Rups..

as the dutch say. We´ve finally got Morpho offspring on the Wisteria and the Parides iphidamas are pupating.

Whenever I´m a lazy git...

...I try to remember this :) .

Actually really like my work right now feels like I´m getting the best of two worlds.
I guess it will / cannot last because planningwise it would be "a little bit" complicated,  but I´ll enjoy it how long it lasts and look very much forward to new stuff anyway :).

Leszek i pustułek

Leszek & pustułek  (Proszę wybaczyć mój słaby polski :) ! )
Leszek & Turmfalkenweibchen
Leszek & female kestrel
Leszek &  vrouwelijke torenvalk
Leszek &  falco tinnunculus (0,1)

Don´t know why everybody who has not studied biology seems to hate the "latin" species names, it´s so much easier and precise to use them.

Leszek*  caught a female kestrel today in one of the greenhouses and was kind enough to show it to me before he released it.
After some newts, a lizard (still unsure about the species...it came with the potsoil), a rhinozeros beetle, various songbirds, toads and frogs galore this was an interesting & unexpected new addition to the collection at my workplace.

* a colleague of mine, together we´ve been through thick and thin in the last years (and no, this is no english for runaways, apparently that´s a real english expression)

one very hungry caterpillar...

I´ve never really been into botany, I get interested in  plants mostly/only when they can be eaten by animals and in my mind I classify everything as browse and non browse.
The first time I really learned about native "weeds" was when I kept two guinea pigs who lived exquisitely on herbs I collected for them.
So now, when visiting botanical gardens I tend to look for butterfly host plants mainly, trying to pinch some shoots of passiflora, aristolochia or cestrum.

A colleague of mine recently found an Aristolochia for sale in a garden centre and I planted it in our greenhouse in Papenburg. Some pipvine swallowtails laid there eggs on it and last time I visited there where a couple of goodlooking caterpillars munching away. as the plant ist too small for them yet I took them home and atred to search for a dutchmens pipe vine - without success. Until another colleague discovered one in our outside show-garden.
It´s so cool to have colleagues like that ! :)

Gave some leaves to the caterpillars and they started eating right away.
So, that´s the perfect way for a zoologist to identify a plant species: just find a host specific caterpillar and see if it eats it :).
It´s a Parides iphidamas by the way.

special guests...

... Argema mimosae and Morpho achilles.

When  visiting the town I where I studied recently - well it´s zoo and it´s botanical garden to get some Aristolochis shoots - I realized there´s only one, single thing I really miss now,  living in the countryside: a large library, preferably one from a University with a biology department..
Or any library at all, come to that.

sometimes little things...

...make you very happy.
Feeling grateful.

surprise, surprise... more flutterby photos from papenburg

Anteos clorinde on Canna

Caligo caterpillar, hopefully looking for a place to pupate

Littel monster  - caligo caterpillar

Caligo egg

Caligo eurilochus

Heraclides anchisades eggs on Citus

heliconiuus couple mating (the upper one is flying)

Heraclides thoas

Idea leuconoe on Lemon

Heliconius melpomene

Morpho egg. Unfortunately unsuccessfully laid on Spatiphyllum, They don´t seem to like the two wisterias I planted for them. Growing Arachis (Peanut plants) now, in the hope that that´ll work better.

Pupa cingulatum

Siproeta stelenes taking a break on the bridge