Green & Keen Gardens

27/03/2023

🌱

06/02/2023

04/06/2022

I never knew this

17/05/2022

Researchers have developed a “living concrete” that grows moss, lichens and fungi that could turn city buildings into giant air purifiers Spanish researchers have developed a porous, acidic concrete that acts almost like soil for moss, lichen, fungi and other drought-tolerant vegetation. They ar...

06/04/2022

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Professor theorises electrical impulses sent by mycological organisms could be similar to human language

08/03/2022

Fun fact: If deer are nibbling the leaves of the Holly Ilex aquifolium, the plant switches genes to make the leaves spiky when they regrow!

20/11/2021

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20/11/2021

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09/10/2021

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Curl grubs of the brown rhinoceros beetle, Xylotrupes gideon. I put two of these beetle larvae with some semi-decomposed compost and left them to feed on it.

After a fortnight they had eaten it all, in the process excreting a mass of pellets, illustrating how they can help make compost in a heap. These larvae do the same thing with horse manure.

It takes the larvae two years to mature and they live as adults for around 90 - 100 days.

On the up side, brown rhinoceros beetle larvae can help digest organic matter and provide a good feed for birds and parasitoid wasps.

On the down side, it is considered a serious pest of coconut and also a minor pest of plum, okra, oil palm, sugarcane, rubber, banana, bamboo, poinciana, cocoa, litchi, potato, apple and pear.

In Vietnam, larvae that have fed on coconut palms are said to become infused with the flavour of coconut and they are eaten raw or grilled and served with fish sauce.

Xylotrupes gideon.

See:

https://bie.ala.org.au/species/ALA_Xylotrupes_gideon