A spider's pantry

We always say that we have to look at the bigger picture and not just be narrow minded and get stuck in the same rut over and over.  When you travel though you should really pry your eyes away from a bigger picture at times and look for the little things as well.  Travelling up to the Drakensberg we spent two nights in Matatiele in the North Eastern Cape and went to have a look at the Matatiele Mountain Lake in the mountains above town.  An absolutely stunning but hidden beauty.  While the Damselfly and KidZ were admiring the surroundings I was looking for interesting angles to photograph it from and while getting down on my haunches between some rocks I came across a spider's pantry.  Didn't see the spider though but made sure I wasn't hanging around when he got hungry.

You better not come any closer

My yard seems to be a bit of a magnet for paper wasps (South African Paper Wasp - Polistes marginalis) with about three or four nests all around the house.  I know a couple of Geocachers who would be able to tell you all about the fact that unlike honey bees that only sting once, the paper wasp can inflict multiple stings.  The nest is built by a queen who lays the first eggs.  As these hatch and grow up the females join the queen on building onto and tending the nest.  Usually they are very docile but they will attack if threatened.  Or perceived to be threatened like when I passed a nest the other day with the lawnmower and they decided to shoo me away.  Bang bang bang, two on the arm and one on the neck.

Red Dragonfly

Even though I am known as Firefly, the Dragonfly must be my favorite insect.  A long weekend at Sitrusoewer next to the Sundays River near Kirkwood had me spending a lot of time on the water in a canoe and I was amazed at seeing how many dragonflies and damselflies there were.  I got this picture of a Red Dragonfly and decided to see if I can find out what it is called.  I never really found the answer to my question.  I did find this out.  There are in the region of 750 species of dragonfly in the whole of Africa.  Most of these are found in the tropics.  In South Africa there are 158 species, 90 of these being ‘true' dragonflies and the other 68 damselflies.

Hibernating snails

One of the beauties of travelling is exploring and discovering new places and things.  I dropped my mom off in Despatch after a visit and swung through town to pick up a Geocache I hadn't ticked off my list.  I parked next to a couple of Coral Trees (Lucky Bean Trees as some people know them) and on my way back to the car noticed a whole bunch of snails on one of the trees.  And when I say a whole bunch I don't mean like 10 or 20.  There were literally hundreds.  On closer inspection I saw them on all the trees along the road but I selected the one with the most and grabbed my camera.

 

I've been sitting with these pics for a while now and posted one of them on my Facebook Page.  The pic got a lot of reaction and somebody asked why they do that.  Going back to the day I saw this, I noticed that non of them were moving.  It was as if they were dead.  A snail cemetery perhaps.  Pulling one or two of them off they had a film across the hole of the shell and the snail was still inside.  Peculiar.  So this morning I decided to consult my good friend Google.  It took some time but finally I found out that some snails go into hibernation, specially during colder months and very dry periods.  Not sure which one of the two was the cause of this mass hibernation as it was a dry winter.  Both perhaps but regardless, always nice to discover and learn something new.

I got the following information off Snail World:

Some snails Hibernate.
Some species of snails actually hibernate during the colder months of the year. They cover their bodies with a thin layer of mucus, which prevents them from drying out. Sometimes snails are also able to hibernate in the summer to survive if they are faced with a severe drought. They live off of the stored up fat during this time of year. This process is one of the many reasons why they have been able to survive for million years.

Golden Orb Web Spider

After a recent meeting in Cradock I decided to stop at the Slagtersnek Monument near Cookhouse for a few photos.  While I was there I thought that it may be a good spot to place a Geocache and started looking around for a suitable hiding place.  Walking towards the back of the enclosure around the memorial my eyes were everywhere but looking where I was going and the next moment I walked into the toughest and stickiest spiders web I have every walked into.  Looking up this is what greeted me.  A Common Garden Orb Web Spider.  I had such a fright that I gave up my search for a place to hide the Geocache.  I did keep my wits about me to still grab my camera and snap a couple of photos though.

