Leijpark013

@leijpark013 · 20 Jan 2022

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Leijpark 013 Pajamas Bug

#leijpark013 #pajamawants

Leijpark 013
Published by Thierry P. Dinjens · 35 minutes ·
I think I need to explain to few people what a pushpin is. Nowadays, we are making our notes digital, but there was a time when we were still nailing paper on a bulletin board using punaises. There were the standard metal and white punaises, but later they came on the market in all colors of the rainbow.
What few people know is that the word “pushpin” is French and means want. Because the insect with that name is flat, like a pushpin. In the Leijpark, we find a relatively new species called “pushpin arlequin” by the French, literally the Harlequin Pushpin. We Dutch people think he doesn't wear a jester suit, but that his red-black striped bodice looks more like pajamas and we call her the Pajama Bug.
We have seen bugs passing by in the Leij Park before and often these insects secreted toxic substances, causing them to smell unpleasant. If not the Pajama Bug; it smells like sweet apples. Does this mean that it tastes pleasant? By no means. The colors black and red in combination with each other are a sign of toxicity in nature. Red is a signal color, so is bright yellow in combination with black. With an expensive word, we call the use of colors with the intention to deter predators “aposematism”. The brighter the color, the more toxic the animal. So a Pajama Bug is more toxic than a yellow ladybug and as poisonous as a red ladybug. If a predator is so stupid to bite for the bug, the smell of apples disappears and the stinking gland comes into effect; most bugs have a gland near the hind legs that spreads a smelly and corrosive substance when the insect is attacked. So that was once and never again.
The Pajama Bug is a so-called exotic. It was first observed in our country in 1996, but it is originally from Italy. However, it is getting warmer all over the world and so species are increasingly north. These bugs are flower eaters. With their snouts, they suck the flowers of whistle herb and wild peonies.
The animals are waterfast! As soon as you try to get closer, they shoot to the bottom of the nearest blade. Only when they mate, with their butts against each other, they become slower and fleeing also becomes more difficult; in the event of danger, one flees to the left and the other to the right, which obviously causes a standstill since they are stuck together. Pajama wants continue to eat during long-term mating. Afterwards, the female deposits a packet of yellow eggs at the underside of the leaf and then the life's work is completed.
The Pyjamas Bug can be seen mainly in the South of the Netherlands, but in a few years the animal will probably have conquered all of our country. And who knows what's coming this way, now that global warming seems unstoppable. We're going to see it, in our previously cold frog country and above all: in the Leijpark.