of velvet mites and ludwigia sediodes

We have a fish pond at home, and several aquatic plants in it. Two of these are introduced in this article, azolla (on the left) and ludwigia sediodes, a mosaic plant (on the right).

water chest nut or the trapa natans and azolla

Azolla are tiny aquatic ferns, and can be used as a food for livestock, and even humans. One way to use it is by adding it with omelettes 🙂  But make sure you have the azolla from reliable water ponds and not from waste water pools were the aquatic plants may be infected by worms 😛

Azolla are also used to control mosquitos, as it spreads quickly like a mat, over the water surface. I was looking into the literature on Azolla, and was astounded by a recent (2006) study published in the scientific journal Nature, on the possible role played by it during the Eocene period, around 49 million years ago. The study by Brinkhuis et al. pointed out that azolla may have had a significant role in reversing a greenhouse warming effect that had caused the region around the Arctic Ocean to turn into a hot, tropical environment.

The potential of Azolla as a space diet has also been studied! Check the references and links below if you want to know more about these studies on Azolla.

 

The seeds of the ludwigia sediodes is also used as a food (?). We haven’t but noticed the seeds yet though we got a lot of flowers from the plant, like the small yellow flower you see in the picture above. Probably they need to grow wild and large for that. We love the mosaic plant, its rosette shape is so beautiful, especially when it spreads and lie majestically over the water surface. During night time the leaves droop together like the petals of a flower. The mosaic plant shown here is a foeigner, and there is a type endemic to the Indian region. We saw the Indian version at an aquatic garden/farm (under the Guruvayurappan college or Calicut University, I don’t remember now) at Kozhikode, Kerala. I think it is not that common.

velvet mite on a water chestnut

velvet mite on azolla

Sometimes we have visits from our non aquatic friends, like the red velvet mite [Family: Trombidiidae] above. You can see that they are so tiny, if you have an idea of the size of azolla, or comparing the images above. Velvet mites are not insects, but belong to the class of arachnids [Class: Arachnidea] which includes spiders, scorpions and other mites too, with the usual 8 legs.

Date: Jan 2008
Location: @ home, Kottayam, Kerala, India
Camera: Nikon D80 | Olympus C770UZ

Reference:
1. Brinkhuis et al., 2006: Episodic fresh surface waters in the Eocene Arctic Ocean, Nature, 441, 606-609 [
link].
2. Katayama et al., 2008: Azolla as a component of the space diet during habitation on Mars, Acta Astronautica, 63, 7-10 [
link].

41 Responses

  1. Alexandr says:

    The plant you have is not Trapa natans, this is Ludwigia sediodes (family Onagraceae). These two indeed have similar leaves and growing habit, therefor are often misindentified.

    • rocksea says:

      Thanks a lot, Alexandr! I rechecked the information, and yes as you said, it is a mosaic plant – Ludwigia sediodes. Will correct the info provided in the article.

      Cheers,

  2. Bhasker says:

    I would like to know more about it b’cos i wish to do project on Trapa natans(bispinosa) if anybody knows more about that please 9966799251(Andhra pradesh)

  3. Neelima says:

    ohh! the velvet mites are so cute! 🙂
    We used to have a ball of a time playing with them in our childhood. we didn’t know they were called so. But we christened them as “velvet purugulu” (purugu = insects in Telugu.) your post brings back fond memories.. 🙂

    • rocksea says:

      neelima, so no wonder how they got the name “velvet mites” 😀

      • Tara says:

        Hi there!
        where are you looking in that profile pic Rocksea? 🙂

        & from wherever do you find these detailed informations.. Its interesting to read them along with the exotic and superb photography..

        I remember coming here before.. Its a nice site.

        • rocksea says:

          hey tara, this is when sarah caught me while “bird watching” hehe 😉

          yes you have been here before, and i have been at yours too (two, the old one and the new wordpress)..

  4. Elaine- says:

    you are always a wealth of information, it is educational as well as beautiful, to visit 🙂

  5. Nisha says:

    Once upon a time, I used to play with these mites. 🙂

    Very contrasting colors.

  6. rocksea says:

    deeps, you should try 😉

    sandeep, thanks for the comments 🙂

  7. Happy Kitten says:

    That was very informative and the picture very enticing.. enough to want an aquarium! but I wonder if these plants are available here.

    so much from nature that is so precious yet ignorant to most..

    • rocksea says:

      azolla might be available in most of the places. but i am not sure if it is good for an aquarium as it is a floater. maybe few would be fine. may be you can carry some water plants from india next time 🙂

  8. sandeep says:

    informative post and beautiful (or shall i say colorful) shots to go with it. the first pic is very beautiful. also luved the bright red color of the velvet mite 🙂

  9. Deeps says:

    that was informative.Azollas can be added with omelette,huh?sounds interesting 🙂

  10. rocksea says:

    andy, jaine, lakshmi, priyanka, 🙂

    ashwin, i wanted to combine them just like how nature works 😉

  11. Thanks, I hadn’t met Azolla before! The fruit of water-chestnut is sold by poor folk in baskets in many places in India. It is black and ridged, I vaguely remember fig-shapes.

    Why dont you separate your inverts from your plants in each post. That way, we get more ‘maal’ and you work harder…hee, hee, hee!

  12. Nice greenies ! interesting info ! liked the red cutie in the pic 😀

  13. Interesting about the plants, especially that one of them may be useful in controlling global warming.
    Great photo of the red mite.

  14. Andy says:

    Wow beautiful water plants. That little red bug is so bright red its very cool.

  15. The pics are so exotic and full of colour…. I think azolla is a must for everyone at Cochin the mosquito city!!

  16. kanak says:

    Although I love water chestnuts, I’ve never seen the plant. Glad you posted. The tiny bloom is very pretty! And the mite is dressed in the prettiest shade of red:) Very interesting information about the Azolla too.

  17. bindu says:

    Azolla farming is coming up big way in Kerala, right? I always used to wonder what this plant was.

    • rocksea says:

      Yes I guess many people use azolla and other water plants as fodder for fish, poultry, and other livestocks. They are economical as they need less care and manure.

  18. Mridula says:

    Beautiful plants and that red mite on the green leaves looks simply divine!

  19. Swaram says:

    I get to learn so many new things from ur blog! Nature n her bounty Wow!

    red velvet mite is so cute 🙂

  20. Solilo says:

    That’s a useful info. Red Velvet mite looks velvety. 🙂

    Water chest nuts are called ‘singade’ in Hindi and yum to eat.

  21. Abhilash says:

    Nice to know the usage of these plants. I do not have a aquarium at home but will try to see if I can identify them in my kolam…

Leave a Reply to rocksea Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *