Mimicry of Leaf

Mimicry of Leaf
树叶的模仿技巧

In our young days, we used to go into the wild bushes and among the green leaves in search of a champion fighter spider after school as our pastime hobby. Quite often, we would encounter abnormal looking leaves such as those in the photos. Instinctively, we would avoid touching or getting close to the leaves for fear of being stung by the “bugs” on the leaves.

Today, botanists have found that some plants mimic the presence of insect eggs, beetles or other bugs on their leaves, dissuading insect species from laying their eggs or landing there. This is because insects are less likely to lay their eggs on plants that already have eggs, or forage a leaf seeing other bugs are already there.


Photos 1 to 4 of one species of plant mimics hairy bugs of red and yellow colors and it even mimics rotting “scars” on the leaf.

Photos 5 to 8 of another species of plant mimics a type of insect eggs or a type of beetles that even
include details of legs of the beetles.

This is obviously a good defensive or protective strategy to avoid harmful encounters by deceiving enemies by dissuading them to somewhere else. Those enemies include fighter spider hunting school boys like us.


(Photos taken June 2016, Sg Sedim, Kedah)

Air Hitam Dalam - Putat Nasi

Air Hitam Dalam - Putat Nasi

玉蕊

Barringtonia conoidea Griff.

 

Air Hitam Dalam is a low lying marshy area that is crisscrossed by concrete elevated boardwalks, making it much safer and convenient for visitors and birders alike to explore.  Walking from the inside carpark, the boardwalk passes through an area of tall fig trees and emerges from the shady canopies into a bright open area of well-maintained “pusat nasi” shrubs.

The shrubs are often cut and kept at about the height of a human, and are therefore always seen sprouting with young shoots.  A farmer is often seen harvesting the abundant “putat nasi” shoots, which are edible as “ulam”, a tasty and appetizing salad usually eaten with sambal belacan.  It is one of my favorites whenever I eat in Malay stalls.

(June 2016, Air Hitam Dalam)

Malaysian Wild Fruits

Malaysian Wild Fruits

野果

These delicious looking wild fruits immediately caught my eyes when we walked along a jungle trek at Sungai Sedim. Each pink fruit has the size of about a 20 sen coin, they looked very much like a bunch of real grapes.  An inexperienced jungle trekker who is thirsty and hungry may be tempted to eat them and will very likely get intoxicated.

(June 2016, Sg Sedim, Kedah)