Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Species: Launaea nana
Launaea rarifolia var. rarifolia
This is a very low-growing plant and often overlook. Leaves are absent at the time of flowering and it is usually only a small spatter of colour that catch my eye. The plant has milky latex.
I have found both species in the same area, with the Launaea nana the dominant species.
They flower during early spring, in grassy areas fully exposed.
Launaea nana
Launaea rarifolia var. rarifolia
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Species: Gerbera ambigua
Gerbera jamesonii (Barberton daisy)
Gerbera piloselloides
Gerbera viridifolia var. viridifolia
What I like most about the Gerberas is their colour variation. It is always important to observe the leaves very thorough.
Gerbera ambigua
The brilliant white Gerbera ambigua was very difficult to photograph, as I don’t have fancy lenses. I have found it in only two locations on the farm. The upper side of the leaves are green with a velvety white underside.
This particular plant is very strong and produces flowers throughout the year, although I have found that the flowers are in a better condition in summer. Both plants that I have encountered grow fully exposed.
Gerbera jamesonii
And then there is Gerbera jamesonii. The red variations are just as difficult to photograph. The pictures always look over exposed. I usually encounter them in semi-shade, under trees.
The upper surface of the leaves is dark green, the lower surface is waxy green. The leaves have very ragged edges, distinguishing it from similar species.
The colours vary from white to dark red with all variations in between. The most prominent colour is orange-red and I haven’t found white ones yet.
The pappus is creamy white to dirty white.
The pink variation is the only plant that I have found so far, and is quite different from the above-mentioned colour variations.
Hybridization between G. jamesonii and G. viridifolia has led to the cut-flower industry of Gerberas.
Gerbera piloselloides
The Gerbera piloselloides is a very inconspicuous species, and it is only when you photograph it that its magnificence shows. It almost seems as if the flower never opens completely. The outer petals are often tinged with pink.
Gerbera viridifolia var. viridifolia
The Gerbera viridifolia var. viridifolia also show great variation in colour. From white to pink to maroon. I always see them fully exposed, espesially in rocky areas.
To eradicate alien invader plants is really hard physical work. However, it can be rewarding in other ways sometimes.
While spraying Pompom weed (Campuloclinium macrocephalum) in December 2011, I found a beautiful yellow crab spider (Thomisus sp.) on one of the Pompoms I was about to remove. I was a bit more that 1km from home and immediately went to fetch my camera, praying that it would stay there until I come back. It was quite a hot summer’s day and I had a glass of cool drink first to quench my thirst.
When arriving back, I found that it was in the meantime successful in a hunt. It had caught a bee (Apis mellifera) and was busy sucking it dry.
Crab spider with a bee
That alone was something special, but what intrigued me most was the two little flies that joined in the feast; also sucking out the juices of the bee. The flies can possibly be Jackalflies (from the family Milichiidae).
The flies can clearly be seen in this picture
The spider and flies didn’t play on the job, it didn’t take long to finish their meal. Later that afternoon when I went to see, the bee was sucked dry and it layed on the ground.
Note the difference in the size of the abdomen of the fly between this picture and the previous one. It was taken one minute apart.
The spider remained on the flower for two more days before it disappeared and then I finished my eradicating job and removed the flower before it could spread it seeds.
A question that can be asked is: Why didn’t the bee see the yellow predator on the pink flower? The answer is easy. Bees don’t see colour the way we do. They see a broader spectrum of light than we do. Bees can detect ultraviolet light and have a completely different view of flowers than we have. The ultraviolet rays are too short for the human eye to detect. The most possible scenario is that the spider has the same ultraviolet colour as the flower, and therefor basically well camouflaged for its prey.
So how did the different species depend on each other for survival? The spider used the flower to blend in, waiting well camouflaged in ambush for the prey. The bee, although being preyed upon, possibly pollinated the flower. The fly hanged around the spider who injected a poison to liquefy the prey to enable it to feed on the bee, and then the fly could also feed. So, in this case it was only the bee who gave up its life, with three other species benefiting from its death!
Things like this makes it worthwhile to fight for the biodiversity on my farm, and I thank God for the privilege to observe these tiny little critters that otherwise would have gone unnoticed.
For further reading about bees and how they see colour:
Other interesting reading
Order: Anura
Family: Hyperoliidae
Species: Hyperolius marmoratus subsp. taeniatus (Painted reed frog)
This one was very comfortable in the same spot for a few days
The painted reed frog is about 3 cm in length.
