For interesting information on flowers, trees and plants please click on this link: http://natureswow2.blogspot.com/

For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa: please click on the following links:
Insects and related species: Antlions - Ants - Bees - Beetles - Bugs - Butterflies, Moths and Caterpillars - Centipedes and Millipedes - Cockroaches - Crickets - Dragonflies and Damselflies - Grasshoppers and Katydids - Mantis - Stick Insects - Ticks and Mites - Wasps - Woodlice
Plants, Trees, Flowers: (Note: Unless plants fall into a specific species such as Cacti, they have been classified by their flower colour to make them easier to find) Bonsai - Cacti, Succulents, Aloes, Euplorbia - Ferns and Cycads - Flowers - Fungi, Lichen and Moss - Grass - Trees
Animals, Birds, Reptiles etc.: Animals, Birds, Fish and Crabs - Frogs - Lizards - Scorpions - Snails and Slugs - Snakes - Spiders - Tortoise, Turtles and Terrapins - Whipscorpions
Other photography: Aeroplanes - Cars and Bikes - Travel - Sunrise - Water drops/falls - Sudwala and Sterkfontein Caves etc.
Videos: YouTube

Friday, December 24, 2010

Butterfly rescue

Why does it seems as if I am always rescuing things.I found this beautiful little butterfly drowning in the pool and fished him out. You can see his wet wing still sticking to my finger.
I put him on the lawn to dry out and soon the sun had warmed his wings enough for him to lift them up but he was exhausted and lay there for a long time.
Soon he was stirring around and I picked him up and put him on the branch of a tree, he sat there for a while, then flew off.
The end third of their wings are transparent.

Monday, December 6, 2010

At least I found one - Scorpion

I have been searching for scorpions for almost a year now and yesterday found one in the yard of my office. No wonder I cannot find any....all my searching understones was for nothing as I believe the best time to find them is at night with a UV lamp.

"Scorpions evolved from aquatic creatures that lived some 450 million years ago, way before the dinosaurs existed. In those early days of evolutionary experimentation, they attained a length of over 1m. Scorpions have since then scaled down in size and have wedged themselves into their own niche habitats within the general environment."
"All scorpions posses neurotoxic venom. Their venom is fundamentally similar and therefore antivenin can be applied across the board. Scorpion venom is a complex mixture of neurotoxins each part performs a certain function. Functions include pain-inducing components for warding off predators, or toxins aimed at immobilizing specific groups of creatures such as insects, and even courtship."
"It is interesting to note that southern Africa is host to one of the world's least venomous scorpions belonging to the genus Hadogenes. Although Hadogenes sp. venom is virtually harmless they do sport a pair of powerful pincers capable of splitting fingernails. A member of this genus also holds the record for the longest scorpion in the world, attaining a length of over 21cm. A few more can even spray venom in defense. If the sprayed venom gets in the eyes it is a painful and visually impairing ordeal. Survival guides come to the rescue in this respect and recommend washing out with any bland fluid, even urine."

All information above comes from Jonathan Leeming's web page at
http://www.scienceinafrica.co.za/2003/may/scorpion.htm

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Gaelyn's visit - Part 3

This Black Girdled lizard is about 6 inches in length and his color helps him absorb heat. He was sitting on the rock which had lichen on it and blended in so well.
I guess it needs toes like this in order to clambour amongst the rocks.
A Blue-tailed skink but unfortunately not a very good shot of it.
Nor this frog!! Seems like my photography is going from bad to worse. :)
I have an idea that this may be a Velvet Ant (Mutillidae) and if so, the first on of the species I have found.
A close look at its wings.

Gaelyn's visit - Part 4

This robber fly was kind enough to let me crawl up to him to take his picture. I did not see many last summer and wonder why?
A beautiful spider..... Nephilidae - Nephila fenestrata -Golden Orb
There are many different "foam" grasshoppers here. They all have bright colors and produce a foamy defense secretion.
A fly of some sort?
A Lunate Blister Beetle.
One often sees this in the grass and it is made by a web spinning spider.

