Category Archives: Insects

A taste for flesh but with a twist

Animals, English language posts, European Hornet, Insectlife, Insects, Life in Slovenia, Neanderslavia, Slovenia, Slovenian language posts, Vojnik, Wetlands, Zhuzhana the Hornet, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hornets are famous for their love of picnics which they happily pillage for food, drinks and your screams of horror. If you’ve ever picked up a piece of steak in your trembling hands and inspected it for damage after a hornet raiding party, you probably noticed that they had taken sizeable chunks out of it.

Hornets have powerful jaws and a taste for flesh. But there’s a catch. The adults don’t actually eat meat themselves. Instead, they chew it up and feed it to their young. The babies in turn ooze out a sweet liquid that the adults then happily consume.

Case in point, our accidental pet hornet ZhuZhana, the worker-turned-queen who spent the last dozen or so of her hornet years with us, would graciously accept our offerings of sugar water. (She notably dropped some of her enthusiasm for assorted fruits once she had gotten a whiff of pure white sugar.)

But she never ever deigned to accept any kind of meat. Hornets may possess only a few ganglia but our ZhuZhana clearly knew she could no longer return to her nest to feed the baby hornets. Her cozy new home, complete with an endless supply of sugary treats and our adoring stares, was all she had left and she decided to make the most of it.

Dearly missed by us, she is survived by her family in our old hollow apple tree.

Sršeni slovijo kot navdušeni roparji piknikov, kjer se lotijo vsega od sadja, pijače in mesa, pa tudi človeških branilcev pikniških dobrot, če po sršenje presodijo, da se preveč razburjajo. Če človek ni preveč zaposlen z vreščanjem in klatenjem po sršenjih gostih, pa utegne opaziti, da so že ob prvi najavi njihovega prihoda iznenada poniknile vse druge žuželke, ki so do tedaj obletavale pijačo in jedačo.

Sršen je pač mogočen žužon, ki vliva strahospoštovanje širni okolici, še zlasti manjšim žuželkam, ki jih mimogrede hrustne na pol. Prav zato je v osnovi precej mirna žuža, ki se ne pusti hitro razburiti, kadar je na obisku pri tebi.

Malce drugačna zgodba pa je, če si ti na obisku pri njih. Če te zagledajo blizu sršenjaka, jim to kar precej pospeši srčni utrip. Pa še takrat hitro pokapirajo, kdo od ljudi je domač in ne skriva v sebi kakšnih dezinsektorskih namenov.

Če hočeš zanesljivega odganjalca komarjev, moljev in muh skozi vse poletje, si težko omisliš boljšega od sršenjaka pod napuščem. Domači sršeni ti ne bodo storili ničesar, razen če ti prvi začneš, premnoge krilate in tudi kakšne nogate vsiljivce pa bodo odločno napotili drugam.

The friend who fell from the skies

Animals, English language posts, European Hornet, Insectlife, Insects, Life in Slovenia, Neanderslavia, Slovenia, Videos, Vojnik, Wetlands, Zhuzhana the Hornet, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

One fateful Saturday, a pair of sky warriors crashed to the ground, locked in battle.

They say every fight you can walk away from is a good fight. I guess that means our new friend had a good one indeed.

Her opponent, however, flew off. Because this is what victorious hornets do, after successfully shredding their rival’s wings.

So there she was – bruised and battered and suddenly pedestrian.

Under any ordinary circumstances, this would have meant she would be torn apart, limb by limb, by an army of gleeful ants. Unless she were lucky and a hungry bird got to her first.

But these were no ordinary circumstances. Because the turf on which she landed was ours.

She may have lost the duel but she won our love, along with a life-time supply of sugar water.

Zhuzhana, as we named her, was born a worker. But she ended up living like a queen.

#hornet #europeanhornet #Vespacrabro #pethornet #rescuedhornet #injuredhornet #rescue #feedinghornet #handfeeding #insectfeeding #insectrescue #insectlife #petinsect #zhuzhana #srsen #wetlands #vojnik #slovenia #neanderslavia

Like oversized mosquitoes but friendlier and clumsier

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Here’s a pair of creatures who get blamed for all the wrong reasons. This loved-up couple are crane flies, most likely of the Tipula oleracea persuasion.

They’re too big for any regular mosquitoes, check fingers for scale, which only makes it worse because they get accused of being giant mosquitos and swatted out of existence.

But these clumsy insects don’t bite at all. Their larvae on the other hand, do bite alright – they have a taste for plant roots and can chew their way through vast swathes of grass and crops, leaving huge dried patches in their wake.

As is often the case, good biodiversity goes a long way. If baby crane flies are giving you a headache, know that birds and ground beetles can help you keep their numbers modest and their activities focused on munching decaying plant matter, which is a good thing because it keeps nutrients cycling.

Just keep your pots and pans covered when the adults pay you a dinner visit – they have an uncanny talent for falling into open dishes.

#cranefly #cranefliesmating #tipula #insectlife #koseninar #wetlands #vojnik #slovenia #neanderslavia

You’ll want some clover before you scratch your nose

Animals, Insectlife, Insects, Life in Slovenia, Neanderslavia, Photos, Slovenia, Vojnik, Wetlands, , , , , , , , , , ,
An angry rescued female stag beetle
An angry rescued female stag beetle (Lucanus cervus)

I was walking on hot asphalt and so was this lovely lady.

Cars were about to join us.

Concerned for the lady’s safety, I volunteered my relocation services.

She objected by running.

Obviously, I insisted by picking her up.

She responded by spraying my fingers with a memorable fragrance.

Stunned but undeterred, I moved her to a safe location.

Just as we went our separate ways, I had a wild realization. (Can you imagine.)

The thing is, I’ve picked up many a stag beetle in the tiny little nature reserve that I run.

(Usually because they got indoors and wouldn’t leave.)

But they rarely ever ran from me, much less sprayed me.

Yet the lady I met today went full battle mode.

I couldn’t shake the thought that stag beetles behave differently around the people they know.

I feel deeply honored.

I would consider nicknaming my beetles if I hadn’t already done so.

PS. Clover is your lucky plant if you need to get rid of angry beetle perfume.