The Common Garden Orb Web Spider (Argiope australis) is different from the Black Legged Golden Orb Web Spider I have encountered before with the female having distinct yellow and grey stripes on the abdomen and banded legs.  They are normally found in fynbos and long grass (like I encountered it on this visit) and their webs are usually built within one meter of the ground.  The web occupies the aerial passage amongst vegetation in the path of flying insects with the spider sitting on the web waiting for prey to get trapped.  The good news is that they are not poisonous and thus harmless to man.  Still a case of "gogga maak vir baba (or in this case pappa) bang"

Web patterns

Some little web critter living in a hole has decided to decorate the outside of his home.  The pattern intrigued me as it takes the shape of a normal spiders web yet is flat on the pole with no linking strains.  Interesting indeed.  Found this while climbing up to The Point in Natures Valley.

Rain Spider nest

Spiders are commonplace in live and everybody have had flatties in their homes that sometimes (not always) get ignored as they are totally harmless.  But every now and then one makes their way into the house you just can't ignore, even if they are relatively harmless.  Who has never found a rain spider in a corner or behind a curtain and not just about freaked.   The Common Rain Spider (Palystes superciliosus) is a species of huntsman spider commonly and widespread found in South Africa.  But this post isn't really about the actual rain spider but rather its "nest."  I have often found people see a rain spider egg sac and not know what it is. 

 

After mating in the early summer, the female rain spider constructs a round egg sac about 60–100 mm in size made of silk, with twigs and leaves woven into it.  I've even found one in Addo with a sugar packet woven into the mix.

These egg sacs are commonly seen from about November to April. The female constructs the sac over 3–5 hours, then aggressively guards it until the spiderlings, who hatch inside the protective sac, chew their way out about three weeks later.  Have a careful look at the first picture and you will see that the baby spiders have exited the egg sac  Females will construct about three of these egg sacs over their two year lifespan. 

The pretty girl and the dung beetle

Looks can be deceiving.  You tend to think young pretty girls would only be interested in fashion, nightlife, tanning on the beach, spending time in the shops and hanging out with their friends. Yes, yes, I know I'm generalizing but I'm trying to get to a point so bare with me.  Late last year I hosted a travel blogger visit to Port Elizabeth and the surrounding area and the first blogger of the five to arrive was Rachel Lang, known online as Bush-bound Girl.  She wasn't quite what I was expecting, not that I know what I was expecting.  Rachel was the perfect travel companion a blogger can ask for.  She had endless enthusiasm and jumped at every opportunity to participate and try out things.  This made for great "experience" photos, plus the fact that she's a beautiful girl helped as well.  On our guided game drive in the Addo Elephant National Park our ranger stopped and picked up one of Addo's famous Flightless Dung Beetles.  Who immediately asked if she could hold it?  Nobody other than Bush-bound Girl.

The flightless dung beetle used to be found widespread in Southern Africa but these days is classified as a vulnerable species and only found in Addo Elephant National Park and a couple of other isolated spots.  The beetle is strictly dependent on a number of vertebrates (particularly elephant and buffalo) and when these animals were shot out at the end of the 1800's and beginning 1900's the poor dung beetle population took a huge knock.  These days things are slowly getting better and better for them with the increase and spreading of the elephant population in Addo and the surrounding reserves.  

Yellow flower (crab) spider

Leaving the office the other day I noticed a yellow spider sitting on a plant close to the door.  Don't ask me how I spotted him, I just did.  Turns out it was a Yellow Flower (or Crab) Spider.  They are of the family Misumena and can either be yellow or white depending on the flower they are hunting on.  During early summer young males can be quite small and easily overlooked, but females grow up to 10 mm (excluding legs) with males reach 5 mm at most.

At the time I assumed the object on this picture was an egg sack and I have a feeling I may be right.  Older females require large amounts of relatively large prey to produce the best possible clutch of eggs. 

 

Generally it is often very hard even for a searching human to recognize one of these spiders on a yellow flower so an insect wanting to land on a flower occupied by one of these better make sure his will is in order. 

So much more than just a locust

Everything has a proper name although as far as the animal kingdom goes us humans often just refer to them by the "overarching" or general name.  That was the case when I found this locust at Brakkeduine close to Oyster Bay west of Port Elizabeth.  It was just a locust.  But I started wondering what kind of locust as to not look too stupid when I do my post.  Where to start? Well, when it comes to insects I go straight to the Bug Lady, Joan Shaw.  And I was correct.  It wasn't just a locust.  It was a Green Milkweed Locust (Phymateus leprosus) of the Family Pyrgomorphidae.  Shows you what I know.  Thanks Joan.