Walk 18/4 - Part 5 Final

There were some fascinating tree roots in this area but this was my favorite.
Oh oh!! A roadblock!! Now do I have to climb over or under or go around? Hmmm!!
What a pretty place this was to have a picnic. I must remember to bring some sandwiches with me next time.
The Rock Fig is a most unusual tree as it onlt grows on/in rocks. Some of them can be huge too and I wonder how they are propagated. I have taken some cuttings and hope one starts growing as it would make a wonderful bonsai.
The roots find the tinest crevase in which to anchor itself.
A spittle bug!! These are such interesting critters. They make this by rubbing a secretion with their legs and then live in the middle of it to hid away from predators. What amazes me is that they are so small, who could ever think of making a meal of it? It would be like us taking one crumb of bread!! :)
I disturbed this one so it could come out while I took a picture of it. It is all of about 4mm in length.
Along the path, this small pine tree was starting out its life.
And so the path ended and it was time to go home. I was lucky on this trip and only went back with one small injury and hardly dirty at all!! :) Next time I am there it will be the rainy season so I will probably get home filthy as usual. :)

Outdoor Show - Part 5 Final

There were quite a few painting on display. This is the kind of art we put on our walls and is more popular than any van Gogh.
Most of the time I do not like paintings as there are so many artists and few few of them can paint the animals in proportion. I did like this scene of the lion laying on the edge of the desert.
My favorite was this one of the zebra. It is a scene which one so often sees in the game reserve.
Now I know you are all asking yourself what on earth this is. :) We call it a "potjie" which is the Afrikaans name for a pot. However, this is not just any kind of pot. We have hundreds of recipes for things like stews and bread we bake in it. Basically the ingredients are up un layers into the pot, those which take longer to cook like carrots, at the bottom. Once this is done, the potjie is placed over a wood fire and left for 3-5 hours to cook depending on what you have put inside it. Somehow these caste iron pots make everything taste different and we all have our "secret" recipe for our best potjie. :) The come in various sizes and I do not think there is a household in SA which does not have at least one. A potjie and a barbeque is our favorite way to prepare meals.
SA has a lot of hunting areas and most men go at least once a year to shoot, with the result, taxidermy is huge here. These were some of the buck on display from one firm.
The Eland on the right is our largest buck and can weigh as much as a bull.
All in all, our life here is very different but I know of many people who have come here to retire because of it and others who come here regularly to visit our sunny country. The living is maybe primitive in some way and simple but it is a wonderful life and I would not easily change it. A trip to Africa is a must on everyones list of things to do in their lifetime. We have the best of everything here and if the Africa bug bites you, there is no place like it on earth. Just ask people like Jose and Andrea. :)

Gaelyn's visit - Part 5

One tree in Kruger Park was covered with these caterpillers.
What was strange to me is that there were always two together laying side by side. I have never seen any other cat do this.
A Slug Moth (Limacodidae)
A silk moth who mostly feed of fig tree leaves.

This moth was as large as my hand and I found it one night when I went to shower. Well okay, I DID shower more than ONE night!! LOL!!
Common Bush Brown butterfly (Satyrinae)

Outdoor Show - Part 4

We almost never wear sneakers, instead, go for sturdy boots like these.
There was a wonderful display of hand made knives on display although what anybody would do with them nowdays, is anyones guess.
Outside, I stopped to admire this beautiful motorbike someone had parked there.
Nopw this is more my style. A golf cart to use for game viewing. Lets us just hope that there are no lions around!! :)
I wanted to take more pictures of the fishing gear for Tom and TB but the displayes seemed so ordinary to me and I am sure that there was nothing new there which you do not have in the USA. I did see this nice kayak and thought it a great idea as it even has place to keep your can of beer safe from toppeling over. :)
There was a pond erected in the centre of the displays where they were giving demonstrations on how to go about catching carp. Withing a few minutes, this young boy had caught one so there must be something in it.

Warmbaths - Part 8 Final

The clouds were building up for a storm and the ant seemed to sense it as they were taking there larvae somewhere else, maybe to higher ground.
This was on my tent but I do not have a clue what it is.
A Wattle Chafer who looks like it might be carrying eggs.
Maybe some kind of Rove Beetle? It look quite a nasty one.
I wonder if the piece of grass was to help him balancing on the grass stem? LOL!!
It was getting to summer and the Acacia trees had almost finished blooming and were getting their seed pods.
A ladybug/ladybird.
All in all the four days spent there well worth it as I found a wonderful variety of bugs. I should go back again soon.....