Frog in postbox

On leaving one of the camps I walked past the postbox into which people put their chalet keys when they leave.

 To my surprise, there seated at the entrance was a frog. LOL!! I wonder when last keys were actually put in there? Unfortunately from the side glimpse I have of him, I could not identify it.

Emperor Moth (Heniocha dyops)

Family Saturniidae

 This is a large moth with a wingspan of about 10cm.

 For such a pretty moth, it is a pity that there is no further information available on it.

Rain Spider (Palystes superciliosus)

Family Sparassidae

Also called Huntsman Spiders.

This female is fairly large, about 5cm in body length with legs which can reach up to 10cm.

She was sitting on this large egg sac and which will sometimes be covered with grass and leaves.

The female guards them aggressively.

Info: Spiders of the Kalahari (Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman)

White-ringed Atlas Moth (Epiphora mythimnia)

Family  Saturniidae

These moths have a huge wingspan of about 12cm (5”).

They are found around the north eastern (Natal) and north west borders of South Africa down to Kalagadi.

Potter Wasp (Tricarinodynerus guerinii)

Family Eumenidae

 There is a common species of wasp which I see which looks a lot like this one but it is larger and only the tip of its abdomen is yellow so can be easily confused with this one.

I was lucky enough to find where it was building its nest and could take pictures of that too. The female normally builds it in existing cavities such as keyholes, ends of pipes and bamboo, holes in trees etc.

The cells in the nest are separated by mud.

Dung Beetle (Heliocopris pirmal)

Family Scarabaeidae

This has to be one of the most interesting and by far the largest scarab I have every found!!

It is about 4-5cm in length (2-2.5 inches).

What made it even more interesting is the fact that when I picked it up it squealed at me!! LOL!! I was kind of shocked but have been told that many of the Heliocopris and Copris species do make these kinds of noises.

Thanks Adrian for the identification and information.

Hawk Moth (Nephele comma)

This is a medium-size moth belonging to the Sphingidae family.

 Distribution

Throughout Africa south of the Sahara as well as adjacent islands.

Underside

 

 Pollinates a variety of long-tubed flowers including:


• Caricaceae

Carica papaya (Papaya, Papaw, Pawpaw). A cultivated species, pollinated by hawkmoths, including Nephele comma. Martins & Johnson (2009) in a study conducted in rural Kenya, found that natural habitats were important in sustaining hawkmoth populations because they contained the larval hostplants needed in completing the life cycle. Hence, papaya plants grown near natural habitats were more likely to be pollinated than those isolated from natural habitats.

Information from: http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/lepidoptera/sphingidae/nephele_comma.htm