For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Warmbaths - Part 3

The first day there threatened to be wet, soggy and not at all time to do photography, but by the afternoon it had opened up and was beautiful. I spent a lot of time at the swimming pool just soaking up the sun and would limit myself to early morning and late afternoon sessions of bug hunting.
This was a most interesting seedpod and the wind would blow it along like tumble weed. It is about 1 inch in diameter.
Can anyone guess what this is? Believe me when I tell you it is an insect!! They are called Wax Scales belonging to the family Coccidae or Soft Scale insects.
Soft scales can vary greatly in appearance but in many of them the female is covered by a thick, soft waxy covering. They are plant suckers and a number of species are agricultural pests in South Africa. It is about 10mm in diameter.
This is a Fluted Scale and is a pest on cirtus trees. This bug is imported from Australia and can be controlled by certain types of ladybugs/ladybirds.
A tiny jumping spider was asking for this picture to be taken. He is about 4mm long.
This is some kind of Horse Fly but I cannot find its name.
This Red-veined Dropwing kept landing on the side of the swimming pool but I only had my 300mm lens with me so could not get a more detailed shot of it.

36 comments:

Firefly the Travel Guy said...

I have never tried taking a pic of the little jumping spiders, but this pic is awesome. I will now have to try and equal or better that one. :-)

troutbirder said...

That first one would have fooled me for sure. What a strange world when you look close!

Wendy said...

Great photos Joan! I love that little jumping spider, I'm always whenever I see them, I think they're so cute :) The patterns on that horse flie are very pretty. Cool :)

No Blog said...

Great photos as always Joan :) I am e-mailing a photo of your horse fly I think its the same one LOL!

Diane AZ said...

The Wax Scales remind me of mealy bugs that I used to find on Coleus plants. I like the patterns on the horse fly's eyes and wings, great photo!

Gaelyn said...

Hard to believe those scales are insects. They look like a plant growth. I love the lacey patterns to the Horse fly but don't like their bite. They can really leave a nasty welt.
Sure glad you've recovered the old posts. They will be invalueable to others as a reference.

Craver Vii said...

Tremendous pics as usual, Joan! The horse fly is either Ralph or Izzy. That's the best I can do with the name, because it is so hard to tell those two apart. Ralph lisps, and Izzy has a little bit of an urban strut, but of course, we can't tell from just a photo.

Andrea said...

Very good pictures!
About the Wax Scales:I believe you because I know you never make jokes...
Incredible Insect!

Becky said...

You find the neatest things to photograph. I'm sure most people don't even notice these little creatures and if they do they just walk on by. I so enjoy yours pics!

Becky said...

Wow, you had quite a day. Such a group of goodies Joan. I love the color of that Dropwing. Super detail.
B.

Life in Egypt said...

A moth caterpillar.
but there again i usually get it wrong

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Jonker. I am sure you can take one even better than mine. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

It is such an interesting world I find myself in TB. Each find more fascinating than the next.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Leeloo. I think the pattern in nature are better than anything we could ever come up with.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Lawrence. It was a great pic. LOL! Pity I cant post it. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Diane. They are very similar aren't they.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Gaely. Yes, I bitten a time or two myself but one has to be very careful with them around.

I was extremely please about being able to recover them too but when I thought I would not get them back, I deleted the photo files in Picasa too so now it is quite a job going to put them back but luckily they are sorted according to topic so is not such a hassle.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Craver. I have a better name for these flies ..... "Pest"!! LOL!!

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Andre. I find these unknown insects very interesting and wonder how many I have missed while on my walks.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Becky (Florida). It is an amazing world which I have found. Can you blame me for being so fascinated by it? When I think of how many species I have already found, I know I have not even scratched the tip of the iceberg.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Beck. It was such a pity that the rim of the pool was red too so there is not much contrast in the pictures.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Tony. You are probably right as there are much more moths than butterflies.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Joan: Fun collection of bugs. Neat dragonfly, too bad it wasn't on a different colored background.

Mary said...

Always something new and interesting! Those scale things are weird. The fly looks like it is dressed in camouflage. Love that shot of the dragonfly...the color is so pretty. Would love to be sitting in a warm pool at the moment instead of looking at more rain.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

I agree Tom but the whole deck of the pool was that color and he would not land anywhere else.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Mary. I am sure that by now you are looking for warmer weather as it must seem like a long winter. It is not long to go till spring my friend, so hold on there!!

Anonymous said...

Those wax scales remind me of sea urchins. But since they are soft, they can be used as pillows.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

A very interesting concept Bernie. :)

Marvin said...

I've seen Scales, but nothing nearly as HUGE as yours. The ones I've seen require magnification to see any detail. And those mini-tumbleweeds are interesting. Our long-haired dogs would no doubt love to collect them.

Unknown said...

Great close-ups, Joan!

Anonymous said...

We have scale insects here too, the ants and scales live as symbionts. : )

Rambling Woods said...

I just saw a piece on the mating dance of jumping spiders and they are the most amazing little things. Colorful...all the eyes kind of bothered me, but the mating dance was amazing.. Love the photos Joan...

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

These are interesting find Marvin and something not many people know about. I dont know about there by you but we have such a lots of weeds here which stick to animals fur one need to be constantly grooming them.

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Thanks Jose. :)

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

They do a great job together don't they Ken? I wonder if the same can be said for some of those small insects you constantly find on fungi? Do you know of anything like that?

SAPhotographs (Joan) said...

Mating rituals can be so interesting Michelle. Not only of spiders but all kinds of insects and animals. Here we though us humans were the only ones who had one. :)