Ladies Lunch – March – Club Ilgaz
The monthly Ladies Lunch took place at Club Ilgaz on Tuesday 5th March and w
as again a very enjoyable event with a superb lunch and a talk by Keith Lloyd followed by a raffle in aid of Help Those with Cancer Association (Tulips).
The lunch is organised by Gloria Tattersall and Mary Hughes and as Gloria was in the UK she had asked Heather Bealer to take her place to welcome the ladies and do the introductions
. Mary was also busy welcoming the guests as they arrived, checking them in and directing them to their allocated tables. This month there were 32 ladies present to enjoy the afternoon.
We had a lovely lunch which we had all pre-ordered so there was a variety of starters and main courses being served, all of which looked delicious. B
eing with different people each month is a great idea as we are all making contact with new acquaintances and find some very interesting topics to talk about.
Sue Tilt was there with raffle tickets and there were some very nice prizes on display for the draw in aid of Help Those with Cancer Association (Tulips), which was to come later.
After the meal Keith Lloyd started his slide show and talk which was about Biting Insects of Cyprus and Others. I must say I am not a lover of “cre
epy crawlies” and was a little apprehensive about the content of the talk which actually turned out to be very interesting and humorous. Keith told us that 82% of life on earth are arthopods (insects) which made a lot of us shudder and Keith added that if anyone started scratching they would have to pay a fine of 5TL to Tulips!
On the slideshow we saw Cyprus Scorpions which sting and although not harmful to adults they could be dangerous as far as children were concerned. Then there were the Ticks and Fleas where there are 4,000 different species. Mi
tes, 50,000 species. Human Itch Mites, Flour Weevils, Vine Weevils. The Rove Beetle which is a nasty specimen and it is best to get rid of it. There was a series of slides about cockroaches, another insect we can well do without and most people seem to get them in their homes from time to time. There were Termites and Keith showed some pictures of the damage they have done in his own home. I could relate to that because I have had the same problem as have some of my neighbours, Keith advised to contact the local Belediyesi if there is a problem and they will try to eradicate these little pests. By this time there were a few people starting to look a bit uncomfortable as they were longing to scratch!
The Blowfly which Keith told us, although not a nice thing to have buzzing around, it is
an aid for scientific research as its presence can help with determining the time of death in humans etc. so maybe this specimen does have some uses.
We came on to Mosquitoes and were told that when the British were in Cyprus they had managed to destroy mosquitoes and malaria but in the process had eliminated other insects and some bird life. Keith said how important it is to not have stagnant water near your property as this is where they breed and over a 10 day period a mosquito will lay around 300 eggs. Unfortunately mosquitoes are now retur
ning and they are becoming immune to Deet repellent so the best thing to do is remove their preferred breeding ground.
The Gadfly (house fly) can be a dangerous insect as it carries anthrax and the Sand Fly, which most of us in Cyprus are aware of, is a nasty little creature who bites and causes a lot of discomfort for humans for which there is no cure and we have to just get over it as best we can if we are unlucky enough to receive bites.
One of the last subjects of the talk and slideshow was wasps and bees and Keith stressed that the bee
population is on the decline worldwide due to disease. We were asked to reflect on what the world would be like without bees – obviously no honey, but what about pollination etc. which would mean loss of plants, trees and all the things we take for granted. It is definitely something which needs to be addressed and I am sure there are a lot of researchers doing just that.
Although the talk and slideshow was about insects, it was in fact fascinating, very interesting and also very humorous thanks to Keith’s little anecdotes.
Following the talk Sue Tilt started the raffle and the lucky 
winners were offered the prize envelopes by Julia Price who was assisting Sue. We were later told that the raffle had resulted in 310TL for Tulips which Sue was delighted with. Both Carole and Sue of Tulips have since asked us to convey their thanks to everyone for their generosity.
The next Ladies Lunch will be held on the 2nd April at Club Ilgaz and the guests will be informed in due course of the menu and the speaker for that event.
By Margaret Sheard
