The Bush - Part 6

Another species I have been looking for, for about 4 years now!! Monkey Beetles!! What a bonanza day this was!! And two different ones too. Luck was definitely with me.
The belong to the Scarabaeidae (Scarab) family and are very small in size, less than ½ and inch.

They tend to bury themselves half inside flowers and come in the most fantastic bright colors. Trust me to only find dull brown ones. :)

All of this species are covered with soft hairs and the females are smaller than the males.

A pretty caterpillar feeds on the small wild flowers.

Stinkhorn mushrooms attract all kinds of flies but secreting a brown substance which smell awful. The flies help disperse its spores. I have never seen one of these either except in books. This is about 4 inches in height.

The Bush - Part 5

I found two new (for me) species of Lacewings and Antlions.
The first is the Mottled Veld (field) Antlion - Palpares caffer - which is very large. This one was about 3” in body length with a 4” length to its wings.

They have two sets of wings and the patterns on each are vastly different.

They are a very widespread species, extending in tropical Africa and are found in a variety of habitats.

This is its larvae who travel freely just under the soil ambushing prey.

A Gregarious Antlion – Hagenomyia tristis – with a bluish tint to its wings and yellow legs.

This is smaller than the first species, maybe 2 inches in wing length.

A larvae which I do not know the species of but might belong to the species below.

A Red Lacewing – Dysochrysa furcata.

Museum Gardens - Part 3

How pretty these daisies were.
One of my favorite flowers has always been Gladioli. Next summer I am planning to plant a lot of them in my garden.

One never associates wasps with pollen gathering but there were almost as many wasp species as there were bees.

This one had its nose buried deep in the flowers.

A very pretty moth was hanging for dear life and the stalk of grass but as soon as I got near it took off.

I eventually managed to get a shot of it but it was very dark and with making the adjustment so you can see it, this pic did not turn out very well.

The Bush - Part 4

Twig Wilters / Squash bugs belong to the Coreidae family and are medium to large insects. The first species was about 2 inches in length. This is Holopterna alata and has pointed extensions on prothorax.
They live on young shoots od trees and shrubs and have stink glands between the middle and hind legs.

This one does not appear in my book but is the same family although he is only about 1 inch in length.

The Bush - Part 3

This Stick Insect specimen was about 6 inches in length but had unfortunately landed in the rain water tank and drowned.

As their name suggests these cryptic insects have the shape and colouring of the leaves and twigs of the plants they inhabit. Phasmids are distinctive insects and are often large to very large ranging in size from 30 to 300 millimetres in body length. Stick and leaf insects, when discovered will often drop to the ground and remain motionless rather than take flight. Some species will also shed legs when attacked, growing them back over time.
Male phasmids are generally smaller than the females and have more functional wings. It is usually the males that will fly around to locate a mate. Female phasmids usually lay their eggs in leaf litter and can lay between 100 and 1000 depending on the species. The eggs may hatch in the same season they were laid or remain in the litter to hatch up to 3 seasons later depending on the conditions. Nymphs moult several times before reaching maturity and development may take from a few weeks up to a few months.

I think this might be a Snipe or Horse Fly but I cannot find out more about them.

Mantis and caterpillar

The Flower Mantis is doing well in my tank and sure is a feisty fellow. As soon as I put my finger near him, he wants to bite it off. LOL!!
One day I noticed three strange caterpillars in the tank too and I do not know where they came from.

The only thing I can think of is that the Emperor Moth I had in there some time ago laid eggs and these have hatched out.

They remind me of the old time robbers who wore a mask over their eyes. I think the fruit fly was hitching a ride.

I am keeping them and recording their progress to see what happens.

There is just one slight problem!! The mantis, although a quarter of its size, keeps on trying to eat it!!

The caterpillar is much too clever and keeps on swaying his body away from the mantis.

I am sorry but some of these pictures are not very good but it will give you a good idea of what is happening.

The mantis is very persistent and keeps on trying to get him without much luck.

Eventually the caterpillar had had enough and went into one of the corners to spin a cocoon around himself to guard against that pesky mantis.

The Bush - Part 2

One of the first thing noticed were these HUGE mushrooms growing in the garden.
I have never seen something this size before!!

Then it was painting, fixing up and unpacking. The place was in such a mess. These are some before and after shots..... the bedroom. The walls were a dirty brown colour and the paint was chipped and nasty looking.

With some paint, a whole lot of washing and curtains hung up, it looked a lot different dont you think?

The same for the bathroom. I am thinking that these people living there before me must have had towels the same size as wash clothes for the rack to hang them on was so low, anything bigger than that would hang in the bath or over your face if you sat in the tub.

More scrubbing, painting, removing nails out of the walls and then in the end, it looks fresh and clean again.

The Bush - Part 1

Last year was the worst I have ever had in my life and this year, although just started, is proving to be the best with so many things going my way. Now if I were Chinese, I would not say this, as they believe that when you say things are going well, the gods/spirits hear and take away your luck, but I am not superstitious and think I am extremely lucky in so many ways. Maybe one needs to reach the bottom before you can start building things up again?
With all that said and done, where I do begin with this series? Due to completely unforeseen circumstances, on the 1st of January, I found the place to live I have been searching for, for 5 long years. I am back in the bush where I belong and love to be, back to seeing grasshoppers on my beside stand, mantis in my bath and checking my slippers before I put them on to see there are no spiders or scorpions in it. Most of you will shudder at the thought of all this, but for me it is heaven. I now have to drive 1 ½ hours in the traffic to get to work or back whereas before it took me only five minutes, but the feeling of utter peace and tranquility I find when I get home, makes it all worthwhile.

On the day I moved it rained but it did not bother me. I now sit at my study window and look out on nothing but bush.

During the day and at night, I hear the lions and the zebra calling. This has to compare with the sweetest music in my ears.

The place is surrounded with mountains, not very high ones and one even has a cave which I can explore sometime and who knows what I will find in it.

There are miles and more miles I can walk around on and a river nearby which I have not been down to yet.

At night when I get home, the Blue Wildebeest or some other animal is laying in the road to the house and I stop to watch them.

Being summer, there are a lot of babies around and this youngster is less than 3 days old as it still has its umbilical cord.

To get home, sit on the porch and look around at the birds and hear the animals, all the days frantic pace and stress just melts away and I am at peace with the world…….