Tree guards, bagworms and argiopes

Its been an interesting fortnight.

# Went on tree walks with toddlers and teenagers.

# Rambled at the PWD park, with the sun, bees and butterflies for company.

# Saw pictures from Chandrika of a creature that looked like it had come from some alien land.

# Learnt that cycle tires can make good and cheap tree-guards.

# Discovered an argiope inside one of those tree guards.

# Saw scores of black kites all of a sudden.

# Have been tracking an ugly little "crowling" grow into a handsome large-billed crow, all set to fly.

The tree walks and the PWD park ramble were courtesy Nizhal, that wonderful, enthusiastic band of tree lovers of Chennai. Their volunteers go around, in different localities and parks of the city, with different groups, taking young and old on walks to familiarise us with the trees of the neighbourhood, and hoping to spread awareness and commitment for saving our trees.

May their tribe grow.

One of the projects which is currently consuming their time, energy and attention is the PWD land/park in Kotturpuram on the southern bank of the Adyar river. Local species are being planted in order to make a tree park - no lawns or concrete walkways, is what I've understood it.

It was here that a bunch of toddlers came, to plant a few saplings and get sensitised about the need for trees.

The planting was done with much enthusiasm, as also the chasing of butterflies and mynahs. The high point was finding an earthworm in the soil as they planted, and there was many a "ewww" from the girls, while the boys fell strangely silent, taking a tentative step backwards, as Deepika extended her earthworm-filled hand to display it better!

It was here that I learnt that discarded tires make cheap and quick tree guards.

Nizhal volunteers come on Sundays, and quickly put these together, through some clever entwining of binding tape. There had been a couple of showers and so the ground was covered with green undergrowth, and I quite enjoyed hanging out there, never mind the sun.

So it was that I volunteered to go and check on the saplings one Tuesday morning - the saplings do need to be tended - and made an interesting "discovery. More about that later.

The case of the Bagworm moth

On returning home, I found a strange email in my inbox, titled "strange flower feeder". Chandrika of MNS posted these pictures:

An ant trying to get at the larvae

You can see more such pictures at her Picassa gallery here.

See the head poking out
Well, it was my turn to go "eww", as I stared at my computer screen! It turns out, that Chandrika was testing her new macro lens, and found this in her own garden in Thiruvanmyur! Talk about urban wildlife! I was sure that no one would know what this strange creature was.

I had obviously under-estimated the "pros" of MNS. Quick came the replies - thats a bagworm moth larva, dear, go look it up! And so I did. It turns out that larvae of this moth family build their cases out of any old debris they find around - twigs, soil, leaves - as soon as they hatch. The binding is a kind of silk they secrete.

Now, as it grows, it carries this case and moves along, and the caterpillar pokes it heads out to feed on the leaves of the host plant, like any hungry caterpillar. When it is fully grown, it anchors the case to a branch and seals the opening. It then develops into a moth. If its a male, its lucky, it grows wings supposedly and then flies off to find a mate.

But if you are born a female bagworm moth, then life cannot be much fun - you are stuck in that case, you lay your eggs in it and then you die!

If that was not interesting enough, my next visit to the PWD park revealed yet another mystery.

St Andrew's Cross

It had rained insistently for a couple of days, and so the park looked even greener. The undergrowth was wet, the little meadow flowers were buzzing with bees, and as the sun was up already, the butterflies were going crazy chasing each other.

My visit was supposedly to take a look at all the saplings and report back on their state. So I dutifully, stuck my head into every tree guard, to make sure the sapling was alive and well.

And I was rewarded with this!

I stopped short and stared. I have never seen such a large and complete web in my life. I swear, it was atleast 2ft by 2ft.

Hmmm, but it seemed to have only four legs, and as far as I knew all self-respecting spiders have eight.

Oh look, its actually taken some of the binding tape and woven it into its web! ( or so I thought.)
I came home, and my first spider image hit was this. And I had identified my spider!

Not four legs, but eight, held together in an "x" cross. And so the reference to St Andrew who was crucified on a cross like this and not the standard crucifying cross.

Here's some more interesting stuff about Argiope:

Besides their standard orb-web, Argiope spiders build additional white opaque zig zag lines on their webs, called stabilimentum.

Sometimes the zig-zag lines match their leg positions, which lead some people to suggest that this helps give the appearance of longer legs. Some spiders build a single vertical line, yet others a patch of zig zags in the centre of the web. No matter the design, the spider sits right smack in the middle. We do not know the purpose of these lines, but some of the explanations put forward include:
They stabilise the web (hence their name!)
They warn larger animals in the same way that safety strips on glass doors warn people from walking into them. Thus the web is protected from damage by flying birds.
Research has shown that the silk in the stabilimentum reflects ultraviolet well, unlike the silk used in the rest of the web. Thus, the designs may mimic flowers, which also reflect ultraviolet light well, and often have lines to guide insects to honey like airport lights do for airplanes. Instead, the insects are guided to the spider which sits in the centre!!

