Selwyn Times: September 18, 2019
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SELWYN TIMES Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz<br />
Wednesday <strong>September</strong> <strong>18</strong> <strong>2019</strong> 15<br />
Home and back to reality<br />
WOW, DROPPING a<br />
casual 20-odd deg C in<br />
day-to-day temperature is<br />
unfriendly.<br />
Luckily for Vittoria, she’s<br />
barely seemed to notice<br />
the change from T-shirts<br />
and dresses to trackies and<br />
cardies.<br />
As you might have<br />
guessed from the weather<br />
whinge, we’re back from<br />
our Italian holiday and<br />
getting back into the<br />
normal routine.<br />
Before we jumped back<br />
into our delightful South<br />
Island freshness, we<br />
stopped in Brisbane to ease<br />
through the jetlag.<br />
Vittoria was again a<br />
complete professional<br />
on the flights, spending<br />
most of her time asleep in<br />
my arms. I had worried<br />
that, with us arriving into<br />
Australia at night, that<br />
would mean her rhythms<br />
would be stuffed.<br />
But again, she smashed<br />
it. Straight to sleep when<br />
we got to her aunty’s and<br />
back into a normal rhythm<br />
without trouble. I, on the<br />
other hand, became a big<br />
sudden-onset-nap fan for a<br />
few days.<br />
As a kind of final act<br />
of the holiday, we took<br />
Vittoria to the Lone Pine<br />
Koala Sanctuary. As well as<br />
touching a koala, she also<br />
surprised her mother and<br />
I by being brave enough<br />
to hand feed and pat a<br />
kangaroo.<br />
Her wee face would<br />
BACKYARD CRITTERS<br />
SCALE INSECTS are sapsucking<br />
bugs comprising<br />
of about 7500 worldwide<br />
and 400 species in New<br />
Zealand.<br />
Endemic species are not<br />
of economic importance<br />
apart from the sooty<br />
beech scales which are<br />
ecologically benefical<br />
as well as economically<br />
significant for their<br />
production of honeydew.<br />
Most introduced scales<br />
are pests in some form due<br />
to their sap-sucking nature<br />
or honeydew production<br />
which either attracts exotic<br />
vespula wasps or drips<br />
on to vegetation and is<br />
attacked by sotty mould,<br />
reducing photosynthesis in<br />
blackened leaves.<br />
One species found<br />
on our lemons or other<br />
species in our section is the<br />
brown soft scale Coccus<br />
break out in a huge smile<br />
as it nibbled the pellet<br />
food from her outstretched<br />
palm. She’d then reach<br />
back for more or lean in<br />
for a stroke of neck fur<br />
like she’d been raised from<br />
Steve Irwin himself.<br />
I can’t wait to see if her<br />
new confident attitude<br />
towards animals will<br />
translate to feeding the<br />
previously “terrifying” deer<br />
at Willowbank.<br />
This week may even be<br />
the perfect time to try, as<br />
Laura is back to work and<br />
it will be the first time it’s<br />
been just me and bubs<br />
for a long time, so furry<br />
distractions might be just<br />
the thing.<br />
I’m a little worried about<br />
VITTORIA<br />
& Matt<br />
CUDDLY: Vittoria hand-feeds a kangaroo at<br />
Brisbane’s Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.<br />
how she’s going to go<br />
with just dad about for<br />
most of the day after seeing<br />
how close she’s got with<br />
Laura while we’ve been<br />
away.<br />
Not that I’m saying that’s<br />
bad, that’s been beautiful<br />
to see. I’m just worried I<br />
alone might be a little lame<br />
for her until she is used to<br />
it again.<br />
Fingers crossed for<br />
fine weather and lots of<br />
entertaining outdoor<br />
distraction during the<br />
readjustment period.<br />
•Former Star Media<br />
journalist Matt Salmons<br />
has become a stay-athome<br />
dad. We follow<br />
his journey weekly<br />
Mike Bowie is an ecologist who specialises in entomology (insects<br />
and other invertebrates). Each week he introduces a new species<br />
found in his backyard at Lincoln. His column aims to raise public<br />
awareness of biodiversity, the variety of living things around us.<br />
Check out the full list of invertebrates found at http://naturewatch.<br />
org.nz/projects/backyard-biodiversity-bugs-in-lincoln<br />
Sap-sucking scale insects<br />
PESTS: Brown soft scales are often found on<br />
lemons.<br />
hesperidum. It arrived in<br />
New Zealand in <strong>18</strong>79 and<br />
has been recorded on 35<br />
exotic plants and 22 native<br />
plants here.<br />
THis species is<br />
of cosmopolitan<br />
distribution feeding on<br />
many hosts particularly<br />
citrus, greenhouse and<br />
ornamental plants.<br />
Adult females are oval,<br />
dome shaped, yellowbrown<br />
in colour and<br />
3-5mm long.<br />
Although they are<br />
known to have three to<br />
five generations per year,<br />
beneficial insects mostly<br />
keep them in check.<br />
Put our range of Compact Tractors<br />
and Ride-on Mowers to the test at our<br />
Rolleston Ride & Drive event.<br />
Date:<br />
Time:<br />
Venue:<br />
Contact:<br />
Saturday 5th October<br />
9am - 3pm<br />
Rolleston Branch, 799 Jones Road<br />
Gary - 027 226 5516<br />
or Greg - 027 250 0232
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