Africa Wild

Pretty

Namaqua Dove Oena capensis




Mapungubwe National Park, 22 August 2014

Identification: Size small; long graduated tail diagnostic; in flight wings cinnamon; two dark bands enclosing pale band across lower back. Male: Face and breast black; bill yellow with purple base. Female: No black on face and breast; bill black. Immature: Heavily spotted with buff and barred with black.

Distribution: Africa, Arabia and Madagascar; almost throughout South Africa, but scarce in E.

Status: Very common in drier areas, common to scarce in other parts; resident, but nomadic, especially in arid zones.

Habitats: Dry bushveld, Acacia thornveld, arid scrub, semidesert, riverine bush in desert, rural gardens, farmyards, fallow lands.

Habits: Solitary or in pairs, except at waterholes where large numbers come and go all day, even in midday heat. Flight fast and direct with quick irregular wingbeats, somewhat swallowlike; on landing raises and slowly lowers tail; takes off with rattling burst of wings. Usually perches low down on bush, tree or fence; also on telephone wires; forages on open ground, often on gravel roads; walks hunched with tiny steps.

Food: Small seeds.

Breeding: Season: All months (mainly September to December in Cape); in arid areas breeds after rain. Nest: Small saucer of twigs, grass stems and rootlets; usually less than 1,5 m above ground in low bush, rarely up to 3 m; sometimes on ground among shrubs or on fallen twigs or grass stems. Clutch: 2 eggs (sometimes 3). Incubation: 13-16 days by both sexes, ♂ from about 09:30-15:30, ♀ remainder of day and all night. Nestling: 15-16 days; fed by both parents.

male... and the female

African Honeybee Apis mellifera scutellata


Mkuze Town, 2 September 2014

The African honeybee subspecies (Apis mellifera scutellata) is native to central and most of southern Africa. The African honeybee is one of two subspecies of honeybees in South Africa – the other being the Cape honeybee (A. m. capensis), which is found in the winter rainfall area.

Apart from their characteristic striped abdomen, all honeybees have five eyes (two compound eyes and three single lens eyes) and a worker bee’s main eyes have
nearly 7000 lenses. An electrostatic charge on the bee’s hairs attracts pollen and the leg brushes then scrape the pollen from front to back, where it collects in the pollen basket – a flat and wider area on the rear pair of legs. A honeybee has two sets of wings used for flight. The wing hooks enable the bee to attach one of each set of wings together during flight for maximum efficiency.

Velvet Ant Dolichomutilla sycorax


Kruger National Park, 24 August 2014

Dolichomutilla sycorax is a wingless wasp, broadly distributed throughout eastern Africa, from Kenya to South Africa where it is the most common species of the genus.

These wasps are approximately 9-22 mm long, with the head and metasoma black and the mesosoma deep maroon-red. The apterous females have a pair of white spots on the second metasomal tergum and an interrupted broad white band on the third tergum; the macropterous males are almost identical in coloration, unlike for most Mutillidae, and have conspicuously banded wings.

All mutillids are parasites. They develop in the cocoons or puparia of other insects, most commonly wasps and bees, but also flies, beetles and moths. The egg is introduced into the cocoon or puparium where the mutillid larva feeds on the mature larva or pupa of the host. Dolichomutilla sycorax are reared from wasp mud nests of Sceliphron spirifex (Sceliphrinae, Sphecidae); Tricarinodynerus guerinii and Synagris analis (Eumeninae, Vespidae)

African Common White Belenois creona severina


uMkhuze, 1 September 2014

A dung-loving butterfly

Sharptooth Catfish Clarias gariepinus


Kruger National Park, 25 August 2014

The most common fish species in Kruger An ugly flat headed fish with four pairs of long trailing sensory organs known as ‘barbels’ around its mouth giving it a similar appearance to a cat, hence the name catfish, but crocodiles like them.

Yellowheart Lovebug Solenosthedium liligerum


Mapungubwe National Park, 22 August 2014

A large bug with a cool name

Formerly classified as a subfamily of Pentatomidae the Shield-backed (Scutelleridae) bugs are closely related to this family. They are easily identified by their very large scutellum that completely covers abdomen and wings.

Solenosthedium liligerum is widespread in Africa. A fairly large species, about 14 mm long. The body is a metallic brownish olive-green colour, finely pitted with green speckles. It has a yellow band at the end of the scutellum in variable shape, it can be divided into three blotches, sometimes heart-shaped, the black dots are sometimes practically invisible. The abdomen is bright red and flashes in the sun when the specimen is in flight.

This is much closer to 300 than 200...maybe even 400?

Flap-necked Chameleon Chamaeleo dilepis


Mapungubwe National Park, 22 August 2014

The flap-necked chameleon’s common name derives from the large, movable flaps that protrude from either side of the upper surface of its neck. Normally these flaps lie flat, over a bony protuberance at the back of the head called a 'casque', but during threat displays to deter rivals or predators, they can be raised and angled at 90 degrees to the head. Males can be distinguished from females by their taller casques, larger flaps and by the small spurs which protrude from the hind legs of some subspecies. At rest, the flap-necked chameleon’s body colouration is usually light green, brown or yellow, with a light or dark stripe extending across the flanks. The body is diffusely marked with numerous dark spots, which become bright yellow or orange when it is excited or ready to mate. Two low crests formed from large conical scales run down the centre of the upper and lower surfaces of the body, with the lower crest beginning at the throat and continuing unbroken over the belly.

The flap-necked chameleon inhabits coastal forest, both moist and dry savannah, woodland and bushy grasslands, it has also been found in rural and suburban areas. The species is arboreal, however it can often be observed crossing the ground. The bulk of the diet consists of grasshoppers, beetles and other edible invertebrates; large individuals may eat vertebrate prey, such as geckos and other chameleons. Like other chameleon species, the flap-necked chameleon has a number of special adaptations for hunting. Its eyes are located on cone-shaped turrets, which can move independently, allowing it to look in two different directions simultaneously, while searching for its insect prey. Once spotted, prey is caught by means of the flap-necked chameleon’s remarkable, extensile tongue. The contraction of special muscles within the tongue rapidly propels it towards the prey, which is snared by a combination of the tongue’s sticky mucous coating and a vacuum created by muscles in the tip.
This species is commonly preyed upon by the boomslang and the twig snake as well as a variety of birds and mammals. In southern Africa, mating usually takes place in November/December and gestation lasts about four months. Females lay between 10-40 oval eggs, which take about 10-12 months to hatch. Growth is rapid and sexual maturity is reached within one year of hatching.