Baba spinnekoppies

Ek is nie 'n groot aanhanger van spinnekoppe nie, behalwe as ek na hulle kyk deur my kamera.  Dan kom ek nogal verbasend naby.  Op 'n besoek aan 'n kampterrein langs die Gamtoosrivier het ek een middag gaan stap om 'n paar sonsondergang fotos te neem.  Langs die paadjie het ek iets vreemd opgelet en besluit om ondersoek in te stel.  Wat van ver af soos 'n bol iets gelyk het was 'n hele zoer baba spinnekoppies.

Baby grasshoppers

Going for a walk along one of the trails at Sleepy Hollow outside Port Elizabeth I noticed a black blob in the long grass next to the trial.  Now being a curious creature (and always looking for something to photograph), I decided to have a closer look and this is what I found.  A whole bunch of little baby grasshoppers.

Getting up after one or two pics I noticed for the first time that there was a Praying Mantis in the grass below the grasshoppers enjoying one of them for breakfast.  Would have been a great shot but the grass was in the way and my camera a bit slow on the focus to just move the grass and get a quick pic.  I decided not to disturb his brekkie any further and moved on.

Die gezoem van die bye

Daar is 'n gesegde wat sê: "Gaan groot of gaan huis toe".  Miskien het hierdie heuningby dit gedink op haar daaglikse nektar ronte.  Hoekom nou in klein blommetjies gaan rondkrap as daar 'n perfekte goeie Koningsprotea is om in te gaan nektar versamel.

Slakdop

Ek kan dit nie genoeg sê nie en julle sal dit nog seker baie hoor, maar mense is geneig om altyd vir die groot goed te soek en dan die klein dingetjies te mis.  Klein dingetjies soos 'n eenvoudige slakdop op 'n blaar.

Spider's house

I wonder what type of eight legged critter lives in this hole?

Die klein dingetjies

Dis so maklik om as reisiger soveel op die groot dinge te konsentreer dat mens die klein goedjies miskyk.  Gedurende 'n besoek aan Addo Elephant Back Safaris in die Zuurberge net langs die Addo Olifant Nasionale Park het ons onder andere saam met die olifante gaan stap.  Terwyl hulle water gedrink het het ek hierdie skoenlappertjie langs die dammetjie gekry en hy het lank genoeg stilgesit sodat ek langs hom kon gaan lê om die foto te kry.

Flightless Dung Beetle

One of the smallest but best known inhabitants of the Addo Elephant National Park is the Flightless Dung Beetle (Circellium bacchus).  The Flightless Dung Beetle is endemic to the Addo Elephant Park and surrounds and very unique in the fact that they can't fly and hence the name. 

This fact also makes the beetle a vulnerable species as they only use elephant and buffalo dung to feed off and lay their eggs in and at the time when these animals were being shot out it meant that the poor beetle couldn't just take to the sky and find another place with those big animals.

Even though they are restricted in where they occure, they are quite commen within their range throughout the park. Visitors to the park are asked though to be very careful when driving through the park and not to drive over dung on the road and kill the beetles in the process.

Aliens amongst us

Do you believe in Aliens?  Arnie took on the Predator, Sigourney fought the Alien and then the two of them (the Alien and the Predator) clashed with each other.  But do they really exist?  Looking at the picture above I would say that the answer may just be yes. 

The other day our general assistant at work came running into my office babbling on about this thing she saw outside and that I must take my camera to get a photo of it.  I barely had time to grab my camera before she dragged me outside and showed me the biggest Praying Mantis I have seen in my life.  She stood as tall as my coffee mug and now that I think of it perhaps I should have taken along my mug to put down next to her.

So next time you are out and about wondering if there are such things as aliens, don't just look up into the sky but also down at your feet.

Spider in his wet web

Often when you go for a walk in the early morning you will see hundreds of little spider webs in the grass all covered in dew.  But have you actually ever seen those spiders?  I like to peek and have a look, always with the hope to get a photo of one.  And the other day I got lucky.  This little guy was sitting in the opening in the web, probably waiting for something smaller than me to come along.  He didn't hang around long enough to find out my intentions, but just long enough for me to snap one picture. Got ya!

Black Locust

On a recent hike down the Lower Guinea Fowl Trail here in Port Elizabeth I found this black locust in the long grass.  He didn't seem to mind me sticking my camera in his face and if you look carefully you will notice that he has what looks like a red toothy grin. Big smile for the camera.