Poses from a Hawkmoth

 I am Pergesa acteus, a hawkmoth feeding on Alocasia, Caladium, Colocasia and Dieffenbachia. I am Filipino so those are my host plants here. I heared my cousins in other Asian countries eat some other plants. Now i am obliged by this entity to pose for her camera. She used a lot of tricks to make me assume different poses. But in reality she is depriving me some sleep as it is daytime and i am supposedly deep asleep by now. I hope with my cooperation, in a little while she will let me be!

In a few more days i will assume to be a pupa, a transition for me to be an adult moth to fly, eat, mate and produce more hawkmoths.

Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday

Costus speciosus, any taker?

I have long been fascinated with this plant. It has been growing for quite a long time already at the vicinity of the property, under the mango trees. Nobody is tending it, in fact it even received lots of unreasonable unattention and stressful beatings through time. These are maybe unintentional because it is growing at a sight that is used for dumping the cut plants from the garden and prunnings from nearby trees. The latest was dumping the full canopy of a big tamarind tree, when it was topped off to shorten it. So this plant is a "now-you-see-it, now-you-don't" entity! This time, it is a "Now-you-see-it" plant. And I am putting it at the limelight.

Despite the tortures it got through life, it still continue living, still continue with its purpose, still providing something for attention. I guess it succeeded because i now removed some debris covering some of its parts, cut the already long stems to grow new suckers, took lots of its pictures, and even posted its biography in this blogpost. Not a joke, but i am laughing at my thoughts just now!

 the open white bloom is a center of attention be it sideways

 ....or direct in front

moreso because of the color contrast with the deep red receptacle it emanates from

now look at the full green leaves supporting it to its pedestal

 Don't you think it is even more attractive?

 more spiral leaves, so it is also commonly called spiral ginger

 and the brightly red bracts supporting the white flowers, sideview

 bracts- top view

Costus speciosus (synonym Heliocostus speciosus), spiral ginger, crepe ginger. 

The internet has lots of entries lately for this plant because some believe it is what they call the insulin plant, which aids in helping those with diabetes. I am not in the position to say whether this really is the real insulin plant as there are also insulin plants here in the country with different color forms. Moreover, i also don't know if the claim by insulin plant enthusiasts for diabetes is really true. I did not search for the scientific literatures on this matter, not for me to do that. 

But traditional knowledge in many countries in Asia, Southeast Asia and many literatures provide  different medicinal purposes of this plant. It is not only grown as medicinal plants but also as an ornamental. 

I looked at some sites selling this plant online, and the prices are not cheap by our organic plant standards here in the country. If only i can sell this, i can give them a lot and at lower prices, LOLs!

Floral Friday Fotos

Nature Finds Again

I have the habit of composing my blog posts early morning Monday, fast and quick because i am just sneaking for sometime before i start my normal work. I first look at my latest pictures during that weekend and choose the nature or macro photos from there. I always have bias for either hoyas or butterflies, because they are the ones i have the addiction for. Today i am posting on Sunday night because i did not go home this weekend. The culprit is the very hot surroundings yesterday morning when i am about to go home to the province. The result is that i do not have fresh weekend photos, i did not see nor take any butterfly shots, and the hoyas are both untended and not photographed.

But never mind, i always have lots of photos from recent files. Hmmm i wish to find some shots for Nature Notes. When i am looking for butterflies my attention is always for them, but when only a few of them show up i have attention too for other entities including spiders. However, i seldom know their names.

 a common jumping spider, Salticidae species

A lichen spider guarding its egg sac, it is supposed to be outside with the lichens but probably gallivanting and was trapped inside the bathroom. So it just stayed there with its egg sac. It has been there for two weeks.  Pandercetes sp. (Sparassidae)

A spitting spider (Scytodea sp.) carrying an egg sac . I don't know if they get prey even while guarding their eggs. If only i have time to spare, i will watch them spitting on their prey.

 a colorful Opadometa species

This is a very common resident of my hoya flowers, a crab spider. Very seldom will a hoya umbel  be without it. They are hiding there to ambush bees and butterflies that visit the flowers.

 My first time to see this one, i think unique for a spider

 Nephila sp.

Neoscona theisi

The owner of this web is very small hiding at the back of the central  object, pretending they are big.

I still have lots of spider photos, but i can't seem to see most of them when there's the need. I am posting these to the Arachnophiles Group in FB to know their names. When ready i will put them here. Thanks much!

Nature Notes

Macro Monday 2
Our World Tuesday

October Blooms and More

October is a crucial month with us in the Philippines. It is still within the rainy season, but the rains seem to be already subsiding. The intense heat of the sun is early for the season. Even at 7 o'clock in the morning it is already hot, you can imagine how it is at noon! Yes what you are thinking is correct, the heat at noon is very unfriendly to both humans and plants. We were joking that we are already at the height of the dry season because of the intense heat. We are already waiting for the typhoon because it comes always with rains, decreasing the heat and refilling our dams for our water in Metro Manila and irrigation water for our major crops like irrigated rice. I hope the cloud formation yesterday is an indication that there will still be incoming rains.

Gardening at home in the province last Sunday morning is already difficult due to the intense sun. I did not go out for butterflies as it is so hot. I already have the wide hat, but still the heat penetrates the head. I did not wear long sleeves, so my arms and hands got darker! Oh how wonderful to be just in the office in an airconditioned room. I said that because i am now already in the office in the big city, very tired but have to work.

Now i am trying to compile some pictures of the blooms and colors i was able to take yesterday. I almost forgot again the date and GBBD.

