Ant-acacias…
Category: Ants | Date: Aug 24 2008 | By: dududiaries
Here are some of the ants that live on the ant-acacia trees in the Kerio Valley. First here’s a portrait of an acacia tree… 
The main ants that tend the trees are known as ‘cocktail ants’ (Crematogaster spp.) because the raise their abdomens into the air when alarmed. Here are a few of them have a tete-a-tete… 
Many of the cocktail ants are brightly coloured, like this one who is red-and-black…. 
There are lots of other species of ants on the trees. Some don’t actually live on the tree but visit it - scurrying up and down the trunk. In order to photograph these flighty creatures I put out a few drops of diluted honey. They soon found the sweet treat and settled down to drink. 
They were not the only sugar lovers around - a number of flies also stopped by the droplet for a drink too! On the whole most of the ants and flies were happy to share the unexpected treat - there were a few minor scuffles, but none of these resulted in anyone being hurt… 
More on the ants and other cool bugs from the Kerio Valley soon!
The Kerio Valley…
Category: Ants | Date: Aug 22 2008 | By: dududiaries
Have been working over the past week in the Kerio Valley. Located in Northwestern Kenya this is one of my favourite places in the world and a stunning extension of the Great Rift Valley. Steep escarpments plunge down from the ancient Cherangani Hills to the hot, dry acacia woodlands and scrub of the valley floor, then the land rises again to meet the Tugen Hills. 
On the valley floor among the majestic Acacia tortilis trees are stands of Acacia seyal - one of the ant-acacias that I am currently studying. These are medium-sized tree up to 15-20 m tall with lovely soft yellow bark that is often tinged with russet as they age. This species and the other African ant-acacias are fascinating plants. They are a wonderful example of mutualism and cooperation between species. The plant engages with a close and intimate relationship with a range of ant species. The basic understanding between the acacia and the ants is: The acacia provides housing and food, the ants provide protection against hungry nibbling mouths. This acacia houses ants in lovely silvery-white swollen thorns that are distributed along the tree’s branches… 
The ants forage up and down the trees, and from the extra-floral nectaries, which are special glands that secrete sugary sustenance for the ants… 
More on the myriad other ants and fabulous creatures on and around the acacias soon!
More rainforest insects…
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 20 2008 | By: 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 of other creatures in check. Here are some colourful flies that I photographed in the forest - they were hanging around where some colobus monkeys were napping… 
There were also lots of little grasshopper nymphs around, including this cute little fellow: 
In the evening, just before a thunderstorm broke over the forest, I spotted this lovely skipper butterfly sipping nectar from flowers. The flower is an Impatiens sp, which grows along the forest paths in shady spots. It seems to be pollinated by skipper butterflies primarily. The globular sphere in the background is a seed pod that is just about to burst. The pods explode when ready - at the slightest touch - sending the seeds flying into the forest. No matter how many times I’ve popped them, it’s always a surprise to feel the pod springing to life! Most flowering plants rely on insect pollinators in order to be pollinated and set seed or fruit… 
Rainforest insects…
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 19 2008 | By: dududiaries
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 bugs, flatid bug nymphs, who sit together in gregarious ‘nurseries’. They are very touchy and hop off like little rockets at the slightest disturbance so I had to move like a chameleon in order to photograph them! Their fluffy tails are waxy filaments that serve as a means to clog up the mouth of any would-be predator while the little nymph escapes! 
There were some interesting flies around - including this ‘Daddy-long-legs’ - a species of cranefly, who came along to sample some of the mashed banana mix that I was using to attract butterflies… 
The butterflies eventually showed up - among the most striking was a pair of ‘Lurid Gliders’, as they are known - the female is the brown and white-spotted one, the male is the one with the golden yellow wings… 
Some butterflies preferred the edges of puddles to sip from…
And some had tastes running to less appetising things!
There were a lot of ants around too. Among my favourite ants in the forest are these lumbering gentle ants, Polyrachis, who move slowly along the trunks and leaves of trees. They spend a lot of time seemingly pondering the mysteries of life, while basking in the sunshine, like this one was… 
More from the wonderful world of insects soon - thanks to everyone for your kind comments and interest and sorry for not posting more often!
More Gorilla bugs (and gorillas)
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 28 2008 | By: dududiaries
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 the area. Below are some pictures of them.
The nettles were everywhere along the path. Each leaf and stem of the nettles is dotted with sharp glass-like hairs. These are actually tiny hypodermic needles each one connected to a poison gland that pumps out their venom when the sharp end of the ‘needle’ punctures your skin! It burns for hours on end – especially if you accidentally brush against one of the giant stinging nettles with their extra-large needles.
