of Collared Doves. Last year the flock was down to 14 and we had two pairs of Collared Doves. We must count again when we get back.

And now it’s time to sit on a hay bale and partake of the coffee and sandwiches. This does take me back you know….

The hay meadow where I used to play as a child is still a green space

Nostalgia Bit for British over-50s

Jamboree bags, pink and white sugar mice, singing along with Freddy and the Dreamers on the tranny, marbles, putting jumpers down for goalposts and spending more time arguing whether the ball was in or out rather than actually playing football, reading the mottoes on Love Hearts… any others?

Until next week then, happy hunting.

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With thanks this week to Μανώλης Αβραμάκης, Tanya Melnica and Julia Jones at Flowers of Crete; for help with the Silver-leaved Nightshade, Solanum eleagnifolium.