Note the horizontal pupil in the eye
The color patterns on the adult frogs are extremely variable and it vary from distinct stripes to spots.
Yellow stripes dominant with the darker colour in between shining through
The patterns vary from yellow to greenish, and brown to black.
An example of a specimen with green bands
The pupils are horizontal and no eardrum shows on the head. The bodies are elongated and slender. The feet have webbing between the toes.
Brightly coloured underside
Males have a vocal sac, often with small orange spots. Females lack a vocal sac, but possess a side-to-side fold across the throat.
Note the orange spots
They aestivate during the dry season in sheltered places. Breeding normally takes place in summer.
I have found the frogs quite far from water; most were basking in the sun on plants and were motionless until I poked them to show the undersides. Surprisingly they were moist, although far from the nearest water.
For more information:
Order: Lepidoptera
Family: Notodontidae
Species: Atrasana postica
(Article was revised)
I have requested help with the identification of this species earlier, and would like to thank all those involved for their input.
A beautiful caterpillar, the colours almost unreal
It was about this time last year (April 2011) when I found the striking candy-striped caterpillar on a Dombeya rotundifolia (Wild pear or Drolpeer in Afrikaans) leaf. It was about 2-2.5cm long. When disturbed, it curved the body as in the picture below.
Body position when disturbed
I observed it for quite a while and came back for a second ‘photo shoot’.
Leave me alone! Go away now!
I saw it pooped and then something amazing happened. It immediately turned to the poop, took it in the mouth and threw it. It fell a few centimetres away and the caterpillar continued until the poop fell off the leaf. Hygienic little critter, I must say!
Throwing out poop to tidy up it’s living space
This behavior is apparently known as ‘scatapulting’, and the poop’s more proper name is ‘frass’. Read more about this behavior at National Geographic and Tales from the Butterfly Garden.
The eggs on the body fascinated me but I didn’t think at the time to keep the caterpillar to observe the parasite.
A few weeks later, after a walk through the veldt, I found another of this magnificent species on my shoe. It was much smaller and had fewer, but larger eggs attached to it.
A second specimen, with much larger eggs on the body.
This time however I was determined to find out what was parasitizing this beautiful organism, and I kept the caterpillar in a container in my room.
A few days later… the eggs have hatched…
It was gruesome to witness the larvae consuming the caterpillar alive.
By this time the caterpillar was literally sucked dry
Unfortunately I didn’t take any pictures of the pupae, but I saw the organisms that hatched from it!
To get some perspective – this is a honey jar’s lid
It was tiny, tiny wasps and my camera lens was hardly sufficient to capture it, and definitely not sufficient enough to enable identification. But I tried!
Webcam through microscope eyepiece
I brought a microscope from work and attached a webcam to it to take these pictures and a short video clip, but I can’t post that here.
Much, much more enlarged
There are ways described on the Internet to attach a webcam to a microscope, and I have tried several methods but nothing is working really very well at this time. This was taken by just holding the cam to the eyepiece, the only way I could capture any image. It is better than nothing, however.
Species: Ansellia africana
Eulophia streptopetala
Habenaria epipactidea
Habenaria caffra (Habenaria falcicornis caffra)
The first orchid that I found was Habenaria caffra. That evening when I downloaded the pictures I decided to go back the next morning to get better pictures. The next morning I set out on my mission only to find that the flowers had been eaten during the night by one of the many game species on the farm.
Habenaria falcicornis caffra
Since then I have scrutinized the area every year in that time frame but have never found it again in that exact spot. I had to wait a few years to see another one and also haven’t found it again on the same spot.
I have found for a third time last year and have often visited the site, but so far nothing.
In 2009 my husband found Eulophia streptopetala in bloom while clearing Lantana camara. Knowing that I have seen the plants since we bought the property in 2003 but never seen the flowers, I set out to confirm for myself. I have confirmed the plant in three different localities, and in each locality the plant is growing in the shade underneath dense bush.
Eulophia streptopetala
Sometimes you have to look up also! My eyes are usually on the ground searching for specimens, and it was my husband who spotted this splendid orchid in a tree. The first time he found it, it only had a few flowers left and I couldn’t photograph it. I had to wait for the next season… Ansellia africana is an epiphyte and has fragrant flowers. It flowers every season during early spring and the flowers stays for quite a while on the plant. I had to climb into the tree and very peculiarly balance myself to take the close-up pictures. This one grows in a shady dense bush.
