The catapillar that can stop time
One of the great values of forest bathing is to open your senses to nature and allow you to notice things that you have been walking past your whole life. Sometimes you find these hidden gems on your own and sometimes you learn about them from others. However you come across them, once you are aware of them, you seem to see them everywhere.
I had a great example of this last week. Tuning in to Autumn Watch on the BBC I learned about the incredible leaf-miner larvae and their superhero talent of stopping Autumn in it’s tracks. They have found a way of keeping small areas of leaves green when the rest of the leaf has died and gone brown. The result is that they maintain a food supply and they are a visually stunning reminder of the wonder of nature. Spending the following weekend walking in the Peak District, suddenly these magical leaves were everywhere. I have seen them before but never with the child like wonder and awe that I found in them that weekend and since.
Let’s just pause for a moment and consider what nature has done here.
Insects of various species lay larvae within the leaf’s delicate layers, hoping there will be enough shelter and food for their babies to grow to adulthood. As Autumn comes and the trees stop photosynthesising the leaves turn brown, fall and the larvae’s food supply runs out. Somewhere in their evolution these clever insects have found a way to stop Autumn. They found a way to trick the leaf, even after falling, to continue to photosynthesise to ensure the larvae will have enough food.
How they do this neat trick is incredibly complex and involves plant hormones called cytokinins. But the insects / larvae cannot directly produce these cytokinins, instead relying on bacteria called Wolbachia. Without this bacteria the larvae could not keep the leaf green and it’s survival chances would drop from 90% to just 15%.
If you go for a walk in October or November you are bound to see these flashes of green and yellow on brown leaves. Beech leaves are especially vibrant. Pick one up and marvel at this symbiotic relationship that the larvae and bacteria have struck up. They have found a way to stop time.
