Flower Mantis (Harpagomantis tricolor)

Family Hymenopodidae
After searching for 3 years, I have finally found one!! You cannot believe my excitement!!
This has to be the most spectacular mantis we have here and it gets its name from the fact that the male has a spot which looks like an eye on its forewing. This picture is taken from the back so you can see its marking.

This is what it will look like when it has matured as right now it is only 1/2 an inch in length. It is a wingless nymph. Sorry for the poor quality of the picture below but I took it from my book and the flash off the pages make it awful.

They get to be large and their markings mimick the flowers they sit on waiting for insects to come and feed.

The spines of the abdomen look just like the ridges of a flower and as it gets older, it will straighten out.

It has the most spectacular eyes and you will not believe how fast this was when tying to get away from me. I have brought it home and put it in my tank. Hopefully I can keep it alive by feeding it enough insects. I have never seen one in the wild and would love to take pictures as it developes.

Moth Bug (Parapioxys jucundus)

Family Eurybrachidae

 Moth Bugs are smallish and can be found in great numbers on the vegetation of the bushveld where they feed on the grass.

Treehopper (Anchon nodicornis) family Membracidae

They are very small, about 1cm.

Grass Stick Insect (Maransis trilineatus)

Family Bacillidae

Stick insects are attracted to lights at night and are often found clinging to the walls and doors in the morning.

Females average 22cm in length while the males are only half that.

Only the males have wings which they flare aggressively if threatened.

Millipede Assassin (Ectrichodia crux)

Family Reduviidae

As their name implies, these bugs have an exclusive diet of millipedes.

 They are large and lighter in colour when young as can be seen in the picture below with the wings not fully developed.

 They rest under stones during the day and come out at night to feed.


They are common in gardens and all veld types.

Info: Field Guide to Insects of South Africa

Bark Mantis Nymph (Oxypiloidea tridens)

Family Hymenopodidae

 In many cases it seems easier to find the nymphs or babies of mantis species than it does the adults. Maybe it is because they are more active and move areound more so are noticable.

Thank you Barry and Hilary Blair for the identification.

Red Bugs (Cenaeus carnifex)

Family Pyrrhocoridae

These are small, about 9mm in body length and are found along our eastern coastal regions of lush vegetation forest margins and gardens.

 They are encountered in groups on seed heads of herbaceous plants, often in mated pairs.

Information from: Field Guide to Insects of South Africa.

Machado's Skimmer (Orthetrum Machadoi) Female

This Skimmer is found along the Natal coast and in the northern regions.

 They are a widespread group of dragonflies which bask on rocks or twigs from which they make short forays to snatch passing insects.

 Mating occurs on the wing with males often seen leading females over the water where she whips her abdomen over the surface to lay her eggs.

Pill Millipede -Sphaerotheriida

I have come across these a couple of times and only now discovered what they are ..... a Pill Millipede (Sphaerotheriida). They curl up into a ball like this at the slightest hint of danger so naturally one cannot see that they have two pairs of legs per segment which would identify them as millipedes. Next time I find one I will take the time to be more careful and wait until it unrolls itself so I can get a better picture. :) It is probably about 3cm (1 1/2") in length.

Grasshoppers - Orthoptera

As you have probably noticed, I have not been posting many grasshoppers lately and that is not because I do not have pictures but because there is so little information available on them.

Acrididae Sp

 On a visit to an entomologist, I asked the reason for this and was told that there is no one study them!! Can you believe it? 

Acrididae Sp

I would think that the kind of destruction they cause sometimes plus the wonderful variety to be found that they would be an interesting species to study, but it seems not.

Acrididae Sp

 

Green Milkweed Locust



Green Milkweed Locust



Green Milkweed Locust



Millipedes – Family Myriapoda

Fossils found of their ancestors date back to 450 million years ago and then they were 2m (6’) in length.

They have poor eyesight and depend on pheromone scents to find a mating partner.

 Females hollow out a chamber in which she lays up to 300 eggs at a time and they take 2-4 weeks to hatch.



The larger species of millipedes encase each egg with a clay capsule but smaller species do it around the whole batch.

Millipedes do moult and this process can take up to three weeks to complete as they have to extract each leg from the old sheath.

Their lifespan can be as long as 10 years and the Giant Millipede who has dormant periods, even longer.

Leaf Mantis (Phyllocrania paradoxa)

 Family Hymenopodidae

This is one instance in nature where the female is more attractive than the male who does not have any of the leaf projections on his body. I unfortunately do not have a photograph of one yet.

Although they grow to be quite large, this one is still a baby, about 2.5cm (1 1/2”) in body length and as with all young, has the lower part of her body curled up.

The female has a large, erect dorsal projection on her head and elongated eyes.

They are great mimics of the leaves they live on and will remain motionless for hours waiting for prey, even swaying their bodies in the wind in order to blend in better.

 They eat flies and any other insect which come within their grasp.

They are found in the northern and eastern regions of SA.

It caught this beautiful butterfly and was hanging upside-down feeding on it.

Common or Marsh Bluetail (Ischnura senegalensis) male

Ischnura senegalensis, also known variously as Common Bluetail, Marsh Bluetail, Ubiquitous Bluetail, African Bluetail, and Senegal Golden Dartlet, is a widespread damselfly of the family Coenagrionidae, native from Africa, through the Middle East, throughout southern and eastern Asia.

The species is found in slow-stagnant or leisurely flowing water bodies and tolerates both disturbances and pollution but is absent from intact forest areas.

This is the male of the species.

Masai Sprite (Pseudagrion massaicum)

Masai Sprite (Pseudagrion massaicum) family Coenagrionidae

These are common damsel flies and found in still-water habitats, dam edges and ponds.

This is a male and about 5cm (2”) in length.

 

Two-spotted Ground Beetle (Anthia burchellii )

I have now found three species of Two-spotted Ground beetles here, the latest is Anthia burchellii.

One has to look closely on finding them as they can easily be confused so I am posting pictures of all three here to see if you can spot the difference.

They are usually found foraging alone and all three species occur in the same areas.

They are large beetles, over 3cm (1.5”) in body length with mandibles which are scary to see so close up.

The other two species are: Anthia thoracica (above) and Thermophilum homoplatum (below)

They eat live insects and can be found both at night and during the day hunting for prey.