Orange Wing Cicada (Platypleura haglundi) Cicadidae

I know that the constant whirring sound they make drives some people crazy but try to find them, and they are nowhere to be seen. Because of this difficulty, it is always nice to eventually find one.
Worldwide there are between two thousand and three thousand different species. Most of a cicada’s lifecycle is spend underground where they live as nymphs feeding on the juices from tree roots by inserting their sucking mouthparts into the roots. Here they may spend years and go through several instars (developmental stages) and moults before finally emerging to go through a final moult outside on the trunk of a tree.

The carapace splits open lengthwise along the dorsal (top) side of the nymph to allow the new cicada into the outside world. It takes a while for the carapace and wings to harden before the cicada is ready for its adult life lasting but a few weeks. After mating, the female cuts slits into the bark of a twig and deposits her eggs there. When the eggs hatch after about six weeks, the newborn nymphs drop to the ground, where they burrow and start another cycle. Most cicadas go through a life cycle that lasts from two to five years, although some American species have a life cycle of seventeen years.

The intriguing question is how do these small insects produce that deafening sound and for what purpose? Well, the interesting thing about these noisy bugs is that only the males are calling. The reason? Well, to attract females of course. Each species has its own distinctive call and only attracts females of its own kind even though rather similar species may co-exist. The apparatus used by cicadas for producing the sound is quite complex and differ completely from insects such as crickets and grasshoppers in which sound is produced by means of stridulation, when different body parts are rubbed together.

Museum Gardens - Part 1

There is a very old house a little way out of town and I was asked to tag along to take pictures of the pretty gardens. During the summer, there is a riot of color there with flowers of every shape and description but naturally with all the flowers around, there are also a lot of bugs.

An Ermine Moth sits in the shadow and hopes I am nothing which will prey on him.
The symmetry of this dandelion is amazing.

In close-up one can see how perfect it is.

An unknown caterpillar had found a hole in this tree and was trying to get into it. I wonder if it was a female and had maybe laid eggs in it or if there was something to eat inside?

A very odd shape jumping spider who was so small, I could hardly find it with my camera lens.

The following two shots are flowers growing there which I have never seen before.

Any ideas what kind they are? They were very pretty.

A beetle curls up in a leaf and pretends I do not see him. Almost every flower and plant had some kind of insect on it.

Mopane Worms

On a trip through the bush I came across one which was alive with these caterpillars.
They are huge as can be seen in the picture with my hand as a measure, about 5 inches and as fat as my thumb.

The color is unmistakable and so easily recognizable.

Outbreaks of these caterpillars can cause defoliation of shrubs.

As I often find the larvae but not the moth itself, I have brought two home but this takes a long time and the moths will only emerge next summer.

For more information, please click here as this is a most interesting critter. :)

Groenkloof NR - Park 3

Early morning dew is still on this weed and a spider has laid her eggs among the leaves and now they have hatched.
I could not help but take another picture of the dew on this weed. It is so pretty – like crystals.

A Brown Vapourer (Tussock moth) is once again according to my books distribution map, not supposed to be found in this area. They are small and the females are grey in color.

I am sure you have all seen these small tunnels. Sometimes they will be found of animals skins and horns mounted on walls. They belong to Clothes Moths. Many of this species have become pests in homes.

Rose Aphids – a gardeners pet hate….. but a necessary evil. If it were not for them, what would the other bugs eat? :)

Now don’t ask me what this is because I don’t have a clue. J Any ideas out there? I found them on the same plant as the aphids.

A small Hairy Darkling Beetle.

What a pretty flower and it is just under 1/2 an inch in diameter.

This plant grows similar to mistletoe. It attaches itself to a host tree and does not have any roots as such.

Pirate Butterfly (Catacroptera cloanthe) Nymphalidae

Update: I have now taken a picture of the underside of the wings an am adding it.....

Pirates belong to the Nymphalidae family. They are of medium size and the underwing is dull brown in color.
They are one of the earliest butterflies to be found in spring and the males are strongly territorial.

The blue eye-spots are very conspicuous and they can be found throughout the west cost and northern areas of South Africa.

Groenkloof NR - Part 2

A female Braconid Wasp flew into the grass nearby…..

