W.J.O.S. NEWS January 2018 Wanneroo/Joondalup Orchid Society Website: http://members.iinet.net.au/~emntee/wos_news.htm All Correspondence to The Secretary P.O. Box 236, Kingsway, WA 6065. 9448 5840 Patron: Mrs Fay Deverell PRESIDENT Tony Watkinson Phone; 9342 3799 email: waos@iinet.net.au SECRETARY Clifton; Phone; 0428 268 600 email: secretarywjos@gmail.com TREASURER Charly Hartman Phone; 9206 4589 email: chart1c@iinet.net.au REGISTRAR Chris Cabassi Phone; 9246 3189 email: scotit@iinet.net.au EDITOR Tony Watkinson Phone; 9342 3799 email: waos@iinet.net.au Next Meeting Will be held, Thursday January 18th 7.30pm, at the St. Lukes School at Woodvale, corner of Whitfords Ave and Duffy Terrace, Woodvale. Visitors and New Members always welcome TOPIC OF THE EVENING: Ken Jones on Species Orchids
Your committee recommends Helloworld Balcatta for all your holiday travels. Just ask for Rod or Lyn and tell them that the Wanneroo/Joondalup Orchid Society sent you. Email: northlands@helloworld.com.au 201 Amelia Street Balcatta WA 6021 Western Australia Phone +61 (0)8 9345 2033 Fax +61 (0)8 9345 2012 www.helloworld.com.au Ezi-Gro Orchids 76 Evandale Rd, Darch, Western Australia, 6065 Ezi-Gro Orchids are now Closed on Sundays Unit 1/45 Stockdale Rd, O'Connor WA 6163
WANNEROO/JOONDALUP ORCHID SOCIETY CALENDAR 2017-2018 Please note that the time for set-up of displays between 8 & 9 am on the Thursday morning of the display. Plants can still be brought in after that time if it is more convenient. Feb 4th - Xmas in February, @ Bruce & Kaye s Feb 24-25, Garden Clubs & Soc Fair, Sth Perth Community Centre May 5-6 - NDOS Show Kalamunda May 12-13th 2018 Ocean Keys Shopping Centre Display July 18-22 AOC Conf NSW August 4-5 Inter Soc OD&W/S Morley Sport and Recreation Centre, Wellington Street, Morley September 15-16 Combined orchid show To be advised. October. 7 - WJOS Workshop. To be advised. Floral Arrangement For January - A New Years Orchid For February - Mid Summer Madness Handy bugs for your garden. See Ladybirds on page 4 & Playing Mantis on page 9. Meeting Start time Please take note!! The meetings of the Wanneroo/Joondalup Orchid Society now take place at St Luke s School at Woodvale, Whitfords Ave and Duffy Terrace, with the entrance to the parking area being on Duffy Tce Also... The meeting will start at 7.30 Please make sure that your orchids arrive by 7.15 so that they can be entered, placed on the trestles so the meeting can start without all the talking at the back of the hall and the judges can get on with their work. Please be considerate of others. Page 3
Is it a lady bug or a lady bird? The small, domed beetles of the family Coccinellidae (such as the one featured in the image right) are usually known as ladybugs or lady beetles in North America, and ladybirds in Britain and elsewhere. But that's not the only name they've been given over the years. The name "ladybird" originated in Britain where the insects became known as "Our Lady's bird" or the Lady beetle. Mary (Our Lady) was often depicted wearing a red cloak in early paintings, and the spots of the seven-spot ladybird (the most common in Europe) were said to symbolise her seven joys and seven sorrows. Ladybirds are generally considered useful insects and one of the greatest allies of the farmer and the gardener as many species feed on aphids or scale insects, which are pests in gardens, agricultural fields, orchards, and similar places.... When they hatch, the ladybird larvae immediately begin to feed. They are nature s own pest controllers and are more effective than poisonous chemicals. Their bright colour and pattern not only make them attractive visitors to the garden, but also help to protect them by warning potential predators of their distastefulness. They exude an unpleasant yellow substance (reflex blood) from their leg joints when attacked which is rich in toxic alkaloids. Their colouring is likely a reminder to any animals that have tried to eat their kind before: I taste awful. A threatened ladybird may both play dead and secrete the unappetizing substance to protect itself. Ladybirds lay hundreds of eggs in the colonies of aphids and other planteating pests. When they hatch, the ladybird larvae immediately begin to feed. By the end of its three-to-six-week life, the larvae may eat some 5,000 aphids. They are commonly yellow, orange, or scarlet with small black spots on their wing covers, with black legs, head and antennae. However, a very large number are mostly, or entirely, black, grey, or brown. Conversely, there are many small beetles that are easily mistaken for ladybirds, such as the tortoise beetles. Not all ladybirds have spots some are striped. Ladybirds have been introduced to other areas of the world for the purpose of pest control e.g. in California at the turn of the century when a ladybird of the species Rhodalia cardinalis, imported from Australia, saved the citrus industry from the cottony cushion scale bug. Page 4