Source: The Mangrove and Wildlife at Sungei Buloh Wetlands Reserve.

And I had thought that stabilimentum was the twining tape!! According to this website, Argiope mangal puts out two stabilimentum, and Argiope versicolor puts out four. This one has three!

I also discovered that there is a site on South Indian Spiders.

And guess what. I could not find this chappie there. (Actually, its a lady - only lady spiders build webs...So what do the male ones do for food? I need to find out.)

I cannot find any India mentions of this spider. So, is my id wrong then? or is this some stray imported spider which shouldn't be here?

Somebody help!

The Madras Club cupola above the grand trees, on the opposite bank of the estuary.

Look under those leaves and rocks, folks, you never know what you will find!

Kanha Memories- Birds, a bear and a scorpion

Picture by ArunPeacocks everywhere!  Going from Madras, these spectacular birds really took my breath away.... for the first three days.

Then, we had seen so many of them, that we all became rather blase,"Oh just a peacock", and they would be dismissed!  Imagine that!

With the occasional rain, Arun was fortunate to even capture one of them dancing and in full show.
Arun's picture
Picture from Chitra




From Arun


Here, one strolled across the road, bringing traffic to a halt!

And Chitra clicked this beautiful picture of the peacock perched on a tree.  It was my first experience with flying peacocks as well.  Yes, they do fly and quite well.  It would make for a spectacular sight, when one would suddenly swoosh up to a tree top.

One sunny morning we found this peacock skulking by the side of the road, with the sun bringing out all the colours of its feathers, even when they were not in display mode.... mmm... would be a lovely colour for a saree, isn't it?  Now I know what the Nalli salesman means by peacock blue!

A changeable hawk eagle - picture from Arun - seen on our first outing, in the canter

A jungle owlet, which resided in a tree, just inside the gate.  We would take a peek at it every day while leaving the park.  This picture is once again from Arun.

Many more than this - plaintive cocukoo, alexandrine parakeets, scimitar babblers, a shama, black-headed oriole, an emerald dove, honey buzzards, vultures and an adjutant stork as well.

An account of our Kanha week will be incomplete without recounting the incident of Arun being locked into the dorm.  The culprit was my husband, who finding the room empty, (Arun had gone to the loo at the back, but which could be exited only via the room), locked it, pocketed the key and we all set off in our jeep, blissfully unaware of the locked Arun.

That was the day we were going off to Bahminidadar, and so went off, and then re-united with the other jeeps up on the plateau.  Chitra came hurrying up to us, and whisperingly (is there such a word?!) enquired whether we were the ones with the key to the dorm.  Very innocently, we said yes.  

It transpired that once we left, the jeep in which Arun was to go waited patiently, but Arun never came.  So they went back to the dorm to hear frantic thumping and yelling, and there was one very angry MNS member.  All the rooms open into the back verandah which houses the bath and toilets, so Arun could come out via the other rooms.  But his camera was in the locked room, and anyone who knows Arun also knows that he wont leave without it!   The netting on a window was ripped and he clambered in and out with his camera.

As a result of all this delay, Arun and his jeep mates saw this sloth bear.  None of us did!  I think that appeased him, and our "thousand apologies" was accepted in good humour!

The last night of our stay, it began to pour once again.  It was post-dinner, and all of us had gathered into our small little groups to look at pictures, gup-shup and generally while away the time.  A group of the men stood in a corner, tasting something from an unidentifiable bottle.  Their conversation got louder and louder, and then suddenly there was a shout!

Vijay came rushing in and said come look there's a scorpion.  So we all hurried to the back verandah and sure enough there was this black, shiny scorpion on the tiled floor, not getting a good hold and so scuttling along near the wall.  Being MNS members, there had to be a prolonged discussion as to what was to be done with it.  No, we cant kill it, lets just push it into the outdoors, no it will return, you know it is very dangerous, but we cant just kill it.... and so it went on and on, until one of the men (I forget who) went and brought the local attendant.  That boy/man just freaked.  I have never seen a look of such terror on anyone's face I tell you.  He rushed out, came back armed with implements to chase it out, and took it out of our sight, where we were quite sure he killed it, though he did not say so.

All my romance with the forest quickly dried up, as the dangers of the jungle were driven home. I can cope with trying to cross a busy junction in T Nagar, board a bus at Central Station or take precautions against chain-sntaching.  I am a city dweller, I have these skills, but what would I do when faced with a scorpion?  I just shrieked and climbed on to the bed!!

And so ended a wonderful week and it was time to go home.  Not before Dhruva went missing one night, and was hunted down in the Bagheera log huts chatting with the cook and not before the food bag was emptied.  

Rannu came back to take us back to Nagpur, and was greeted by one and all like a long lost friend.  But of course we had to have some flat tires along the way, which led to frayed tempers and loud words, through all of which are man from Seoni kept his cool, bought us breakfast at the neighbourhood eatery in Seoni and got us to the station well in time!