Neojulodis vittipennis (Fåhraeus in Boheman, 1851)

A jewel beetle. Wondering about the name? Well, here's why:

Photographed in New Kasama, Lusaka, Zambia, in March 2013, using an Olympus E-420 DSLR with a 40-150mm Zuiko lens and 3 KOOD magnifiers.

Based on the distinctive patterns of most large jewel-beetles extending into this rather poorly documented group, this beautiful creature is;

Neojulodis vittipennis

(Fåhraeus in Boheman, 1851)

 For context, here's another angle:

Same individual, same place, this time on my finger for scale.

- Julodinae
- Buprestidae
- Buprestoidea 
- Elateriformia    
- Polyphaga            
See also Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus and Malachius bipustulatus
- Coleoptera                

See also Demetrias atricapillus and Anthia fornasiini.

- Coleopterida                 
- Endopterygota                    

See also Crambus pascuella, Hagenomyia tristis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Astata tropicalis, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Anthocharis cardamines, Acada biseriata Panorpa germanica, Megistocera filipes, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Diasemopsis meigenii and Dolichotachina caudata

- Eumetabola                                  

See also Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes and Ranatra

- Neoptera                                          

See also  Sibylla, Stictogryllacris punctata, Lobosceliana loboscelis and Cyathosternum prehensile

- Manopterygota                                     

See also Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni and Enallagma cyathigerum

- Pterygota                                                  

- Dicondylia                                                  

- Insecta                                                            

- Hexapoda                                                           

- Arthropoda                                                            

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Hyllus argyrotoxus.

- Ecdysozoa                                                                 

- Protostomia                                                                  

- Nephrozoa                                                                      

See also Burhinus vermiculatus, Chiromantis xerampelina, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo, Synchiropus splendidus and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Bilateralia                                                                            

- Eumetazoa                                                                              

- Animalia                                                                                     

- Eukaryota                                                                                      

 This harmless - although, as with anything colourful, I wouldn't recommend having it for lunch - herbivore seemed content to sit in the sun and occasionally nibble ineffectually at a plant which, I have to confess, I failed to record. 

As an additional, it is worth noting that the primary reason these are jewel beetles is not because most of them are quite colourful, but rather because several inordinately colourful species have been overcollected since prehistoric times as a staple of Oriental beetle jewellery. Insect art still goes on today, although with our improved understanding of population dynamics (just because insects lay hundreds of eggs doesn't mean that there are adult insects to spare), many popular projects - such as Jennifer Angus stunning geometric mosaics (here) not only state amongst their aims the improvement of public awareness of insects, but also promote sustainable harvesting of insect populations. 

I have to say that, admirable aims or not, killing any animal for art can only seem ghoulish to me.

And that is all, folks.

nothing I have found is consistently reliable across African beetle groups, the Coleopterists society's site The World of Jewel Beetles is a good place to start for the Buprestidae. 

 

 

Burhinus vermiculatus (Cabanis, 1868)

Another vertebrate - and quite a small image:

Photographed near Chumba, Central Province, Zambia, in October 2011, using an Olympus E-420 with a Zuiko 40-150mm lens

 This rather cynical looking bird is the Water Dikkop (or, for purist Anglophones, Water Thick-Knee),

Burhinus vermiculatus

(Cabanis, 1868)

 It seems worthy of note that the Afrikaans Dikkop does not mean thick-knee, but thick-head. Something else that's been lost in translation.

I'm going into the taxonomy now. I may be some time; 

 - Burhinidae  
- Chionidi         
 - Charadriiformes

See also Sterna hirundo

- Neoaves               

See also Ardea goliath and  Chalcophaps indica

- Neognathae            
- Neornithes                
- Euornithes                   
 - Aves                               
- Maniraptora                     
- Coelurosauria                     
- Tetanurae                                             
 - Therapoda                              
- Saurischia                                 
- Dinosauria                                   
 - Avemetatarsalia                             
 - Archosauria                                     
 - Archosauromorpha                           
- Sauria                                                  

See also Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis and Thelotornis capensis

- Diapsida                                                
 - Romeriida                                               
 - Reptilia                                                     
- Amniota                                                      

See also Hipposideros vittatus

- Reptiliomorpha                                             

- Tetrapoda                                                        

See also Chiromantis xerampelina

- Sarcopterygii                                                    

- Osteichthys                                                         

See also Synchiropus splendidus

- Teleostomi                                                            

- Gnathostomata                                                       

- Vertebrata                                                                

- Craniata                                                                     

- Chordata                                                                      

- Deuterostomia                                                               

- Nephrozoa                                                                        

See also Hyllus argyrotoxus, Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi, Enallagma cyathigerum, Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni,Cyathosternum prehensile, Lobosceliana loboscelis, Sibylla, Stictogryllacris punctata, Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Ranatra , Hagenomyia tristis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Astata tropicalis, Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Demetrias atricapillus, Dolichotachina caudata, Anthia fornasiini .Zebronia phenice Laelia robusta, Anthocharis cardamines, Panorpa germanica, Megistocera filipes, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Diasemopsis meigenii, Crambus pascuella, and Acada biseriata

- Bilateralia                                                                                 

- Eumetazoa                                                                                   

- Animalia                                                                                         

- Eukaryota                                  


And that's all, folks!

