Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Meanies and Crawlies on my Calamansi

Potted Calamansi plants (Citrofortunella microcarpa, limau kasturi in the Malay language) are ubiquitous during the celebration of the Chinese Spring Festival. I have several pots left from previous years. My calamansi plants have a magnetic appeal for all sorts of critters.
The caterpillar of the Lime butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus) crawled all over the plant in search of the juiciest leaves to feed on. It masticated voraciously as evidenced by the jagged edges of gnawed leaves and its droppings. It even had the audacity to chill out on my prime fruits besides casually depositing its droppings. The outcome of which is a very suggestive pose. Honest, I didn't staged this scene. Actually this particular scene started me on the thread of this post.

This newly emerged Lime butterfly, settled on a leaf of the hedge (Baphia nitida) to dry out and warm up. 

Here under the bright morning sunshine it flapped its wings up and down with slow incisive motions. I can almost feel it purring with pleasure.

While strutting its stuff, its underside was displayed in all its 'batik' glory.


A Green Shield Bug with mean beady eyes laid seige on its territorial turf; leaves that had yellowed and had seen better days.
 
However it then turned around to shrewdly contemplate its next course of action ...


 on moving to greener pastures.


 Somewhere else on the shrub, a tiny ladybug quietly tried to navigate its way between the leaves.

 
 
This Pied Shieldbug (Sehirus bicolor) is the new kid on the block, but had snugly ensconsed itself in lush lime foliage.

It also wanted to stake its claim on a piece of prime property and had chosen this promising green citrus, hugging it covetously.


On the other hand, ants do not partake of foliage or fruits, instead they have their hands full gathering nectar and pollen from the Calamansi flowers. 

The larvae of some citrus Leafminers left evidence of their nefarious activities on the undersurfaces of some lime leaves.


This plant is a legacy from last Chinese New Year's purchase of ornamental plants. My Calamansi plants have served me well. I harvest the fruits almost daily to zest up my juices, cocktails and sambal belacan. It is most flavourful as its fragrance and aroma is unique unlike Citrus aurantifolia (Limau nipis in Malay) which is just plain sour.


A platter of oranges, calamansi and bananas ready to be blended. As many creepy crawlies have a run all over the plant and fruits, I scrub the fruits thoroughly with soap before using.


The fruit platter makes five glasses of refreshing fruit juices and is loaded with oodles of vitamin C. As I sipped the juices, I can feel its goodness coursing through me :)



34 comments:

  1. Your plants are obviously very healthy despite the bugs, who up close are all quite beautiful. Maybe they actually help your plants.

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    1. The calamansi are hardy plants so they can afford to be charitable to these critters. However, I'm quite freaked off with the caterpillar chilling out on the fruits. It seems a bit yucky to use them in my drinks. I do not like the idea of having some caterpillar scales and powder been sprinkled on to my drinks.

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  2. semua shield bugs tu 1st time tengok... thanks for sharing. dah lama curious about calamansi ni... macam mana that height and size sudah berbuah.. teringin juga tanam calamansi dalam pasu but no idea macam mana ... no doubt saya boleh beli dinurseri tapi nak experience juga tanam pokok macam tu..kena selalu trim ke?

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    1. Itu shield bug, memang hodoh, tapi juga ada keistimewaan nya. Dengan close-up, ia nampak comel sikit.

      Best time untuk beli limau kasturi ialah pada musim Tahun Baru Cina - dijaul di merata tempat spt nursery, Tesco dan Aeon. Baik untuk hiasan dan kemudian untuk dimakan. First crop, jangan makan kerana takut ada disembur dengan bahan kimia untuk berbuah etc. Ia berbuah dengan senang shj - tidak berhenti. Saya cuma masuk organic pellets (kambing, ayam) setiap 2 minggu. Bila jadi straggly, trim hujungnya untuk menggalakkan tumbuhan baru.

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  3. Can you even write about maggots beautiful post these pictures ... I am so thirsty for the spring, even worms OK. A final picture is delight the palate.

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    1. I can feel your intense need for spring :) I supposed we have to take the fauna and the flora as a spring package - there's no trade off. Not all fauna are destructive as they could be symbiotic too.

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  4. Mmmmmm........le jus de fruits!! :0)

    Quelles jolies fotos des isectes sur les fruits ! SUPER FOTOS!!

    Bonne semaine!!

    xxx Maria xxx

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    1. Juice is for the mouth and pretty butterfly is for the eyes :)
      Thanks for the kind words.
      Have a good weekend too!

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  5. Soooooooooo beautiful, Stiletto! I love those butterflies. Have a nice Wednesday!

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    1. Wow, you overwhelmed me with your superlative so's. Thank you verrrrrrrrrry much:D
      Have a good week.