....And spent some time lapping up the dew which had formed on the grass.
With luck I managed to photograph the early morning sun in this dewdrop.
A tiny Leaf-rolling beetle. There were hundreds of them on the plants soaking up the early rays of sunlight.

A Tree Cockroach is almost invisible against the bark. The females are wingless.

In a small stream lay this shell of an Awl Snail. They are found all over South Africa and are very difficult to tell apart. I have just bought and received this wonderful book by Dai Herbert and Dick Kilburn on snails and slugs.

LOL!! Now THIS is a plant I do not want to step in or accidentally sit on and you can see why!

My goodness, there must be hundreds of different species of jumping spiders. Each time I photograph one, it is different to all the others. The only thing they have in common is their small size.

Tree Cricket (Oecanthus sp) Gryllidae

At first I thought that this was a katydid with its long legs but I had never seen a brown one before and was puzzled.
After searching through my book, I found it to be a Tree Cricket. They are very small, body length about ½ an inch. All have wings and are capable of flight. The most interesting things about them is that their chirp rate is temperature dependent and can be used to identify the species. Leaves are used as cones to amplify the mating chirp, one species calling from just behind a small hole gnawed in a leaf.

Milkweed Leaf Beetle Platycorynus dejeani Chrysomelidae

This is a leaf eating beetle of the Chrysomelidae family and has to be one of the prettiest we have.
It is small, maybe ½ an inch in body length and the difference in color between males and females can clearly be seen in this mating pair.

Besides adults eating leaves and flowers, larvae bore into stems and roots.

In one of my reference books it holds a dubious record……

….during research, it was found that the female of this species mated with various males a record of 60 times.!! LOL!! I wonder who was doing the counting? :)

Cobra Lily (Amorphophallus sp)

I came across a completly unknown species of lily and took some pictures of it. Trying to find out what it was, I found this interesting information......

Amorphophallus sp.

Family: Araceae

Also known as: Voodoo lily, Devils tongue, Snake Palm, Corpse flower

Origin: Himalaya, India, Burma

Amorphophallus species are herbs with an underground storage organ. This is usually a tuber. One single leaf emerges from the tuber, consisting of a vertical petiole (stalk) and a horizontal leaf-blade. The latter is dissected into few or numerous small leaflets. Once plants are mature an inflorescence may develop. The inflorescence may replace the leaf in one season, or develop alongside it. From winter dormant tubers emerge an umbrella like plant with beautiful speckled stems.
Large flowers will emerge from mature plants in the spring. When the spathe opens the female flowers are receptive and must be pollinated that same day. The opening inflorescence emits an attractant scent. In Amorphophallus this scent has diversified considerably. In most species the scent is anything but pleasant, and reminds one of varieties of death, decay, sewage, gas and the like.

A few species develop a scent that is actually pleasant to the human nose (e.g. carrot-like, anise, chocolate, fruity, lemon). After successful pollination most parts of the spathe wither and drop off, after which the individual female flowers develop into berries, containing the seeds. These berries are usually red or orange-red, but occasionally blue, white, or yellow-and- white.

Amorphophallus thrives in a rich loamy soil in partial shade. Compost should consist of 2 parts loam to 1 part peat moss to 1 part sand. Keep the plant evenly moist all through the growing season. Keep dry during dormancy, keep moist during growing period. Fertilize monthly with a houseplant fertilizer. Water should be gradually withheld starting in October until the leaf withers. Store corms at a temperature above 50 degrees. They can be brought into active growth in late March. If the corms are strong enough, a blossom will soon be produced.

The leaf follows soon afterwards. A. bulbifer definitely dislikes low humidity - the leaflets may partially desiccate; this seems to be more pronounced in low light. Also, in low light, the leafes become exceptionally dark green, with nicely contrasting pink margins. Such plants have to be moved to brighter light very gradually. In bright light, the leaves are bright green, with pinkish margins less pronounced. Other species: konjac, titanum, and much more...

This information was obtained from:

http://toptropicals.com/catalog/uid/AMORPHOPHALLUS_SP.htm

Please have a look at their site to see some more very unusual flowers of this species.