Tag Archive for south african insects

Did You Know – King Cricket

Lacey / January 18, 2012 / No comments

Check out his weeks nature factsheet – this week King Cricket

- Onosandrus (King Cricket) - Description: Medium sized cricket with single spine on inner side of upper front leg (tibiae). Pattern on back caused by black markings on cream body - Size: Body length approx 28mm. - Male/female: Mandibles same size in both sexes. - Life Expectancy: Approx 3 years: hatchling to adult - Behaviour: Nocturnal, stay in underground burrows during the day emerging at night to feed. - Diet: Eat small animals (usually insects) and plant matter. - Noise: 'Stridulate' by rubbing legs against the abdomen. - Reproduction: Eggs can take up to 18 months to hatch and take 1 to 3 years to mature. Males can have harems of females which brood eggs and young in special chambers. - Habitat: Dark and damp places; Wet soil, rotten logs, sodden moss. - Distribution: Found across the whole of South Africa. - Did you know: Some adults are missing both wings, sometimes they only miss one! | Make a deafeningly loud noise just by rubbing their legs together.

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Did You Know – Large Striped Swordtail Butterfly

Lacey / October 5, 2011 / No comments

See below for the latest in our ‘Did You Know’ educational factsheet series.

Sword tail butterfly Scientific name: Graphium antheus Identificaton: Upperside: Black with turquoise bands and spots. Transverse bands in forewing are wavy. Underside: Similar pattern but grey/brown with pale green markings. Behaviour: Flight is high and rapid. Both sexes visit flowers. Males tend to be found in hundreds on wet mud. Larvae and caterpillars are diapausal meaning that if the environmental conditions are not right they will continue to 'sleep'. Wingspan: Male - 65-70mm Female - 70-75mm Male/ female: Similar markings on male and female Diet: Adult butterflies do not need to eat as they obtain most of the food they need as caterpillars. They do however drink. Using their proboscis (mouth-piece like a straw) they suck nectar from plant flowers and tree sap. Males will also suck up salts from the drying mud. Larvae feeds on various leaves, flowers, and fruit dependant on region. Communication: Communicate with chemical signals Distribution: Within South Africa: From, coastal lowland forest from Eastern Cape to savannah in KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and Limpopo province. Habitat: Forest edges and flatlands. Predators: Varied predators from Chameleons to birds. Roughly summarised to 'anything that can catch them' Did you know: - You can tell moths and butterflies apart by their antenna. Butterflies have straight antenna whilst moths have ones that resemble TV aerials to help them fly at night. - Butterflies only fly in the daytime

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Did You Know – Cocktail Ant

Lacey / September 7, 2011 / No comments

See below the factsheet for the South African Cocktail Ant
Cocktail Ant Scientific Name: Crematogaster peringueyi Description: Small ant species indigenous to South Africa. Habitat: Diverse habitat, usually found in a forested area. Distribution is along the East Coast of South Africa. Predators: Surprisingly few due to red colour and irritant fluid. Tend to be preyed upon mainly by birds. Food: Worker ants tend aphids and coccid insects for honeydew. Social structure: Like all ants they form colonies which comprise of a queen and worker ants. There are many different types of worker ant - some work in the nursery, some collect food, some protect the colony e.t.c. Communication: Unknown, presumed same as standard ant - Using pheremones (scents). e.g. an ant that finds food will leave a scent trail on his way to the colony for other ants to follow. Male or Female: This doesn't really apply to Ants.Two types of ant instead; Queen - Body length 6mm Worker ant - Body length 3-6mm, 2 segmented waist, head, thorax and legs reddish brown and black. Life Expectancy: Unknown, presumed to be the same as a standard ant - 90 days (worker ant) Did you know? Cocktail ants will build their nests near birds nests so that as the birds protect their own nests from predators they inadvertently protect the ants. Cocktail ants are called that because they cock their tails in the air and squirt on the bite.

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