Eleven Orchids

 

Valentines Day or what it actually should be called, Single Awareness Day. Cynical as I am, today it was all about flowers and I was all ready for the Annual Orchid Count... leave taken, cellphone and camera batteries were all charged, water bottles filled, sunblock, cap and a bandana for the neck, all my stuff was packed and ready when the clock hit 8 this morning. Last year it was drizzling and still I got sun burnt but today looked like it is going to be a scorcher before we even set out and it was.

 
I am not sure how many there were but about 20 counters set out into the Protea forested veld to look for the Albertina Sisulu Orchid. All in a row we search with keen eyes hoping to be the first to find this rare critically endangered orchid and it wasn't long before we found them.
 

 

Not often do we see one of the pollinators, a butterfly, not sure what type but a butterfly none the less.

 

Because it was so hot we didn't see as many animals as we did last year, this year I saw a fleeting glimpse of a duiker, a scrub hare, francolins, guinefowls, and quite a few insects. Nice to see the insects as there is a growing concern that insects are dying out by the millions. There was this one that looked like a dragonfly and battled to fly. I left the count line to try and get a good photo of it. After following it for a couple of metres I managed to get this photo (above) of an antlion.

 

Sadly we only managed to find 11 Albertina Silulu Orchids today. Another 2 were counted in the refuge area last week by a group from Wits University. Although we had good rains the previous month we don't know much about these beautiful and rare ground orchids. They only flower for a few weeks of the year, and it seems that they don't flower every year.

Baby Prayer

Day 3 on I am on track for recovery from this man flu as the banging on a tin roof sound in my ears have being reduced to something similar to waves on a beach but only in the 1 ear. More bearable I think. 

Dale came in late afternoon while working in the vegetable garden carrying this little creature, a small praying mantis. Not sure if this is just a small species of praying mantis or if it is still a baby praying mantis. Thank goodness that we don't use insecticide in our garden as it has become a paradise for butterflies, chameleons, and other beautiful creatures such as this little guy. 

Wattle Bagworm

Serve me right for cutting down that grove of black wattle trees in the veldt outside my home, as this morning I discovered a wattle bagworm larva hanging from my garage’s lintel. Bagworms are a pest but now that there are no more wattles for this little fella, s/he has moved into my garden. I don’t mind as long as it doesn’t get out of control. My garden is home to all sorts of strange yet peculiar creatures and I would like to keep it that way.

Blowing in the Wind

A cold polar wind has raced down the valley heralding the first cold front of the year to hit Gauteng. Forget about the Stark’s motto “Winter is Coming”, as winter is here in our first winter in this home and brrr it is cold.

Even the wildlife have gone to ground, as no respectable Italian Greyhound would ever leave their heated bed. This Spider Wasp must have gotten caught out by the sudden turn in the weather as was found succumb on our lawn this morning. Poor thing.

Dragonfly’s Last Breath

We often have dragonflies coming into the garden but never did we find one dying on our patio. At first we thought that a cat had caught it but we concluded that it was at the end of its short life of a few months. We have plenty of birds and cats who could have made a meal out of this dragonfly but it was in one piece when we found it this morning taking his last breath. Most dragonflies don’t live to old age as they are caught by predators, but this one made it as it was a big one.

Koppie Foam Grasshopper

Uhmm, this toxic visitor to our garden looks kind of un-delicious. Yes the Koppie Foam Grasshopper or Dictyophorus spumans is highly poisonous because it produces toxic foam after feeding on the milkweed plant. Red means don’t even think about it. Let’s hope our dogs and cats don’t find this little fella as there are records of pets dying after eating these grasshoppers.

Death

Oh wow, to find a Greater Death’s Head Hawkmoth in our garden, well Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming.

Remember the Silence of the Lambs movie poster with a Greater Death’s Head Hawkmoth over the mouth of the girl, yes you do as it still eats away at you, well this is one of those moths. I feel so blessed to find this big moth, over 10cm big with its sinister skull shape on its back, I am sure Hannibal Lecter would be proud of this moth but other than a harbinger of death how much does South African’s know about this beautiful caterpillar/moth that is found in their gardens.

The Acherontia atropos, as this species of Death’s Head Hawkmoth is known as, is named after a river in Greek mythology the Acheron or the River of Pain over which the ferryman takes you over. Atropos the unturnable, one of three Moirai goddesses of fate and destiny who cuts the thread of life. With a top speed of just under 50kph, I am sure you can’t outrun your fate as this moth can be seen feeding like a hummingbird on the nectar of flowers and raiding beehives at night, all for the sweet nectar of life.

So it is not surprising that we have used this moth, in literature and movies like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, and Silence of the Lambs. In the Netherlands, they call this the Doodshoofdvlinder and in French, le sphinx à tête de mort; in German, Totenkopfschwärmer; in Spanish, cabeza de muerto; and in Swedish, Dödskallesvärmare, whatever you call it, I find the Greater Death’s Head Hawkmoth beautiful and life inspiring.

I do wish I can chat longer, but I’m having an old friend over for dinner.

Thin and Fat Visitors

Living out in the country side away from the city bustle has a lot of advantages and a few disadvantages such as extra kilometres to get anywhere but I do feel that the good outweigh the bad.

The badness of the flies that are attracted to the cattle is outweighed by the strange insects that come and visit. Today we got visitors from both fat and thin beautiful creatures.

At first I thought it was a baby stick insect, I have seen them grow longer than my hand in Mozambique, but this little creature turned out to be a well camouflage praying mantis although against the white window frame doesn’t help much.

Later a very large beetle, a Dicronorrhina Derbyana or aka an Emerald Fruit Chafer Beetle, came buzzing in much to the delight of the cats but this strange visitor sensed the danger and headed for the pear tree. With the cats up the tree looking for it, I took some photos but it wasn’t easy to focus on due to all the leaves and branches in the way. Again camouflage helped this fat beetle to stay out of the cats reach while it tried to hone in of the fruit.

Praying Mantis

Oh naughty Mantis, you better be praying after eating your husband. Delia found this heavily pregnant Praying Mantis in the garden and she became our photo of the day. Female Mantodea are known to cannibalise on the male during or soon after copulation. I bet he tasted like chicken.