Caterpillar (Acraea sp) Nymphalidae

I have now been blogging for two years and this was the first post I ever did....
For many years I have done photography as a hobby, my subject being mainly wildlife and, just recently, macro. We have a large variety of subjects and since doing macro photgraphy, I have discovered a wealth of otherwise unnoticed, but very interesting, critters.

As I am in the financial sector, photography is a wonderful escape from the stressful, hectic daily routine. Without being able to go out into the fields over weekends, I would go crazy.

Hopefully, over time, I will be able to give viewers of my blog the chance to see something different and a glance at our beautiful country. It is a tourist mecca as we have much to offer, and cater for all tastes, from beautiful beaches and high mountain ranges to semi-desert and tropical areas. Our wildlife parks are of the best in the world with millions coming here just to enjoy them.

Enjoy my blog with me and if you are interested in anything in particular about my country, feel free to ask. Bewarned though, I do not get involved in politics or religion, so questions along these lines will go unanswered. I am a nature lover not a politician. :)

Caterpillars

There, see how easy it was!! LOL!!

Almost everyone got it right again except for You Know Who. He does not have a clue again and thinks it is some wooly mamoth or something. Sigh!! I try so hard to make it easy for him. LOL!!

Then of course there is Troutbirder ...... one of these days it is GOING to be a seed just for you. :)

Thanks for playing everyone.

We have the most fantastic caterpillars here but unfortunately, most of them I cannot match up to moths or butterflies as they have not been catalogued.
They come in all interesting shapes and colors.

An interesting caterpillar - Hawk Moth Family Sphingidae

Caterpillar to moth - Athetis sp Family Noctuidae

Unfortunately here there are hardly any books available which show which caterpillars belong to which moths/butterflies. After lots of consultation with people in the know, I was asked to start documenting this in order to do a book later on. It is going to be a process of many years, but one well worth the time and effort. At the end of last summer I caught a few caterpillars and put them in bottles to see what would hatch from it and this is the first one to emerge.

The caterpillar:

Starting to pupate:

Pupa:
Newly emerged:
8 hours later it has it's full colors: