More from the lush, flowering bush of Laikipia. In this particular flower, that I photographed the Amegilla bee on, the flowers are clustered along the stems of the plant, and have an interesting shape – tubular with a slight kink in the tube that is formed by the petals. This design is in place no … Read more
Flowering Tsavo Hello – have just been visiting Tsavo. We were based at Camp Tsavo (which used to be called the Taita Discovery Centre). It is an amazing location – a former cattle ranch nestled between Tsavo East and Mt Kasigau. It is a fantastic place to be based for anyone wanting to explore a … Read more
Dear All – thanks for your kind comments and continued interest in insects. Have been in the rainforest for a couple of days. On one of the trails I spotted this amazing Long-legged fly patrolling a leafy lane. These flies are predators who hunt other small insects on the wing in the forest… There were … Read more
Dear All Greetings from the sunny plains and bush of Laikipia – have been working here on insects for a week. There were a couple days of heavy unseasonal rains here (it is supposed to be the middle of the dry season, whatever that means anymore), and it seems to have produced an outburst of … Read more
Pollinators hard at work! “One in three bites of food can be attributed to a pollinator”. This statement is often quoted by biologists around the world when talking about pollinators and their importance to our lives. In Africa pollinators are primarily wild insects that travel between farms and natural habitat, and are extremely … Read more
Dear All, thanks for your comments and interest in the world of bugs. Was just down in the Rift Valley at Olorgesailie where it is still so dry, dry, dry. Found one tiny bedraggled Grewia bush in flower, with a couple of tiny lycaenids and an interesting day-flying moth visiting the flowers…
Hello! Sorry for not posting more often – have been really busy chasing after bugs now that the rains have started and they are popping out all over the place! Many, many thanks to everyone for their kind comments on the blog post ‘Ants in the dust’. I will try and post a … Read more
Dear AllSorry for not posting more – have been travelling – lots to share, just working on getting it all sorted. In the mean time here are some more close-ups of butterfly eyes – enjoy – the Emperor Butterflies below are particularly striking! The first one is a close-up of the Green-Veined Emperor, and the … Read more
Dear All, thanks for your kind comments about the Butterflion. If you are in Nairobi please go and visit him at the Sarit Centre outside the Text Book Centre. Here are some close-up pictures of butterflies that I took over the last couple of days. The pictures show their amazing compound eyes and mouthparts – … Read more
As I was putting the final touches to the Butterflion a few days ago before he was picked up by the people from Born Free, I noticed that there was a strange fellow hanging around the lion’s painted mane. He swished back and forth in a very suspicious manner. I decided to … Read more