Reader Benjamin Taylor sent a huge number of photos from Africa (see his portfolio), and it will take at least four posts to get through the rest of them. So I am putting them up at intervals in carefully apportioned dollops. He sent this in October and noted, “Last month I went on a camping trip around southern Africa (Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia) and took quite a few photographs.”
Black-faced impala (Aepyceros melampus petersi):
Southern yellow-billed hornbill (Tockus leucomelas):
Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis):
Plains zebra (Equus quagga) [JAC: why is is striped?]:
Giraffe and zebra heading for their sundown drink:
Black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis):
Reader John Scanlon sent a humongous insect (it needs identification!), a jellyfish, and a cute marsupial:
I recently saw this insect on Rottnest Island, off the coast of Perth in Western Australia. Thought at first it was a cicada based on size and the sound of its flight, but seems to be either a weird wasp or a wasp-mimic robber-fly. Huge, about 80 mm long, which is its most notable feature.
Also found out there’s a kind of small box-jellyfish (cubomedusan, Carybdea xaymacana) known locally as ‘stingers’ (very imaginative) very abundant on the beach nearest the campground; not one of the deadly kinds, so it’s been kept pretty quiet. I wondered initially if it was a southern range extension of Irukandji due to climate change & El Niño, but fortunately a different species.This shot shows a small individual on my hand*, which shows the tentacles at four corners and eye-spots on each side. They are very active swimmers and clearly respond to stuff going on around them.
*Didn’t feel any cnidae puncturing my palm, but got stung on various softer surfaces on another day, when I couldn’t see ’em.
Rottnest is best known (and named, in Dutch) for the dense population of Quokkas, tiny cute kangaroos (Setonix brachyurus) that are rare on the mainland southwest. The population is probably much too dense, because they have no terrestrial predators: apparently the Nyoongar people of the Perth area didn’t use the island much or at all in the last few thousand years, and it lacks species such as Western Quoll (Dasyurus geoffroii) or Carpet Python(Morelia spilota imbricata) that might be able to keep quokka populations low enough for their food plants to regenerate. These days the seedling trees and shrubs need to be fenced off to survive to adulthood.
I think Springboks are the most beautiful of the Antelopes.
I have trouble telling a springbok from a Thompson’s gazelle. Any tricks?
Check out the wiki link from the caption. The marsupialis part of the binomial refers to a unique flap of skin on the back near the tail. That turns out to be the reason why it has Antidorcas (non-gazelle)for the genus of which it is the only member.
The horns are somewhat different in curvature, making for a quick id.
Aha, thanks.
I agree. They always look so neat and clean, with nicely defined patches of colour on their coats, and their cute little horns.
And I’ve always liked the word ‘springbok’.
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I enjoyed looking through Benjamin’s set of African images. Congratulations Benjamin.
That is most definitely a robber fly, and a very impressive one at that.
The huge insect does look like a Robber fly. A quick Googly search turned up a possible ID: Phellus olgae (scroll down a little).
Certainly looks like it! Thanks for that. I originally tried to send Jerry the pics from my phone while on the island (failed) and hadn’t done a search since getting back to the mainland. It’s unusual for a robber in that the leg bases are more in line with the body axis, not projected ventrally (thorax ~longer than deep, not vice versa as typical of the group).
I may have overestimated the size fractionally, so let me adjust to ’70-80 mm’. There’s a gallery of photos here.
With great caution, it might be a good idea to release carpet pythons on Rottnest island.
I sort of tend to that opinion as well, but suspect that the Rottnest Island Authority (a section of the Western Australian Government that reports to the Minister for Tourism and operates the place as a resort, while running other programs that would be operated by quite distinct departments in the rest of the state) would take a lot of persuading. Abundant and non-shy quokkas are their bread and butter from month to month, so anything that could change that would be viewed with suspicion.
Lion food, lion food every where! No wonder there is a new population of lions reported from Ethiopia.
I was very happy to see a Quokka here.
Rottnest island is one of my favourite places. If you ever get to Western Australia, “Rotto” is a must see.
Thank you, Benjamin & John–two fascinating sets of pictures!
Interesting little box jellies, John–thanks for all the extra info about them.