Green Maputo Salticid. (Jumping spider)

On our Mahogany tree.

Molly, Lilly and Tusti's Forest Mother of Pearl

It has been a day for moths and butterflies. Keep an eye out for beauties like this superb Nymphalid butterfly (Protogoniomorpha parhassus).

Trompe l'oeil in the world of moths

Here is an amazing display of deception, The moth above is from China and goes by the unwieldy name of Uropia meticulodina. It produces the image of a folded leaf with the shading in all the right places including the appropriate veins on the underside as it curls up. Even when you have seen through the trick you still can't believe it isn't a leaf. The two photos above it are from a moth on our own Mahogany tree that is in the centre of our AISM courtyard. The same principle applies even though the deception is not as superbly defined.

Third Pleasant Hornet Moth found at school this year. (By Jemma de Beer)

A real beauty (Gem): found in the girls change rooms by Jem de Beer.

Euchromia: the Handmaiden or Hornet moth.

Versions of this spectacular beauty are found from Southern Africa through East Africa and Madagascar to India Australia and Indonesia.

The fist thing you notice about them after ogling their dazzling array of warning colors is their reluctance to flitter off, as moths are wont to do. That’s when you realize that something else is going on here; creatures that are over-confident usually have a reason.

The warning colors are real; you do not want this gaudy speck in your cereal bowl! They practice what is called “Pharmacophagy” A jawbreaker that taken literally means, “ They eat (nasty) chemicals” so that they increase their biological fitness. This constitutes the habit of consuming drugs, that they get from their food plants so that they can themselves, become toxic to other animals.

Some food plants give off toxic nectar that gets them a devoted set of insect pollinators. The plants that the Hornet moth uses falls into this group. It is significant that the moth does not need this chemical for the ordinary nutrition of its body.

Euchromia also has a constriction on the abdomen that makes it look enough like a hornet, for predators to leave it severely alone. We have seen three of these moths in the last month at the AISM. As we increase the numbers of indigenous plants, I expect we will have more and more of these beauties to enjoy at school.

Len de Beer 

Another Pleasant Hornet Moth found by Matthew Stevenson at AISM

Guest Photograph: The Delightful Hornet Moth found at school by Micaela Da Silva

This stunning aposematic (warning colored) day flying, moth probably derives protection from looking like a scary wasp.

Euchromia amoena, common name the Pleasant Hornet Moth, is a moth of the Arctiidae family. It was described by Möschler in 1872.“Amoena” is from the Latin, meaning “pleasant” or “delightful,”

Study year 1014/15 Welcome back to our awesome,school grounds.

Jemma (grade 1) Re-aquaints herself with the Eastern olive toad at school

Immature Hyperolius (Painted reed frog) near the admin office.

Euchloron (Hawkmoth) Welcomes you back to school

The Verdant hawk moth (Euchloron megaera)

 

Verdant is a lovely word, it speaks of forested hills with lush, dripping vegetation. An oasis, the kind of landscape that I return to in my thoughts. Madagascar was the first place I saw this flying green leaf, which is unusual, seeing that it is much more common in Mozambique. Think of the stamina that it took to cross 4-500 km of unrelenting ocean to the red island, and you gain some respect for the ability of this tiny green creature to somehow endure, and make the crossing.

This emerald hawk moth employs three different strategies to keep it off the lunch menu of the ravenous birds, spiders, and other predators in Africa.

Firstly it vanishes when sitting on a patch of foliage, secondly it may flash its orange and black hind wings in a display called warning color or aposematism. This may be enough to deter a pursuing bird, and finally, when in flight it may suddenly fold its wings making the orange disappear instantaneously and confusing the predator altogether.

We live with these jewels all around us, ( I see at least one a month in summer) lets stop and admire the foliage, there may be more present than at first meets the eye.

Len 

Scarabaeidae Female rhino beetle at school today

Euchloron hawkmoth at school today

Hyperechia (A robber fly: Asilidae) sucking a wasp dry. "Fly eats wasp" at the entrance gate

Not only does the adult robber fly mimic a carpenter bee in its shape and coloration, but the larvae also parasitize the bee grubs. This one was seen on the railings at the school entrance where it caught and sucked dry a wasp. It has to be immensely powerful and skilled to accomplish this with an insect that is so potent that a single sting is a deterrent for most humans.

The natives are restless...

A colony of black ants on the move today, eggs and larvae can be seen in this shot.

Handsome Acrididae (Locust) at school today

Feeding time for Liquorice!

 Liquorice has a decided "Ant tooth.. er make that tongue, and I wanted to see if I could snap it in action. Here are the results. He is remarkably adept at the noble art of ant snacking, being able to grab an ant behind him as easily as those running screaming from his forward facing..pink thingy.

Belonogaster the paper wasp

Living up to her name by taking an interest in the paper decorations of 4th grade Mrs Fiona's class. Well done for leaving her in peace 4th grade.

Francisca finds a magnificent caterpillar at school today

Edna, Sky, Zane and Kobus discover a Lucia widow (Palpopleura lucia)

Acherontia atropos The deaths head moth. (Silence of the lambs)

 The name Acherontia comes from the "river of pain" Archeron in Greece.  One of the five rivers of the underworld.

 Atropos refers to, A... tropos, or something that may not be turned. A reference supposedly to death. Maybe that should be "You cannot return?" Atropos is the shade (Fate) that cuts the thread of life.

Spooky Sphingidae (Hawkmoths)

Acherontia atropos, is a hawkmoth with possibly the most dire reputation of any insect! Let it be noted.., for the most ridiculous reasons.

There is a supposed “skull” on the thorax…That is, you can see it if you have been smoking your socks. It has yellow ribs on the abdomen making it look like a skeleton? …if you have been conducting an in depth investigation into the joys of caipirinhas, and it makes a high-pitched squeaking noise if you disturb it…well Duh!

“It is regarded not as the creation of a benevolent being, but the device of evil spirits - spirits enemies to man - conceived and fabricated in the dark, and the very shining of its eyes is thought to represent the fiery element whence it is supposed to have proceeded. Flying into their apartments in the evening at times it extinguishes the light; foretelling war, pestilence, hunger, death to man and beast.” (Harris, 1840)

So, not satisfied with wiping out habitats at an alarming rate, our species of course proceeds to demonize species that it does not appreciate. The “ Deaths head moth’ among them. The entomologists that named this moth played to the audience by placing it in the genus Acherontia derived from Acheron, the “River of Pain” in the underworld, and gave it the species name “Atropos” name of the Fate who cuts the thread of life.

In popular culture the moth can be seen in the movie “Silence of the Lambs” where a deranged killer (As if there were some other type) places a pupa of this moth in the mouth of his victim.

In reality Acherontia has a fascinating life style, being able to sneak into the hives of bees and subdue the colony by emitting a high pitched squeak that mimics the frequency sound that the new queen bee uses as she emerges from her cell and proceeds to hunt down and kill all the rival queens that have developed along with her. The queen emits this squeak to calm the nest of bees as she fights the other would-be queens in the battle for supremacy.

It may also be chemically invisible to bees because it produces the exact same odours that the colony makes, on its exoskeleton. One consideration that it needs to take into account is that it will not be able to produce the colony-calming whistle once its “Stomach” is full. This means it needs to be near the exit before its full. Long may these beautiful creatures visit us here in Mozambique, and let all the superstitious mumbo-jumbo exit our culture.

Len