Ansellia africana
In January 2010 I found the fourth species, Habenaria epipactidea. The unsuccessful search for Habenaria epipactidea in the spots where I found them didn’t deter me from looking for Habenaria epipactidea. I was very happy to find it in bloom again in February 2012 in the original spot. My happiness was extended when I found that there are now two plants in that spot.
Habenaria epipactidea
Over the years I have learnt that you have to be in the right spot on the right time to see some flower species… I hope to be in the right spot for many more species waiting to be found.
Update on 12 Oct 2014 – It is with great sadness that I have to tell that the Ansellia africana plant has been poached off 0ur property.
Updated 08/04/2015
Patience is a virtue that I don’t have when dealing with the species Homo sapiens. But sometimes I do have patience…
Some days spent in the veldt are just different than others. Yesterday was a very special day for me. Not only was it the first time in more than a month that I have spent time in my beloved veldt, but I have also found two flower species that I have been waiting for… and one new sighting.
About a year and a bit ago I saw these seeds on a climber. Usually books only have pictures of the flowers, without even mentioning seeds.
Beautiful… beautiful… beautiful…
With seeds it is always difficult to determine the flowering time… sometimes you have to patiently wait for a next season… and hope that the plant will sprout again!
The leafs have been out for a while
Since spring I have occasionally visited the place in anticipation that the plant will make its appearance. My hope was not in vain and the plant slowly started to make shoots with healthy leafs. But the flowers weren’t coming… weren’t coming…
Can you help me to identify this bug?
I photographed the bug and its nymph on the plant in December 2011.
Nymph of the bug above
And then yesterday… I could eventually see which flower makes these beautiful little seeds! It proved to be Sphedamnacarpus pruriens var. pruriens from the family Malpighiaceae, a flower that I had photographed a few years ago for the first time; but never before had I seen it’s seeds.
Sphedamnacarpus pruriens var. pruriens
The second flower is also a climber, the leaf structure and flower indicates that it will fall in the Fabaceae family, the species unknown to me.
Unknown species, family Fabaceae
It is a tiny, tiny little flower.
Unknown species, family Fabaceae
The climber caught my eye because of the interesting formations that the barks make. Might this be a distinguishing feature for the species?
Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder…
The third one is a species from the family Asteraceae, genus Dicoma anomala subsp. anomala
Dicoma anomala subsp. anomala
Can you now understand why patience is a virtue when it is about my beloved?
Species: Rhanidophora ridens (Dice moth)
Rhanidophora sp
I have read that Rhanidophora ridens can be found on Thunbergia species and since then I don’t pass a Thunbergia without looking for this magnificent caterpillars.
Thunbergia atripicifolia is the species that occurs mainly on the farm, and on it Rhanidophora sp. It may be Rhanidophora cinctiguttata, I haven’t found a picture of it yet to confirm the identification.
In the eight years that we have been on the farm, I have found Rhanidophora ridens only twice. The first time it was within a metre of Rhanidophora sp and the second time I found the two species on the same plant, within a few centimetres of each other.
Species: Phymateus leprosus
Green pronotrum and mouthparts of Phymateus leprosus
I don’t have a picture of the shiny green and black nymphs of Phymateus leprosus which is said to be an occational pest on citrus trees in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. According to Picker, Griffiths & Weaving* human fatalities from ingestion are known.
Species: Phymateus viridipes
Phymateus viridipes, Green Milkweed Locust
The Green Milkweed locust produce a bad smelling foam from the thoracic joints. One day I found about a hundred nymphs on a milkweed bush (Asclepias physocarpa), and with the help of one Danaus chrisippus caterpillar they consumed the whole bush in a day.
Phymateus viridipes nymph and Danaus chrisippus caterpillar
Species: Zonocerus elegans
Zonocerus elegans nymph on Lantana camara
Species: Zonocerus variegatus
I often find Zonocerus variegatus on Lantana camara, one of the worst alien invader species in our area.
Zonocerus variegatus nymph on Campuloclinium macrocephalum
The smaller nymphs are abundant on the notorious Poppom weed Campuloclinium macrocephalum.
* Picker, Griffiths & Weaving. 2004. Field Guide of Insects of South Africa. Struik Nature, Cape Town
Revised:
It is possibly but not yet confirmed:
Family: Notodontidae
Species: Atrasana postica
Found on: Dombeya rotundifolia (family Sterculiaceae) leaf Length: + 2.5cm long Date: 25 April 2011 (Early autumn) Locality: Barberton, South Africa Note the eggs of a parasytic wasp on the body of the caterpillar.
This caterpillar looks like candy or ‘Liquorice All Sorts’
Aylestone 8 