1/. #WondersOfNature
Ystdy, I came across this ball of walnut caterpillars
They cluster like this to increase body temperature & as a defence against predators (although a bird could scoff the lot!?)
They turn into beautiful, tan & cinnamon brown moths
Today, they were gone.
2/. #WondersOfNature (PART II)
A few months ago, I came across this oak apple or oak gall
The gall wasp lays its eggs in leaf of a particular type of oak tree
The gall protects the larvae until it metamorphoses into adulthood & the gall tissue nourishes the growing gall wasp.
3/. Like the ring-necked parakeets
you see in London’s skies, another non-native species lives in our waterways: the red swamp crayfish or mudbug
Whilst Jimi Hendrix was responsible for releasing a pair of parakeets in 1968, the crayfish were introduced in the 70s by the govt.
4/. #WondersOfNature (PART IV)
This beautiful, mind-bending tree in St Pancreas Old Church (also home to ‘the Hardy Tree’👇) is a huge, very old corkscrew hazel
What purpose could growing in way this serve?
Maybe there’s no logic to it
It is just a joyful expression of being.
5/. #WondersOfNature
Last weekend, I was in Wytham Woods - the most studied ancient woodland in the world
It is home to:
900+ species of beetle
800+ species of butterfly & moth
700+ species of bee, wasp & ant
580 species of fly
200+ species of spider.
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