Ladybirds are called Ladybugs in the US. In Europe they are alse referred to as lady beetles. They have many regional names in the UK, may-bug, golden-knop, golden-bugs and variations on Bishop-Barnaby (Norfolk dialect) Barnabee, Burnabee, the Bishop-that-burneth, and bishy bishy barnabee. A common myth is that the number of spots on the insect s back indicates its age. Throughout the world superstitions assert that it is unlucky to kill a ladybird and they are associated with good fortune. Coccinellidae is the biggest family of superfamily Cucujoidea with about 6000 species classified in 370 genera worldwide. There are 57 genera and about 500 species in Australia with about half of them yet undescribed. Ladybird beetles are holometabolous insects, undergoing a complete metamorphosis with four discrete life stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult beetle. Of these stages, only the adult beetle is very mobile. This stage is capable of covering vast distances, using wings for flight to find new food sources or mating partners. The adult is also the stage that has a prolonged duration counted in months; the others last only few or more days. Larvae and adult are the stages that actively search and feed on various insects and other invertebrates, plant tissue or fungal hyphae and conidia. The majority of predatory species of ladybirds prey upon a taxonomically narrow group of insects or mites, supplementing their diet with pollen, sap, nectar or honeydew. Apart from a wide range of Hemiptera, the prey may be beetle larvae, including other coccinellids. The modern history of biological control dates from the spectacular control of the cottony cushion scale by the introduced vedalia ladybird beetle in citrus plantations in California in 1888. Yet the value of ladybirds in destroying aphids in English gardens was well noted at the beginning of 19th Century. Introduced species of ladybirds Chilocorus circumdatus Gyllenhal provided control of the scale within two years of establishment. Obrycki and Kring (1998) reviewed a role of coccinellids in biological control and concluded that they will continue to play important role in naturally occurring and human assisted biological control, and they will be considered as possible natural enemies for importation whenever a homopteran pest invades a new region. They concluded the use of insecticides being the single most detrimental factor to the survival of coccinellids in agroecosystems and advocated use of conservation techniques to enhance the effectiveness of naturally occurring and released coccinellids. Page 5
WJOS News January 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Sp Meet 10 11 12 13 Page 6 14 Paph Group 15 16 SEOS 17 18 WJOS Meet 19 20 21 22 NDOS 23 24 25 Sp COM 26 OSWA 27 28 29 30 31
WJOS February 2018 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 3 4 Xmas in Feb @ Bruce & Kaye s 5 6 7 WJOS Com 8 9 10 Page 7 11 12 13 Sp Meet 14 15 WJOS Meeting 16 17 18 19 20 SEOS 21 22 Sp COM 23 OSWA 24 Garden Clubs Fair With NDOS 25 Garden Clubs Fair With NDOS 26 NDOS 27 28
Combined Shows Due to some of the difficulties involved in presenting orchid shows, your committee has been in talks with other clubs with the aim of combining our assets and abilities to try to find a better way of doing things. I am sure many of you will agree that our recent shows over the last few years, have indeed left something to be desired. This year we did two shows at Northlands Shopping Centre, which we have to vacate by 9pm, and means getting the judging done and the display set up under great pressure. The centre is also rather small and they do not pay us anything. As it is in a shopping centre, we cannot charge entry fees. Other clubs are suffering the same kind of problems with falling attendances at shows held in halls. South Eastern Orchid Society recently produced a successful show both financially and as an event, by hiring a large hall and inviting other clubs, (not necessarily orchid orientated) to join with them. This could well be the way of the future. A recent meeting was held which included ANOS, Cym Club, WJOS, NDOS, Paph Group and the Sp Orch Soc, with the aim of attempting to put together some ideas along these lines. Watch this space. Results of the WJOS Meeting December 2017 George Webber Trophy & Open; Catasetum Unknown owned by Ray Popular Vote Novice; Oncidium Catatante Floral Art: Gillian Page 8
