Do you know your crustaceans from your cetaceans? Mannequins from palanquins? Or which Alaskan island gave its name to Ireland's most numerous tree?, aks Michael Viney
1 Some wine drinkers, like grey squirrels, relish a bitter substance found in acorns, oak barrels and dark red grape skins. What is it?
2 Which bird will defend and monopolise a holly tree full of berries?
3 Cochineal, the red food dye, is made
from: (a) Red Indian berries;
(b) Amazonian butterflies; (c) Mexican scale insects?
4 A South American leguminous seed, growing in pods underground, is fed
by the tonne to Irish winter wildlife - what
is it?
5 A big-eyed, deep-sea amphipod called Phronima, model for the sci-fi horror film, Alien, was washed up in Co Sligo last winter. An amphipod is: (a) a crustacean; (b) a jellyfish; (c) a cetacean
6 The Taoiseach is irked by conservationist fuss about rare and tiny Arctic snails in Irish wetlands. The species is called:
(a) indigo; (b) loligo; (c) vertigo
7 Big water birds that breed on tundra
lakes with weird, wailing cries are now fishing off Irish shores. Americans call them loons - what are they called here?
8 A starfish feeds on a mussel by forcing open its shell and sending in its stomach
to digest it - true or false?
9 The most popular Irish game bird,
of a Chinese race, was introduced
to Ireland in the late 1700s. What is it?
10 Thirty-five wild birds were brought from Estonia last spring to help save an Irish game bird species from extinction. What were they?
11 Which Ulster mountains are to be protected in a national park?
12 The study of seasonal cycles and the impact of climate on plant and animal life is called: (a) phrenology; (b) phenology;
(c) phenomenology
13 Lactuca sativa, a popular vegetable, was bred from a tall, prickly, wild Mediterranean plant with a bitter, milky, narcotic juice. What is it?
14 A blue tit weighs how many grams?
(a) 5g; (b) 11g; (c) 16g; (d) 20g
15 Balaenoptera physalis, Earth's second biggest mammal, has been making spectacular appearances off the west Cork coast. What is its common name?
16 The Department of Environment is to put up bird-feeders - true or false?
17 A multi-coloured Asian ladybird, imported to Europe for its voracious appetite for greenfly, threatens to outcompete the native species of these islands. Is it
called: (a) mannequin; (b) palanquin;
(c) harlequin
18 What kind of Irish wildflower is known as Irish Lady's Tresses?
19 Which blue Irish wildflowers were pictured on the €10 Irish stamp during 2005?
20 Which of the following trees is not native to this country: oak, ash, beech, spindle, alder?
21 A "red tide" of phytoplankton killed much sea life in some western Irish bays last summer. Scientists call such
events HABs - what does that stand
for?
22 Which priestly poet thanked God
"for skies of couple-colour as a
brinded cow"?
23 A tiny wasp, piercing the wild dog rose to lay an egg in its tissues, prompts the growth of a pink, hairy gall to house its grub. What is the folk name of the galls?
24 Which two-metre ocean reptile,
tagged with a satellite-tracking device at the Dingle Peninsula at the end of August, was last heard of heading for the Canary Islands?
25 The gleoiseach sléibhe, or "mountain chatterer", is a small, streaky brown bird now scarce in Ireland. Is it: (a) a linnet; (b) a rock pipit; (c) a twite
26 Feathered Gothic, Powdered Quaker, and Red-necked Footman are species of what?
27 Female frogs spend the winter at the bottom of ponds - true or false?
28 The coastline of the island of Ireland, including the islands, is how long:
(a) 4,284km (2,662 miles); (b) 7,524km (4,675 miles); (c) 9,550km (5,934 miles)
29 Which point of land is nearest to the Corrib gas field?
30 Which Irish falcon, without heather to nest in, has taken over crows' nests in trees?
31 Kombu, wakame and nori are three kinds of which marine product, valued in sushi cuisine?
32 Which freshwater fish, in Ted Hughes's words, has a "malevolent aged grin"?
33 What is the proper name for the strawberry tree?
34 At Pol-an-Ionain in the Burren, a giant natural wonder is to be opened up to visitors. What is it?
35 Which alien mollusc is multiplying by the million in Irish lakes and rivers?
36 Which Alaskan island gave its name to Ireland's most numerous tree?
37 Newly discovered in Irish woods, Brandt's is the 10th species of which of the island's mammals?
38 "Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon," wrote WB Yeats. Which mammal was it?
39 Deep banks of a "coral" seaweed lie on the bed of Galway Bay. Is it known as
(a) maerl; (b) karst; (c) loess
40 A bird called Resolute flew from Ireland to the Canadian Arctic and back again this year with a transmitter mounted on its back - which species was it?
Answers
1. Tannin 2. Mistle thrush 3. (c) 4. Peanut 5. (a) 6. (c) 7. Great northern divers 8. True 9. Pheasant 10. Grey partridge 11. Mournes 12. (b) 13. Lettuce 14. 16g 15. Fin whale 16. True 17. (c) 18. Orchid 19. Spring gentians 20. Beech 21. Harmful Algal Blooms 22. Gerard Manley Hopkins 23. Robin's pin-cushions 24. Leatherback turtle 25. (c) 26. Moths 27. False - it's the males 28. (b) 29. Erris Head 30. Merlin 31. Seaweeds 32. Pike 33. Arbutus 34. Stalactite 35. Zebra mussel 36. Sitka 37. Bat 38. Cat 39. (a) 40. Brent goose