More Road-trip Critters In Namibia

More critters seen on Road-trips in Namibia - most of the pics were taken on my last trip from the North:


A desert Dung Beetle with it's find - if I remember correctly this specimen was pulling the dung along, unlike most Dung Beetles I've seen which roll a ball and push it backwards with their hind legs.


En route to Büllsport early in the morning, this African Wild Cat ran across the road ahead of me and sat peering from the grass - it's the first time one has crossed my path.


A blow-up of the big-eared kitty - these wild cats interbreed with domestic cats.


A fuzzy shot of a dishevelled-looking Bat-eared Fox scurrying for the safety of the long grass - another 'first sighting' for me.


An unidentified Bird Of Prey soars above me.


A lone White Horse stands lost in the landscape.


A small herd of Springbuck stop to check me out.


A 90mm long Scorpion near the Orange River - you don't want to get zapped by this specimen - small pincers, fat tail = bad news.


A small herd of Mountain Zebra in he Namib Nauklauft Park. There are two species of Zebra in Namibia, the other being the Plains Zebra, which is found mainly in the Etosha National Park.


Two Zebras, One Ass.


I saw these animal symbols on a touring Camper-home in Grootfontein - it reminds me of the fighter pilots of old who put symbols of their 'kills' on their planes - is this guy trying to say that he's bagged all these beasts with his awesome caravan?


Related Posts:
Animals On The Road
Driving in Namibia - Animals On The Road

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Butterflies And A Moth

A few butterflies in my garden in the north:

















... and a Moth from the south at the Orange river. This specimen is as big as my palm.
Related Posts:
Some Bugs In My World
More Things That Bug Me

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Christmas Spiders And Shongololos

When I was in the north last year in November, the first rains of the season fell and these shiny velvet Christmas 'Spiders' appeared.

I don't know where the name comes from - maybe it's because they look like little red-suited Santas ... I'm not sure that they're true spiders either, I only count six legs and two 'feelers'.

There were also thousands of Millipedes, commonly known as the 'Shongololo' - (try say that out loud, it's not so hard ... shon-go-lo-lo).

The common variety of Shongololo, shown in the pic below with a Christmas Spider, is about 7cm long:


I also saw the rarer Giant African Millipede - Archispirostreptus gigas - and managed to get a pic with it's 'normal' cousin for a size comparison:


This specimen was probably about 25cm long:


I don't know whether either Christmas Spiders or Shongololos are eaten by predators but, while the Christmas Spiders look delicious in their shiny velvet suits, the Shongololos look positively unappetizing ... I'm not about to try and find out either ... :)

Related Posts:
Some Bugs In My World
More Things That Bug Me

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Termites - Insect Mountain Builders

A distinctive feature of the Namibian landscape north of the Swakop River are the so-called 'Ant Hills' or termite mounds.

These structures - Termitaria - are constructed by the fungus-grower termites Macrotermes mossambicus. Fungus gardens are situated near the base of the termitary.

Termites are often erroneously referred to as 'white ants' - termites are not true ants.



A pic to show just how huge these mounds can be - they do get taller than this.



A termitary built around the base of a tree, it doesn't seem to affect the tree at all.



The mounds are most distinctive in the rising or setting sun - this pic was taken on a cloudy day.



They come in all shapes and sizes, the color being dependent on the soil they're built on.



The hole in this one was probably made by an Antbear or 'Aardvark' hunting for food - I wonder who lives there now?



In his book The Soul Of The White Ant, Eugene Marais puts forward the theory that a termitary is a separate composite animal.



This one has been worn smooth - it's been used by Elephant and/or Rhino as a scratching post.

Here's a link to an earlier post I did on the yummy giant mushroom found on these termitarium during summer: Omahova

References:

Amy Schoeman - Notes On Nature.

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The Pretender - Don't Bug Me, I'm Dead

I think, from seeing references elsewhere, that this insect is called a Weevil:


This one's about 2cm round and when I touched it with a twig, it fell over and played dead. It looked kind of foolish because it knew that I knew that it was just pretending:


After a minute it slowly started to maneuver it's legs to stand up again:


And continued on it's way:


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More Things That Bug Me

Scorpion
There are many species of scorpion in Namibia, some dangerous, others not. This one I photographed in the desert, it is one of the highly venomous types. As a rule, scorpions with small pincers and thick tails are regarded as dangerous and, those with large pincers and thin tails, less so. I've been stung by a non-dangerous scorpion once and I tell you, it burns like hell for a few hours ...




Koringkriek
It's difficult to find anything to like about these creatures, they appear in their zillions during summertime and destroy crops and other vegetation. They're cannibalistic; thousands are squashed on the roads and their buddies promptly gather around and start eating the dead ones. I don't know what their English name is but, directly translated from Afrikaans, 'Koringkriek' means 'Corn Cricket'.




Giant African Millipede
We get some giant specimens here as can be seen from the photo, ... the cigarette lighter is about 8cm long. They appear after good rains and nothing seems to eat them.



OneStonedCrow Pics
Flightless Wasp
These creatures are quite distinctive and pack a nasty sting, I was zapped by one a while ago and two days later my toe was still burning. I've been told, (but never tested it out myself), that you can determine the sex of a Flightless Wasp by pressing a straw across the body behind the back legs, ... apparently the male 'screams'.

Here are some more Bugs from my World.

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Some Bugs In My World

CHRISTMAS SPIDER
These little creatures appear after the first good rains in December. The largest they get is about 1cm fat and they shine like red velvet in the sunlight, some birds eat them. They're known locally as "Christmas Spiders", maybe because they're first seen just before Christmas, or maybe because they look like miniature Santas in their furry red suits. They're not real spiders though, I can only count six legs and two "feelers". They don't bite when handled.



GRASSHOPPER/LOCUST
I don't know the difference between a grasshopper and a locust, if it's a matter of size then this colorful creature is definitely a locust, about 8cm long. I've only ever seen one specimen like this.


OneStonedCrow PicsAWACS BUG
I've named this an "AWACS Bug" because it resembles the spy plane, I don't know what it's called and I don't have any insect books to research it. What's in a name anyway, it's still pretty hey?

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