A window into the life cycle of the Garden Acraea

The Garden Acraea is by far the most numerous butterfly in our little garden, and as I type this there’s at least a dozen of them flitting around the plumbago and Cape honeysuckle shrubs in my field of view. This year I’ve paid even more attention than usual to them and been rewarded with a window into their fascinating life cycle.

Two Garden Acraeas mating

In April we started noticing large numbers of caterpillars in their final instar moving around the garden, with some of them even finding safe refuges on the patio furniture and security bars in front of the windows where they could start their metamorphosis.

Garden Acraea caterpillar looking for a place to pupate

It took several months for them to shed their last caterpillar “skin” to reveal the hard chrysalis inside which they were transforming. Sadly some of the pupae dropped from their safe havens, but I could save a few from marauding ants and put them in a jar on my desk where I could keep a close eye on them.

Garden Acraea Pupa

Garden Acraea Pupae

Garden Acraea Pupa

It didn’t take anywhere near as long – only a few weeks – for the adult butterflies to start emerging.

Newly emerged Garden Acraea

Soon their wings were unfurled and they could take flight in the same garden where they started their lives.

One of the pupaes I kept in a jar on my desk taking on the wide world outside

Clicking Stream Frog

19 Replies

Strongylopus grayii

The Clicking Stream Frog’s call is a good impersonation of a human tongue click, hence the common name. They’re small frogs, measuring at most 5cm in length, found only in South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini (Swaziland) and ranging from our west coast, through the Little Karoo and Garden Route, through most of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal and then to the higher lying regions of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. They are particularly common in the south-western corner of the country that receives most of its rainfall in winter. They’re regularly found in or near ponds and small dams as well as shallow streams, and so tolerant of poor water quality that they’ll even breed in flooded refuse pits.

Clicking Stream Frogs lay their eggs in moist spots next to the water’s edge. Females can produce up to 350 eggs. In wet weather the tadpoles may emerge within 5 days of the eggs being laid and then scramble to the water, but in dry weather the eggs could remain viable for up to 2 months. It takes 3 to 6 months for the tadpoles to go through the full metamorphosis to adult frog form.

Clicking Stream Frog

Swee Waxbill

11 Replies

Coccopygia melanotis

The Swee Waxbill occurs only in South Africa (it is absent from the dry western and open central parts of the country), Lesotho and eSwatini (Swaziland) with a tiny, isolated population in South-central Zimbabwe. The IUCN considers it to be of least concern.

Swee Waxbills are omnivores, feeding mostly on grass seeds and tiny insects. They’re most commonly found on the edges of and clearings in forests and woodlands and will venture into well-planted gardens from time to time, becoming quite unafraid of humans. They’re usually seen in pairs or small groups, getting their name from the soft contact calls they make while moving around.

Swee Waxbills breed from mid-spring to late summer. Monogamous pairs work together to construct their oval-shaped grass nest, usually placed high in a tree or other dense vegetation. Clutches of up to 9 eggs are incubated by both parents over a 2 week period. The chicks leave the nest when they’re about 3 weeks old and remain with their parents for a similar time thereafter before dispersing. They’re tiny birds and fully grown weigh less than 8g.

Swee Waxbill

Swee Waxbill (photo by Joubert)

Topaz Spotted Blue Butterfly

16 Replies

Azanus jesous

The Topaz Spotted Blue occurs commonly through most of South Africa, being absent only from the drier western reaches of the country, and inhabits a wide range of habitats where they gather in numbers around flowering thorn trees or to drink from puddles. Adults, with a wingspan of less than 3cm, can be seen throughout the year though their numbers peak in summer. The larvae feeds on several different kinds of thorn trees (Acacia sensu lato and Dichrostachys).

Topaz Spotted Blue

Topaz-spotted Blue / Topaz Babul Blue

Spekboom

16 Replies

Portulacaria afra

The Spekboom (“Bacon Tree”) is a succulent shrub or small tree of up to 5m tall that occurs naturally from the Little Karoo, through the Eastern Cape – where it is the dominant plant species in parts of the province, like the Addo Elephant National Park – and Kwazulu-Natal and into the Lowveld of Mpumalanga and Limpopo. It grows best on warm, rocky slopes. It is listed as being of least concern in the Red List of South African Plants.

Spekboom is browsed heavily by game (including elephants) and livestock, and humans too use the leaves in salads or as medicine for skin conditions and other ailments. Easily grown from cuttings, Spekboom is a popular garden plant and widely established in many parts of the world. In recent years the Spekboom’s incredible ability to sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere coupled with its ease of propagation has received much attention as a possible mitigating measure against climate change.

Spekboom

Spekboom hedge in the camp at Addo Elephant National Park

Heavily browsed Spekboom

Spekboom leaves

Spekboom in bloom

Spekboom flowers

Spekboom blossoms

Spekboom blooming

Orange-breasted Sunbird

11 Replies

Anthobaphes violacea

The striking Orange-breasted Sunbird is a nectar and insect-feeding bird that is endemic to South Africa’s fynbos biome, and as such occurs only in the Western Cape and western-most portions of the Eastern Cape coast. They’re mostly associated with natural stands of Protea and Erica plants, and will only occasionally visit gardens with flowering Aloe plants.

Orange-breasted Sunbirds are usually seen singly or in pairs, but they may on occasion congregate in enormous numbers at a rich food source. They may breed throughout the year, though there is a peak in nesting activity between autumn and spring. It takes the female about 3 weeks to construct the oval-shaped nest, with a side-entrance in a densely-leafed shrub, using soft materials and spider web. While the male defends the pair’s territory, the female is also solely responsible for incubating the clutch of 1 or 2 eggs for about two weeks, though both parents feed the chicks on invertebrates brought back to the nest until they fledge at approximately 3 weeks of age. The youngsters become independent about two to four weeks later. Fully grown they measure about 16cm in length but weigh only 9g.