Crambus pascuella (Linnaeus, 1758)

We've been having a photo-tour of Lusaka lately, so here's one from the UK to keep things from getting biased:

This lovely little grass-moth is called

Crambus pascuella 

(Linnaeus, 1758)

It's one of quite a few very similar species, so I would advise you to take this identification with caution.

Anyhow, on with the show:

 -Crambini
 -Crambinae  
- Crambidae     

See also Zebronia phenice

- Pyraloidea        

- Tineina                

- Tineina                   

- Ditrysia                     

See also Laelia robusta, Anthocharis cardamines and Acada biseriata

- Heteroneura                 

- Neolepidoptera               

- Glossata                             

- Lepidoptera                          

- Amphiesmenoptera                 

- Panorpida                                   

See also Panorpa germanica, Megistocera filipes, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Diasemopsis meigenii and Dolichotachina caudata

- Endopterygota                               

See also Hagenomyia tristis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Astata tropicalis, Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Demetrias atricapillus and Anthia fornasiini.

- Eumetabola                                       

See also Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes and Ranatra

- Neoptera                                              

See also  Sibylla, Stictogryllacris punctata, Lobosceliana loboscelis and Cyathosternum prehensile

- Manopterygota                                        

See also Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni and Enallagma cyathigerum

- Pterygota                                                    

- Dicondylia                                                     

- Insecta                                                               

- Hexapoda                                                             

- Arthropoda                                                              

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Hyllus argyrotoxus.

- Ecdysozoa                                                                  

- Protostomia                                                                   

- Nephrozoa                                                                        

See also Chiromantis xerampelina, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo, Synchiropus splendidus and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Bilateralia                                                                             

- Eumetazoa                                                                               

- Animalia                                                                                       

- Eukaryota                                                                                         

To give an explanation of the common name of 'Grass moth', applied to numerous related species: most Crambus and their relatives are usually seen in grassland, they sleep head down on grass, and as caterpillars they feed primarily on... yes, grassland. They can be quite lovely to behold in uncultured meadows, where a walk through the grass will send clouds of quite literally hundreds of these beautiful little moths spinning into the air and settling a few feet further on.


And that's all, folks!






An excellent (f)re(e)source for identifying British moths is UKMoths, with almost complete coverage of resident species, both native and introduced, and fair coverage of occasional migrants as well. 

Lobosceliana loboscelis (Schaum, 1853)

I have, to my unending surprise, met people who intensely dislike grasshoppers.

Female, sitting on my index finger, Chongwe, Lusaka, Zambia, October 2011. Taken using an Olympus E-420, Zuiko  40-150mm lens and two (possibly three) KOOD magnifiers.

This lovely species, which, as an aside, doesn't ever form the large, mobile locust swarms that arise when grasshoppers are subjected to poor land management practices (read - people who farm with machines when unemployment is at record levels). They're primarily a species of leaf-litter, which means that they're not great at surviving in developed areas, but at the edge of the suburbs, they can just about cling on. 

- Porthetinae   

- Pamphagidae   

- Acridoidea           

See also Cyathosternum prehensile

- Acrididea                 

- Caelifera                      

- Orthoptera                        

See also Stictogryllacris punctata

- Panorthoptera                       

- Orthopterida                            

- Polyorthoptera                            

- Anartioptera                                   

- Polyneoptera                                     

See also Sibylla

- Neoptera                                              

See also: Episyrphus balteatus, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Hagenomyia tristis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Astata tropicalis, Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Anthia fornasiini,

 Diasemopsis meigenii, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Helophilus pendulus, Megistocera filipes, Demetrias atricapillus, Acada biseriata, Anthocharis cardamines, Panorpa germanica, Dolichotachina caudata and Ranatra.

- Manopterygota                                         

See also Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni and Enallagma cyathigerum

- Pterygota                                                    

- Dicondylia                                                     

- Insecta                                                               

- Hexapoda                                                             

- Arthropoda                                                              

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Hyllus argyrotoxus.

