dududiaries Here are some more pictures of weird and wonderful insects from Kakamega Forest. Many thanks to everyone for their comments: Maina, Sheryl and Kevin. I will be posting more about useful insects soon. Basically in the rainforest – every insect can be considered useful. Even the parasites are important as they help keep the numbers … Read more
Have just been travelling in Western Kenya on fieldwork. Spent a few days in the wonderful Kakamega forest, where the heady mixture of rain and sunshine has seen an explosion of insect life. Here are some of the pictures of the amazing and beautiful forest creatures.The strangest creatures I came across were these very cool … Read more
After meeting the giant earthworms and the flying caterpillar we emerged from the dark, damp tangled bamboo forest into a thick morass of vegetation made up of herbs, wildflowers, high-altitude grasses and most noticeable of all – stinging nettles. Some of the wildflowers in this zone of vegetation are lovely gems. Many are endemic to … Read more
The mountain gorillas live on the slopes of some of the steepest volcanoes in Africa. The volcanic range is part of the immense Albertine Rift Valley. This is part of the Rift Valley system that cuts down across the continent of Africa. Due to the volcanic activity and sinking and rising of parts of the … Read more
I am currently in Rwanda with Paula Kahumbu from WildlifeDirect and Dr Craig Hatkoff, who together with his daughter co-authored a book about Owen and Mzee and more recently, on a baby gorilla. This has been an amazing trip and I don’t even know where to start. One of the main reasons for coming here … Read more
I’ve been spending a lot of time looking at the ant-acacias that I study for my PhD. The other day I cam across the most intriguing insect living among the ants on one of the acacias. There are several different ant species involved in a mutualism with the plant. The acacia provides housing and food … Read more
Hello I am currently in Western Kenya looking at one of the sites that I do some research in and exploring forests. Yesterday I went on walk in the Kaptagat Forest. This is a highland forest with a mixture of indigenous forest and commercial plantations. It had rained the previous night and the ground was … Read more
This Saturday I visited the Kibera Slum in Nairobi with Paula of WildlifeDirect and her remarkable sister Su Kahumbu, one of Kenya’s most passionate organic farmers who is working very hard to raise awareness about organic farming and other issues related to good farming practices. Isaak, a partial hearing child attached himself to me immediately … Read more
Hi, my name is Dino Martins and I have a passion for bugs and telling people about them. I’m a Kenyan entomologist, an artist, naturalist and writer. I’m currently conducting research in evolution and ecology at Harvard as a PhD student. I’ve been studying a wide range of insect species in East Africa including baboons, … Read more