The IUCN classifies the Orange-breasted Sunbird as being of least concern, while noting that their population is probably declining due to loss of habitat to invading alien plants.

Orange-breasted Sunbird on a Pincushion flower

Orange-breasted Sunbird

Orange-breasted Sunbird on a Pincushion flower

Aardwolf

19 Replies

Proteles cristata

The Aardwolf (Afrikaans for “earthwolf”) is the smallest species of hyena. Adults stand about 45cm high at the shoulder and weight around 9kg. Unlike other hyenas that feed mainly on mammals carcasses, the Aardwolf’s diet consists almost exclusively of termites – they may eat between 200,000 and 300,000 termites a day! – with other insects and their larvae also featuring occasionally. Aardwolves can be found in any habitat where termites occur, from semi-deserts to densely vegetated savannas.

Although they’re normally observed singly while feeding, Aardwolves form monogamous pairs that inhabit a territory with their youngest offspring. The boundaries of the territory is marked by latrines and scent glands. They’re usually active between dusk and dawn, sleeping by day in burrows that they dig themselves or take over from other animals. All of Africa’s large predators will attack Aardwolves and so when threatened they raise the mane on their backs to make themselves look larger and more intimidating. Females give birth to 1-4 pups, usually during the wet season, and though the young are fully grown at about about 9 months of age they’d normally remain in their parents’ home range until the next litter is born. In the wild, Aardwolves have a life expectancy of about 12 years.

The Aardwolf occurs in two distinct parts of Africa. Their southern distribution area (subspecies P. c. cristata) includes all of South Africa and extends into all our neighbouring countries and as far as Angola and Zambia, while the East African range (subspecies P. c. septentrionalis) stretches from Tanzania to southern Egypt. According to the IUCN the Aardwolf is of least concern, despite not being common anywhere, and while they were previously widely persecuted as suspected predators of livestock, modern farmers understand that the Aardwolf is incapable of killing small stock and protect the species due to their important role in limiting termite populations.

Aardwolf

Aardwolf (photo by Joubert)

Aardwolf

Aardwolf (photo by Joubert)

Puff Adder

16 Replies

Bitis arietans

The Puff Adder is without a doubt one of the best known, and most feared, snakes in South Africa. Their bad-tempered reputation is well deserved as they’re responsible for about 60% of the serious bites and most of the fatalities stemming from snake bites in the country. Their long fangs inflict deep bites and yields a large volume of cytotoxic venom, causing extreme pain, swelling, necrosis, organ failure and death if not treated quickly with antivenom. Unlike most other snakes they’re unlikely to move off foot paths when a person approaches. Before striking they emit a spine-chilling hissing warning sound by inflating and deflating their body, hence the name.

Puff Adders occur throughout South Africa and most of the rest of the continent south of the Sahara, with isolated populations in Morocco and Arabia. They are able to live in almost any habitat. They’re lazy snakes, relying on their excellent camouflage to ambush passing rodents, birds and reptiles. Their strike is so fast and powerful and the fangs penetrate so deeply that smaller prey may be killed by the impact alone! They move in a straight line and enjoy basking in the sun on a warm rock or road. They’re also surprisingly comfortable in water.

At a length of up to 1.9m and weight of up to 6kg, female Puff Adders are considerably bigger than the males. In the breeding season, peaking in autumn, several males may trail a female and fight for the right to mate with her. Litters of 20 to 40 babies (record of 156 noted in East Africa, most of any snake!) are born in the summer months.

The IUCN considers the Puff Adder to be of least concern.

Puff adder, poised to strike

Puff adder

Puff Adder

Puff adder

Puff Adder

Puff Adder disappearing in the leaf litter at the side of the road

Puff Adder

Puff Adder crossing a road in Marakele National Park (photo by Joubert)

Puff Adder

Streaked Sailer Butterfly

8 Replies

Neptis goochii

Confined to warm and humid lowland and riverine forests, in South Africa the Streaked Sailer is found only in northern coastal Kwazulu-Natal and along the escarpment of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Adults may be seen throughout the year and have a wingspan of less than 4cm. It is a very nervous butterfly and difficult to approach, and notable for their fondness for using a conspicuous twig or leaf as a lookout point from which to launch attacks on interlopers into their territory.

Streaked Sailer

Streaked Sailer butterfly

Bearded Woodpecker

15 Replies

Dendropicos namaquus

The Bearded Woodpecker inhabits savannas and woodlands with tall trees, where it forages (it rarely descends to ground level) by tapping on branches and probing in crevices and behind bark for insects and spiders and the occasional lizard or gecko.

Adult Bearded Woodpeckers form permanent pairs that occupy the same home range year round. During the breeding season, which stretches from autumn to early summer, they both work at excavating their nest in the trunk of a tree. The nest may be between 30 and 50cm deep and it could take more than a month to complete. Here they incubate their clutch of 1-3 eggs over a period of roughly 2 weeks. Both parents feed the chicks at the nest until they fledge at about a month of age, though they may remain with their parents for a period of up to 2 months after leaving the nest. Fully grown they weigh around 80g and measure around 24cm in length, making them the largest arboreal woodpecker in the country.

The IUCN considers the Bearded Woodpecker to be of least concern. In South Africa it occurs mainly from Kwazulu-Natal, through Mpumalanga, Gauteng and Limpopo to the eastern parts of the North West Province, and beyond our borders is found as far northward as Sudan.