- Ecdysozoa                                                                  

- Protostomia                                                                   

- Nephrozoa                                                                        

See also Chiromantis xerampelina, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo, Synchiropus splendidus and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Bilateralia                                                                             

- Eumetazoa                                                                               

- Animalia                                                                                       

- Eukaryota                                                                                         

And to give you a short break after all that text, here's the male:

Lobosceliana loboscelis male in August 2011, in Chongwe, Lusaka, Zambia. Photograph taken using Olympus E-420 DSLR, Zuiko  40-150mm lens and 2 KOOD magnifiers.

This is one of a number of well-camouflaged grasshoppers in the family Pamphagidae, some of which are referred to as rock-grasshoppers or similar, based on their often incredible camouflage. Of the central African genera, Lobosceliana is quite distinctive, being considerably less thorny than most of its relatives. Within Lobosceliana, L. loboscelis  wingless females can be identified by, among other things, the peculiarly deep, curved keel to their hind femora.

And that's all, folks!


UPDATE: After a more recent (January 2014) encounter with a female L. loboscelis, I can now report of an interesting defensive display: at night, when resting, they puff air out of their abdomen and periodically violently kick out their legs if touched, thereby giving a fair impression of a disgruntled puff adder (an impression that is rather detracted from if a torch is close at hand). Enough to make my blood pound before I saw what it was, at any rate. 

Synchiropus splendidus (Herre, 1927)

I've been avoiding posting images of captives specimens - the only other, to date, is the Emerald dove Chalcophaps indica, quite a while ago now. However, in the interest of taxonomic completeness, it seems necessary that I include a member of the largest class of vertebrates sooner or later, and thus far, my above-water images of free-roaming members of this group have not done well.

So, without further pre-amble:

In a private aquarium, 2010.

This is the Mandarin Dragonet,

Synchiropus splendidus

(Herre, 1927)

I shall not be going into the ethics of keeping wild-caught fish in aquaria in this post; suffice to say that, until such time that I am confident that I can provide a suitable environment in which any particular species could breed, I will not be keeping wild-caught fish.

Anyway, moving on swiftly from the shame of my past mistakes, and onto the taxonomy:

- Callionymidae        

- Callionymoidei         

- Perciformes                 

- Percomorpha                  

- Acanthopterygii                

- Acanthomorpha                   

- Neoteleostei                           

- Euteleostei                                

- Teleostei                                      

- Halecostomi                                    

- Neopterygii                                        

- Actinopterygii                                       

- Osteichthys                                               

See also Chiromantis xerampelina, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Teleostomi                                                    

- Gnathostomata                                                

- Vertebrata                                                           

- Craniata                                                                 

- Chordata                                                                    

- Deuterostomia                                                              

- Nephrozoa                                                                        

See also Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi, Enallagma cyathigerum, Rhyothemis semihyalina, Pseudagrion hageni, Cyathosternum prehensile, Sibylla, Stictogryllacris punctata, Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Ranatra, Hagenomyia tristis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Astata tropicalis, Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Demetrias atricapillus, Anthia fornasiini, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Anthocharis cardamines, Acada biseriata, Panorpa germanica Megistocera filipes, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Diasemopsis meigeniii and Hyllus argyrotoxus.

- Bilateralia                                                                             

- Eumetazoa                                                                               

- Animalia                                                                                       

- Eukaryota                                                                                       

This stunning little fish, in the wild and in captivity, spends much of its time scooting along the faces of the reefs it makes its home, looking for small crustaceans and worms to eat. As you may expect, its bright colours advertise a foul taste and fairly toxic flesh, so it has relatively few natural predators. Unfortunately, as previously alluded to, its bright colours also make it highly appealing to aquarists who - due to its rather specific native diet, have a poor track record in feeding it, and it is quite common for imported specimens to die within the year, although exceptions (such as that above, which was purchased at adult size and lived six years in a small tank) do exist. Many aquarists then assume that, like the distantly related gobies, dragonets are ephemeral creatures, and replace them, leading to unsustainable pressure on wild populations.

There is a side-note of interest to the Mandarin's tale of woe: in Florida, one commercial hatchery now has, and continues to, breed this fish for sale. While this doesn't quite escape the ethics of keeping a finicky eater in a small tank where it may well - and still often does - starve, it should significantly reduce pressure on wild (Indo-Pacific) populations of these beautiful fish. 

So all in all, this tendency to get caught up ethics is why I don't like posting images of captive animals. 


That's all, folks. 



Not so much an identification aid, but for any budding marine aquarists reading this, it's always a good idea to know something about a species before you purchase it. While you can do as I did, and ask the shop-keepers and be given an uninformed and often downright untruthful answer, a good place to look up information is WetWebMedia, which not only includes fact-sheets on all the groups of fish likely to be encountered in a private aquarium, but also has FAQ pages sorted by groups of fish, where you can read accounts of what can go wrong with your fish, and decide whether you can actually prepare for such eventualities.