It is strange how my favourite plants in the garden always seem to selfseed in the most inconvenient places - the only place that consistently has Hollyhocks is under the whirligig washing line and so is very inconvenient when hanging out clothes. However, having spent a short while studying the insects on the plants, I can't bring myself to pull them up so part of the drier will remain unused for a couple of months! Here some portraits and the ID sheet.
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On Saturday, we spent a couple of hours recording the birds, flowers, insects on the area of Paxton known as Dodder Fen as it supports a thriving colony of Greater Dodder - a parasitic plant that grows on nettles in wet places and is relatively rare. As you can see it, has a very large population of insects, particularly plant bugs and leaf hoppers.
The other native species is Common Dodder and its host is gorse and heather. Dodder's small seeds germinate in spring and a swollen, root-like organ emerges from the seed case and seeks out a suitable host. Once a host is found, Dodder attaches to it with a sucker and forms a haustorium (a structure that penetrates the host’s tissue and draws in nutrients). One amazing fact about dodder is its ability to “sniff out” its victims - dodder seedlings can detect volatile organic compounds emitted by nearby hosts. These allow it to choose the most nutritious hosts, maximizing its chances of survival.
