Summer insect activity
It’s 2022 and a new year! We wish everyone in the Bushveld Terrace family a happy and prosperous year ahead and, with the worst of COVID-19 seemingly behind us, hope to see familiar faces back in Phalaborwa again. After a short break over the festive season, our blog is up-and-running again and I look forward to sharing with you my insights into the wonders of the Kruger National Park.
Summer began with the emergence of the emperor moth; a large pink, ochre and orange moth with a large eye-spot on either hind wing, fluttering clumsily around light sources to exhaustion so that they may quite easily be picked up and held in the palm of your hand. They are the adult form of the well-known mopani worm (Imbrasia bellina), which isn’t a worm at all but a caterpillar belonging to the Order Lepidoptera (meaning scaled wing). The moths occur in great proliferations for two weeks or so during which time they mate and the female lays her eggs. She will find a suitable food source for the hatchlings – normally a mopani or marula tree – and lay her small white eggs on a leaf tightly packed together in a neat cluster. The moths are very short-lived and die soon after procreation. The eggs hatch a couple of weeks later and the minute larvae begin eating and literally don’t stop. The larvae are voracious eaters (if you stand under a tree they are feeding on you can actually hear them munching, a sound similar to the patter of soft rain) and outgrow their skins such that they will moult four times before they are ready to pupate. It is at this stage, just before the pupation begins, that the fat and colourful mopani worm is considered the most desirable for harvesting by humans in rural areas. Those worms that escape the harvest will climb down the tree and bury themselves in loose soil where they pupate over winter for six to seven months, emerging in early summer as an adult moth. And so continues the cycle.
Another insect commonly seen during summer is the ground beetle from the Family Carabidae. They are large predatory beetles with long, fast-moving legs and sharp-toothed jaws. They may be all black but some species have white or yellow spots on the flanks of their thorax. Ground beetles have the ability to squirt a formic/acetic acid mix from an abdominal gland which they use as a defence mechanism and it is the aforementioned yellow or white spots that warn against this. The acid has a strong smell, not unlike vinegar, and if sprayed into one’s eye will cause terrible pain. They are well-equipped for their predatory lifestyle in that ground beetles have excellent eyesight from big prominent eyes, can move incredibly fast on long legs and use their pincer-like jaws for catching and securing their prey. Take care when picking one up; they can inflict a painful bite and their Afrikaans common name of ‘oogpister’ suggests they can spray their acid with uncanny accuracy.
Next month I’ll carry on with the insect theme and look at some more of our six-legged friends in closer detail. Until then, let’s hope you’ve planted the seeds of your Kruger travel plans and we look forward to having you in our neck of the Lowveld again.
If you’d like any more information of the topics above, or on any of our other blogs, please feel free to drop me a line at da**@bu*************.za and I’ll happily assist.
