Saturday, August 21, 2010

visitors

We know about grasshoppers habitual munching of leaves, and bees nectar licking. Engineers are used to having buildings over designed . The design far exceeds usual standards as of sturdiness or safety. Plants would probably do the same. They have far more leaves than necessary. I am not too sure what is enough as far as winged beans leaves are concerned. The whole plant is so heavy and dense with leaves.

Probably some are reserved for insects to bite. It is just a romantic view to look at their ecosystem. And nectar can also be seen as what we understand as reward system to keep productivity and enthusiasm high. The plants need insect to help with pollination and has nectar to offer for such service.

belalang kunyit,



belalang kunyit  or Valanga nigricornis 
is the biggest grasshopper in Malaysia that I know of, resting on winged bean leaves. According to a laboratory studies on the life-history of Valanga nigricornis ...  it requires 6 and a half to 8 and a half months to complete the life cycle. I never knew belalang kunyit lives that long, definitely longer than winged bean itself.


a carpenter bee

a carpenter bee

a carpenter bee
the carpenter bee is undecided; is it okra or bean flower.

the carpenter bee licking nectar of winged bean flower

the carpenter bee
or xylocopa confusa 
licking nectar of winged bean flower.

Carpenter bee or Xylocopa confusa
is a large bee reaching slightly more than 20mm. Female is mainly black. The thorax is with deep yellow hairs, making it almost fully yellow except for small black patch at the centre. The species is quite widely distributed across Southeast Asia, definitely a frequent visitor in my garden, hopping from one flower to another. It seems to love every flower available here; coleus, senduduk, winged beans, roselle and okra.
[reference:  Xylocopa confusa - Asian Hornet Net]

bangchik and kakdah, my little vegetable garden  

12 comments:

  1. I am really worried when I see the grasshopper on a leaf. They really can chomp very fast. If its a pregnant grasshopper, it is even worse. One day I found so many little ones hopping around my plants. Hopefully this visitors does not stay long in your garden. Have a great weekend, Bangchik!

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  2. Lovely photos. It is interesting to see the different fruit and vegetables that people grow in their gardens all round the world, but also really interesting to see the wildlife that accompanies it. The two are inseparable! I love it when people post pictures of the wildlife in their gardens too!

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  3. Great photo's Bangchik, a Grasshopper that size would eat a lot

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  4. Great photos. Not keen on grasshoppers they eat too much of my food, but love seeing bees, they do so much good for a garden.

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  5. This is all so fascinating and with remarkable photos.

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  6. So far I havn't seen any of that visitors come calling at my garden Bangchik esp grasshoppers, maybe bcos I dont have vegetable grown yet..still germinating the seeds! But I dont mind bees, dragonfly, butterfly and birds..no pests please!

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  7. I hate to see grasshoppers in my garden! I can catch the small ones but the big ones made me shudder!

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  8. ~aaron.
    Grasshoppers are not loved by many, but that belalang kunyit is a delicacy in some part of the world. Fried like shrimps... I never tried though.

    ~belle
    We have to get used to their presence. We kill them, others will come to replace.. Really an on going battle over a little garden.

    ~matron
    A garden is empty without wildlife as you rightly mentioned. Check and balance imposed by nature is worrying at times..

    ~doc
    to get to that size, they probably eat a lot. They have wings to fly to greener garden!

    Thanks.. - bangchik Putrajaya Malaysia.

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  10. ~greenearth
    Yes, bee the more benefitial. Grasshopper the more nasty, but never sting..

    ~poetic
    Wildlife is fascinating, but we understand just a little.

    ~p3chandan
    Wait for your vegetables to grow, and be ready with grasshoppers!

    ~kitchenflavour
    Neighbour's kids once a while come and catch grasshoppers. Kid's adventure and game, I suppose. Of course grasshoppers eventually die in their little hands

    ..Have a great weekend.
    Bangchik and kakdah.

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  11. Insects are fascinating, and I love your pictures and narrative of them.

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  12. -Aeri_el
    Insects are fascinating. But with pesticide used throughout the world, insects and pests keep coming back, just as weeds keep appearing after chores of weeding!
    ....Bangchik.

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