Africa Wild

Klipspringer

Me again. I would appreciate some help with the following bugs from KwaZula Natal. I know general names eg trapdoor spider, blister beetle, dung beetle, but my enquiring mind always likes to get to species level if possible. i know what a talented informed group you are so thanks in advance for anything you can ID. 3 more in next post.

Here are the blister beetle and dung beetle viewtopic.php?p=261393#p261393

If you go to the AW insect book forum and write the common name in the search box to the left on top, you should get the insect that you are looking for. If not there, there are the indexes. If you do not find it there only the scientific pages can help you: ask Google

Hello GlosterBirder,
difficult to know the exact species as there are hundreds of beetle, especially for dung beetles.
For the blister beetle, it should be of the genus Mylabris (I can't see well the colour of the antenna, maybe Mylabris oculata if they are orange/yellow).
The first spider is a Golden Orb-web Spider (genus Nephila), but can't say the exact species.
Hope it helps a bit.

The last spider is a trapdoor spider, coaxed out of its hole on our walking safari.

GlosterBirder wrote: ↑Fri Mar 08, 2019 8:42 pm I don't know what happens but when I posted birds the other day the forum was inaccessible to me for 24hrs and the same happened with these bugs.

Sorry if I've offended anyone but I'm sure that's not it

Hey GlosterBirder, unfortunately this is a safety feature of the forum. When you try to post a number of attached photos in quick succession you are perceived as a spammer and locked out for 24hrs. To prevent this happening again, try to post no more than 5 pics in one post, and then wait a bit before posting again. Alternatively, use a pic hosting site like Tinypic.

If it does happen again, just reset your router and you will be able to access the forum again.

Thank you Flutterby

Hi

I think the spider is genus Stasimopus, might be S. rufidens which is recorded from KZN.

Here is a download link for Trapdoor spiders

https://epdf.tips/download/baboon-and-t ... frica.html



Stasimopus rufidens is the largest of the genus with females reaching a body length of 50mm.

Your photo shows the cork lid burrow. Commonly known as cork lid trapdoor spiders, the Stasimopus genus contains 45 species and is endemic to Southern Africa. The specific name derived from Latin means "Red Teeth" and may pertain to the red/rufous colouration of the rastellum on the spiders chelicera. The rastellum are teeth like modifications that allow Stasimopus and other members of the Ctenizidae family to build their impressive burrows. Stasimopus are perfectly adapted for a life spent in their burrows. A large stocky spider, Stasimopus has short robust legs which enable the spider to quickly traverse the smooth sides of its burrow when alerted to prey or in the case or predators, firmly hold shut the cork lid. The cork lid is created from soil, vegetation and silk. Prey is captured when insects, or small vertebrates disturb the silk trip lines that radiate outwards from the entrance of its trapdoor, alerting the spider to a meal. The spider detects the prey by vibrations and when the unwary victim comes close enough, the spider lurches out with remarkable speed to capture the prey which is then pulled back into the burrow to be consumed. Females and juvenile males are very similar in appearance but once the males mature they become an altogether different looking beast with notable differences in the extraordinary long pedipalps, the secondary sex organs and the long slender legs which undoubtedly favour long drawn out wanderings in his search for the perfect female.

Gloster and Klippies!

This is the Black-legged Nephila Nephila fenestrata