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  6. hahaha, yes i love the drama in your citrus plant, and you chose the most brilliant words to effect that. By the way that larva looks thin and almost dead slumped on the fruits in a most unusual way. Lastly, citrus fruits do not contain much Vit C, guava has a lot more. Citrus contains mostly citric acid.

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    1. Thanks for the compliments.

      Actually I found it there when I did some pruning on the plant. I was wondering what on earth it was doing lying in between two fruits. Anyway it is not dead, it move away later. Did you notice the droppings on the leaf below. I think it pigged out on the leaves and is having a post-prandial nap.

      I'm aware that guava has more Vit C but it is not as juicy. Btw what is the source of your information on citrus fruits?

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    2. haha, i love the way you described what happened with the larva, love the terms 'pigged out' and 'post-prandial nap'. I am a postharvest physiologist and measuring the total soluble solids and acidity in the laboratory has been a routine task for us when i was still doing research. So i can even give you the molecular structure of Vit C and other characteristics, am i bragging already? I just want you to smile!

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    3. Very impressed with your credentials, not about to challenge that as I'm dealing with a bona fide scientist.

      What I actually meant was what research reveals the low content of Vit C in citrus. Usually in scientific papers whenever such a statement is made, the reference is added in the footnote. I thought I want to check it out - evidence-based :)

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  7. I would love to be able to grow a Calamansi plant in the garden. I would love even more to have swallowtail butterflies! We are still having frosts at night here, so no butterflies expected for another month or so. Great pictures of the garden, bugs and fruit. Thank you for sharing them.

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    1. If lemons can be grown over there, why not calamansi? Thanks for appreciating and the kind words.

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  8. Z radością ogladałam Twoje owoce, pieknego motyla i różne owady, tym bardziej, ze u nas przyroda jeszcze śpi. Pozdrawiam.
    The joy of watching your fruit, beautiful butterflies and various insects, especially because in our nature is still asleep. Yours.

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    1. Hi Giga, I enjoy your photos of sunny Spain too. Your spring will come soon enough. Have good cheer!

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  9. Hi stiletto..sorry for coming late..almost miss this great photo shoots...wow u managed to capture the nicely..cleary and full of colors..good job fren..anyway..the calamansi that we have here in is a very big tree..nak ambik pun kena guna galah..nice to have the small one like this..

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    1. Thanks Ummu. In my other house in my hometown, the calamansi tree used to be very tall. I have to use a chair to reach the higher branches, so I cut it down to a more manageable height.

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  10. what a great post! so much fruit you have I had a calamandon tree and have made jelly before...boy is it a sour fruit!! Your shied bugs are awesome!

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    1. If we buy the plant during the Chinese New year period, it would be heavily laden with fruits. That was last season's plant. Yes, I do agree that the shield bugs are fascinating. They are beautiful yet ugly too.

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  11. Wow on those bugs and even bigger wow on your fruit! You harvest all of that fruit? How wonderful.

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    1. Yes, the plant is so useful to have around. Makes a great drink and zest up our dishes. The bugs must have loved it as much as us.

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  12. So interesting to see all the critters that make their way to your lime plant. The butterfly is lovely.

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    1. The lime plant is a favourite stomping ground for these critters and it has its own dedicated 'lime butterfly'.

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  13. Wow, what a lovely collection of citrus! I have not seen both species of bugs, maybe I did not notice them before! Beautiful photos! And delicious refreshing citrus drink!

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    1. Haha, you were probably too busy cooking. Btw I enjoy checking out your recipes. Instructions are easy to follow and the dishes turn out okay.

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  14. yummy fruits and cool insects

    Have a great day!

    xoxo, Juliana | PJ’ Happies :) | PJ’ Ecoproject

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    1. No pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals for maximum eco-friendliness - to enable these critters to enjoy the plant and others in the garden. Your videos on carbon emissions are educational. Have a great day too!

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  15. Seeing the photos of caterpillar and then beautiful butterfly, I think I should have warmer feeling toward caterpillars and see butterflies beyond them. I enjoyed all the lovely critters who like your calamansi plants butI like the fruits and fresh juice the best.

    Yoko

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    1. If we imagine the beautiful butterflies they would turn out to be, then we might not be so put off by the caterpillars. The juices are not only delicious but are great thirst quenchers too.

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  16. Hello Stiletto,

    At first thanks for visisting my blog! Your pictures are stunning!
    Especially the shieldbugs and ladybug! I like insects!
    I will make time to look at your other posts

    Greetings from Holland,
    Willy

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    1. Hi Willy, thanks. I've seen your latest posts and your photos are stunning. I'm checking up some ID from your posts to verify some of the insects that I've ssen in my garden. They look similiar but somehow different. Just like humans, there seems to be regional variations.

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