Protected animals
This location is part of the "Flora & Fauna in Pauwels" cycling route.
Huis ter Heide is home to some very special animal species that are rare in the Netherlands and therefore protected. Two of these species are the gentian blue and the natterjack toad.
The photos show the gentian blue and the natterjack toad.
The gentian blue is a species of butterfly with a very particular way of pre-planting....
This location is part of the "Flora & Fauna in Pauwels" cycling route.
Huis ter Heide is home to some very special animal species that are rare in the Netherlands and therefore protected. Two of these species are the gentian blue and the natterjack toad.
The photos show the gentian blue and the natterjack toad.
The gentian blue is a species of butterfly with a very special way of breeding. The butterfly lays its eggs only on the bell gentian, a plant that is also rare. When the egg hatches, the caterpillar eats from the plant, drops at some point and waits to be taken by the woodland or swamp ant. The ants think it is an ant larva and take the caterpillar into their nest. Here the caterpillar overwinters and pupates into gentian blue. When either the plant or the ant is absent, the gentian blue cannot reproduce. In Huis ter Heide, both bell gentian and stinging ants are present and thus worth protecting!
The natterjack toad lives in shallow pools or fens that are plentiful at Huis ter Heide and burrows into the open sand in the fall to spend the winter there. The Scottish highlanders, by trampling the soil, ensure that there are enough of these open areas for the natterjack toad.
