ANOTHER LIFE:By MICHAEL VINEY
1 Which invasive alien among ladybirds has turned up in Ireland dressed for an old-fashioned pantomime?
2 An equally undesirable alien among crabs has been found in an Irish estuary wearing gloves.
3Wild boar, once native to Ireland and now reintroduced, have bred in remote woodland. What are their young called?
4How many points has a snowflake?
5Last winter fine fronds of frozen water, extruded from the pores of dead trees, were found in a Galway wood. What are they called?
6Which Arctic goose is grazing Dublin's winter playing fields?
7Is phycology the study of (a) seaweeds, (b) lichens or (c) reasoning in mammals?
8A humpback whale provided dramatic pictures off Hook Head, Co Wexford, last January. What was it doing?
9A rare and ecologically famous Irish invertebrate displaced from warmer climes is sprinkled with white spots and rolls into a ball when touched. What is it?
10 New research shows that starlings keep their place in a wheeling flock by watching how many other birds: seven, 10 or 15?
11To which vegetable family does the earthstar belong?
12To avoid being tempted out too early in spring, which insect chooses the north side of field banks in which to hibernate?
13A group resisting the ban on stag hunting called itself Rise, an acronym for what?
14Wrens are known for crowding together in nest boxes on icy winter nights. The record number counted so far is (a) 35, (b) 50 or (c) 60?
15Not quite animal, not quite vegetable, a shape-shifting organism can flow across damp outdoor surfaces. What is it?
16Leisler's, Nathusius's and Daubenton's are three kinds of which Irish mammal?
17The stoat's Arctic counterpart turns white in winter. Its name?
18Clinging under stones in streams, this fly larva clads itself for camouflage in fragments of gravel and plants.
19The little egret belongs to which family of birds?
20Wasps and bumblebees build a new nest every year. True or false?
21The atmospheric swings of the NAO have a great effect on Irish weather.What do the letters stand for?
22The oil in a sheep's fleece helps to keep out the rain.What is it called?
23Most trees and many plants need fungi at their roots for a beneficial food-swap. Are the fungi called (a) macrophylla, (b) mycorrhiza or (c) mycelia?
24Its spring call often is confused with that of the cuckoo. What bird newly settled here builds a platform on which to rest in winter?
25What colour are the winter buds of the native Irish ash?
26Several kinds of nematode are being used as biological controls on plant pests. What form of life are they?
27Swallows and house martins are arriving earlier from Africa in spring. How much earlier on average: (a) one week, (b) two, (c) three?
28As jellyfish multiply, two marine creatures are well known for eating them. One is the leatherback turtle. The other swims vertically. What is it?
29Migrant waxwings have spread across Ireland to feed on garden and hedgerow berries. Where have they come from?
30Coccolithophore plant plankton shimmers in the sea. What rock may be made of it when it dies?
31Sometimes called the green plover, what is the bird's more usual name?
32Seeds of Irish grasses, potatoes and grains are stored against disaster in an ice-cold Global Seed Vault. Where is it?
33An irrational fear of spiders is what kind of phobia?
34Radio devices clipped on to migrant geese, sharks and turtles report their whereabouts to satellites for scientific study. What is this technology called?
35Irish trawlers are catching huge shoals of a little red warm-water fish, newly abundant in the northeast Atlantic, mainly for mincing into salmon feed. Which fish?
36Mosses and liverworts are collectively known as (a) saprophytes, (b) neophytes or (c) bryophytes?
37What is the folk name for the secondary spurt of tree growth in summer that produces twigs with reddish leaves?
38Lacerta vivipara is Ireland's only native reptile. What is it?
39Excess sugars from plant sap, excreted at the anuses of aphids and fed upon by wasps and butterflies, make a syrup called what?
40We say a charm of goldfinches, but what is a collection of ravens?
ANSWERS
1 Harlequin. 2 Chinese mitten crab. 3 Shoat. 4 Six, mostly. 5 Hair ice. 6 Brent. 7 (a). 8 Breaching. 9 Kerry slug. 10 Seven. 11 Fungi. 12 Bumblebees. 13 Rural Ireland Says Enough. 14 (a). 15 Slime mould. 16 Bats. 17 Ermine. 18 Caddis. 19 Herons. 20 True. 21 North Atlantic oscillation. 22 Lanolin. 23 (b). 24 Collared dove. 25 Black. 26 Parasitic round worms. 27 (a). 28 Sunfish Mola mola. 29 Scandinavia. 30 Chalk. 31 Lapwing. 32 Svalbard. 33 Arachnophobia. 34 Telemetry. 35 Boar fish. 36 (c). 37 Lammas growth. 38 Common lizard. 39 Honeydew. 40 An unkindness.
Eye on nature
We were thrilled to see 15 red squirrels in Beleek Woods, Ballina – a triumph for their reintroduction. Do they not hibernate?
Barbara Browne, Ballina, Co Mayo
Neither red nor grey squirrels hibernate, but they are less active on the coldest days in winter.
Do birds eat snow if water supplies are frozen?
Edwina Clerkin, Clonskeagh, Dublin
They do, but it takes a lot of energy to melt it inside their bodies. Better to put out water several times a day for them in icy weather.
I was surprised to see a badger cross Knocklyon Road and go into a hedge. What an unexpected encounter with such a reclusive creature in Dublin suburbia.
Brian Johnston, Knocklyon, Dublin
It probably lives in a nearby park or on a riverbank.
A bullfinch has been pecking at the branches of my Japanese plum tree. What kind of food is so attractive to it?
Pat Maher, Greystones, Co Dublin
Bullfinches usually feed on insects, berries, seeds and buds. It is probably stripping the buds from your tree. We’ve had several reports of snipe foraging in gardens during the snow and frost.
Michael Viney welcomes observations at Thallabawn, Carrowniskey PO, Westport, Co Mayo, or e-mail: viney@anu.ie. Please include a postal address.