 Most of our colors come from the ornamental foliage like the Coleus blumei. I have 3 varieties and they give wonderful colors to our front yard. Above is the most lively. Can you see the very small tin can at the bottom? That is just where mother planted it, but some stems rooted on the ground, giving the full and wide clump arising from just one plant.

 This above 2nd variety of Coleus blumei, mayana in our dialect, is a bit darker with more erect growth habit. It gives more subtle color but definitely gives contrast to otherwise all green surroundings.

 The 3rd Coleus blumei variety is totally mauve in color, very dark but lovely too. The contrast against green is very drastic. It is not as prolific as the 1st because the container is much smaller and its other stems did not touch the ground for more roots.

Bothe above and below are from the same plant, just that the top picture are growing on the top portion receiving more direct sunlight. Picture below receives lesser direct light.

 This is an ornamental pineapple, which has been growing for 2 yrs now but still not yet fruiting. But it is lovely with just the leaves, so it is more fun.

 An Aglaonema hybrid also growing luxuriantly at a slightly shaded area.

 Alocasia sp. 

 Thunbergia erecta, growing inside the hoya house

My post will not be complete if hoyas are not included. They are always there with us giving lots of blooms. Above is Hoya diversifolia i let to climb the lanzones tree. Flowering season started last month and now is the profusion of the blooms. I went to the roof to get a better perspective of them.

 This is the lowest portion of the vines of Hoya diversifolia, almost reaching the fence of the hoya house. Some vines reached the top of the canopy and the flowering vines are on the top left side, with their blue sky background.

close-up of the blooms

Hoya blashernaezii

 Hoya buotii purple

 Hoya bifunda ssp. integra

 Hoya nakarensis, a cute little hoya, but floriferous with lots of umbels now

 If you think only flowers are blooming in my area, think again. Even a mushroom looks like a flower. It is growing at the growing point area of a coconut. That pointed shoot is the shoot primordia of the young coconut seedling. I shared this with you as i am very fascinated with an unusual mushroom to unusually grow in a very unusual area! LOL

The lanzones tree being conquered by the hoya blooms will not allow itself not be recognized and given attention. Its fruits are now ripening and in  1 - 2 weeks they are ready for human consumption. Can you see some hoya umbels at the small branch at the center of the picture, on top! I guess they are cohabiting in an ecological term called "commensalism", or they are called "commensal symbionts". Hoya benefits from the lanzones, which is not affected or benefitting from it at all. 

I hope you enjoyed my colors this October. You cannot feel our intense heat, but at least you can join me in appreciating our garden colors. Thank you so much. 

GBBD

Nature Notes

Floral Friday Fotos

Young Lives Convergence

Nature Notes

In my regular morning walks on weekends purposely for documenting our local butterflies, i also see lots of many life forms. Most of them are new to me, i've only seen for the first time and i sometimes still have to do a great deal in identifying them or at least look for the groups of animals they belong. I normally post them in Facebook groups for proper identification. It is challenging if the find is really unusual that i still have to wait for days, and when i cannot anymore wait i also post them and ask my friends here in the blogpost.

The other weekend, i again documented a few plants, insects, spiders and others which i don't know what groups they belong with. I will be posting here first the larvae of insects, and more. Spiders need another future post.

 Both the above and the lower photos are of the same moth. The above is at the pre-pupation stage or last instar of the larva, while the lower picture is the pupa. I am amazed at the disappearance of the black color in the pupa. It is the PALE GREEN AWLET, Bibasis gomata.

Honestly, i have only seen its adult just once at home. This time i hope i will be able to photograph more of them. The Schefflera plant was fully defoliated leaving only half of the individual leaf  to house these pupae. Actually, there's a lot of them there. I took 2 pupae and brought them with me to the city. It has already been more than a week, but they have not eclosed yet.

 The above are larvae of the MOTTLED EMIGRANT, Catopsilia pomona pomona. They prefer to eat the leaves of akapulko, Cassia alata. However, a lot of them are also eating the golden shower, Casia fistula. The akapulko plant is still small and the leaves are fully defoliated also. At least i am already familiar with them as i already tried rearing it last year until eclosion.

 A single close-up of Mottled Emigrant. They normally are in company of red ants, which protect them in exchange for the food they get from them.

Above is a larva of the bark borer of lanzones. It is a very bad pest that limits lanzones production in the country. They eat the cambium layer of the tree, that cracks the bark which eventually dry. Lanzones fruits emerged from the bark, termed cauliflorous, so when the barks dried up flowers and fruits will not be possible. One distinguishing characteristics of this moth larva is to attach themselves to a string they create to hold on to, so eventualy when it is already safe again they will come up to the tree via that string. I still haven't seen also the adult of this moth. 

 Above is an egg of a yellow butterfly, Eurema blanda. This plant is a weed legume, that thrives well in our area. No wonder we have lots of those yellow butterflies.

 The above thing has been a puzzle to me. I touched it but it didn't budge. I don't even know if it is a living organism or a debris. I checked the close-up playback in my camera and i was intrigued by the design of those leaf-like skirt. It seems to be alive. I searched and asked the Philippine Lepidoptera group and someone confirmed my feeling that it is a house of a bagmoth! Again, it is my first time to see such structure.

Lastly, these are babies too, technically called nymps of grasshoppers. They also defoliated the okra plants, because i saw two groups or patches like this, one patch per hill of 3 okra plants each hill. I am sure when they get bigger they will defoliate a lot more leaves in the vicinity. I just don't know how long will they stay here before they disperse to seek for their own food.

Nature Notes