Praying mantises are predatory insects that use their powerful raptorial (prey catching) front legs to snatch and hold other small animals. While the smaller species predominantly feed on insects and other invertebrates, the very large species will sometimes capture small vertebrates such as frogs and lizards. The name praying originates from the pose they hold their front legs in as if they were praying. This name is sometimes confused with the fact that they capture prey and are erroneously referred to as preying mantises. Some mantises belonging to the family Mantidae are referred to as mantids; many of Australia s species belong to this group and hence can be referred to as either praying mantids or praying mantises. Another major feature of this group of insects is their large prominent compound eyes. Having large eyes set well apart is important for praying mantises as it enables them to accurately judge distance in order to effectively strike their prey. A noticeable dot is present in each eye which is known as the pseudo pupil not a real pupil like ours. Through optical illusion it appears that the mantis is always looking at you, which may be a useful deterrent to some of the mantises own predators. Praying mantises also have three simple eyes on the top of their head called ocelli. These aren t important in prey capture, but may allow the mantis to detect they time of day by the presence of various wavelengths of light. Praying mantises are egg-laying insects and lay their eggs within a protective case called an ootheca. Each ootheca contains a number of eggs, up to 200 with some species. Mantis eggs can take anywhere from 40 days to around five months to hatch. The tiny hatchlings emerge as worm-like larvae and almost immediately moult their exoskeleton to become tiny functional mantis nymphs. These nymphs are tiny replicas of the adults, but lack wings. They are Page 9
predatory and within a day of hatching are looking for their first meal. They grow by shedding their exoskeleton many times, ultimately maturing into the adult form. Only adult mantises have wings, but not all species are able to fly. Generally the males are the best flyers, using that ability to locate females in order to mate. One often recounted fact about praying mantises is that the female will eat the male during or after mating. While this is true for many species, not all behave in this way. For the males that do get eaten, their nutrients are valuable to their partners to assist with the development of the eggs. Their partially dismembered bodies instinctively continue the mating process some males may mate for over 12 hours without heads. Keeping a praying mantis as a pet is fun and is not hard at all. But of course a praying mantis does need proper care to stay healthy and strong. It doesn t really matter if you have bought your own pet mantis, or if you found a mantis in nature, most of them need the same basic care. The following points will help you in keeping your praying mantis happy and healthy! To house your pet praying mantis, you need an enclosure filled with appropriate substrate and some surfaces or branches for climbing and hanging. Make sure the enclosure of your pet is suitable. This means that the cage, box or terrarium is at least 3x longer than the body length praying mantis and 2x wider than the body length of the praying mantis. This will ensure that the mantis has plenty of space to walk around in and to use when it will shed its skin (moult). The cage should also have proper ventilation. Place substrate on the bottom of the tank, terrarium or cage. Page 10
This substrate can be anything that will absorb water and that will not mold easily. For example: tissue paper, vermiculite, potting earth, shredded wood, pieces of bark or sand. The purpose of the substrate is to release water slowly, thus keeping the humidity in the tank a bit more constant. Fill the enclosure with branches or other objects where the mantis can sit on or hang from. You could use branches, twigs, reeds, stiff dry grass, fake plastic flowers or plastic decorative branches. Make sure the objects are safe for the mantis, e.g. without glue or insecticides, and that there is plenty of space left for the mantis to move around. Of course you have to feed your mantis. But unlike other pets such as cats and dogs, praying mantids do not need to eat every day. Feeding them every day can be bad for some mantis species! You have to feed your mantis every one to four days, depending on the species, the type of food you give it, the size of the mantis, the body condition of the mantis (well-fed or skinny) and its life-stage (adult females need more food than adult males). Mantises only eat live insects for food. This can be flies, crickets, moths, caterpillars, locusts and some other insects. They need food that is alive and moving, otherwise they will refuse to eat. Grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, fruit flies, almost all species of flies and true bugs. When feeding your mantis, make sure the mantis will actually eat the food you offer it. When you introduce live food to the enclosure of the mantis, this food can hide or escape. When this happens often the mantis will starve. To make sure your mantis will eat what you offer it, you can watch until he has caught the food. There is even an orchid mantis, so called because it is quite pretty. The orchid mantis is resplendent in white and pink. The upper parts of its legs are greatly flattened and are heart-shaped, looking uncannily like petals. On a leaf it would be highly conspicuous but when sitting on a flower, it is extremely hard to see. Ezi-Gro Orchids are now Closed on Sundays Page 11
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