In honour of World Environment Day, here are a few amazing insects from the rainforest in Western Kenya to remind us of the incredible and wonderful creatures that we share this planet with…
I’ve been travelling around Kenya for the past few weeks, and here are some of the strange and fascinating creatures I came across.
One of the most beautiful of all African insects are the jewel damselflies, such as this Dancing Jewel found along the banks of the Yala River:
Among the many gorgeous butterflies in the rain forests of Western Kenya are the Charaxes, or Emperor Butterflies. They fly high and fast through the forest canopy, but can’t resist the lure of fresh dung to feast on! Many Charaxes butterflies have the most beautifully intricate patterns on the undersides of their wings, like this Giant Charaxes (Charaxes castor).
Some Charaxes species have the most intense colours on their wings, as can be seen here in this Blue-Spotted Charaxes, flashing its wings in the sunlight:
Even the fruit flies in the forest are colourful, as can be seen here with these Drosophila on some rotting fruit:
The beetles are not to be outdone with this amazing metallic tortoise beetle:
More from the wonderful world of bugs soon! Happy World Environment Day!