Despite their formidable armature, the smaller species of nettle are actually edible. They are in fact one of the Mountain Gorilla’s foodplants, alongside some 200 other species of plants that grow on these lush mountains. They can also be cooked as a vegetable and are quite delicious when prepared in milk with a dash of butter – I’ve had them in Western Kenya and Uganda. Clover also grows here - in lush carpets with purple flowers. It provided a nice relief to the spikes and stings on the other plants!
We continued along the path, which continued to climb, but less steeply than through the bamboo. Progress was steady, punctuated by muttered cries of pain, as every now and then one of us made contact with the stinging nettles. And it was not just the nettles who were out to get us. Some of the other plants were also armed with sharp spiny leaves, such as the Acanthus and thistles which grew into miniature trees up here closer to the sun and watered by abundant rain.
Not all the plants were on the attack, and I spent a few minutes adoring some of the giant lobelias. These incredible plants are related to common wildflowers that everywhere else grow just a couple of inches tall, but here on East Africa’s high mountains they are magically transformed into floral giants.
Finally, after a solid two-hour hike through nettles and their friends, we caught up with the trackers who were waiting in the shade of a young rosewood tree. They told us that the gorillas were just ahead, feeding on a flank of the mountain, Bisoke (also called Visoke) that we were on.
We left our bags and walking sticks behind and followed Francis, our amazing guide, up the slope. Within minutes we saw the bushes moving and saw fuzzy black forms darting in and out of view.
My heart was pounding as we got closer and closer. And then, suddenly, we were right there, among them! The first individual I got a good look at was the grand old Silverback (the alpha male gorilla), who leads the family group. Below is the view that we had of him. He continued feeding ignoring us completely. We were stunned and awed by his presence, but I’m not sure that he was even the slightest bit impressed with us! If he did think anything of us, he certainly didn’t show it, only turning his massive head towards us once before returning to peeling nettles.
Francis beckoned us to follow him, which was easier said than done, as we were on a tangled slope in the thick of nettles. There was no solid ground underfoot either, we walked on a springy mass of vines and nettle-stems, trying to keep our balance and respectful distance from the gorillas (who were not as observant of this rule).
We stood quietly among the gorillas, watching them feed. Imagine living in a giant field of your favourite foods – that basically sums up the gorilla habitat. Here’s a close-up of the seeding part of the wild celery that they love to eat.
They move about slowly and gently break off branches and twigs to nibble on. The wild celery is one of their favourites, and they carefully peel its pithy skin off the juicy stems, before munching it. I watched one individual sitting in a patch of wild celery, feeding for several minutes.
It is so moving to see them feeding and moving about so carefree and peaceful. The fact that these incredible creatures are still on this planet is something that none of us can take for granted. Looking into their eyes I felt more human and more aware that we are but one species on a planet with millions of other wonderful creatures who all deserve to live and thrive, and to whom we are intricately and inextricably linked.
How improbably wonderful that we as humans, despite all our blundering and madness, still have our dear cousins, the gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos here with us in the world today. Somehow, despite all the odds against them, they too have survived and we must do everything that we can to make sure that they, and all the other species too, are here for future generations to marvel at. If you meet a fellow great ape you will realise that without them we would be very lonely, for in them one sees so much of ourselves: compassion, friendship, family, kindness, playfulness, unbridled joy and even curiosity.
A short time later, parts of the family settled down around their ‘daddy’ the silverback for a short snooze. Again I was struck by the peaceful sense of family and shared group bond that they had. In fact, it makes one wonder which species, ours or theirs, has a more developed sense of family? In their interactions there is little posturing, just pure gentleness and love between the family members. Even the massive silverback tolerated the playful youngsters jumping all over him as he tried to take a nap.
This family is known as the Amahoro group, which means ‘peaceful’ as Francis our ranger informed us. They were so named because of all they gorilla groups habituated for human visitation, they were the most calm and peaceful (There was a slight lapse in this when one of the gorillas gently cuffed one of our party, Craig Hatkoff, and the same individual also took a playful swipe at one of the guides).
One of the most intimate moments with these incredible creatures was when watching them snooze under a green umbrella of vines and leaves, Francis grabbed my arm and said: “Look, there is the mother with the young baby!”
Moving my gaze from the bright sunshine into the shadows, it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust. And there before me was one of the most moving scenes of the entire visit. A mother gorilla cradled her young infant in her arms as he nursed at her breast. Her hands were so massive, with callused black palms, but they held the tiny infant with such gentle tenderness. She looked up at me gently as I fumbled with the camera. I felt very much like a voyeur. All the other gorillas did was roll over and grunt as if to say “There they go again, those silly humans clicking away…”
I sat down nearby and continued to watch them. The baby gorilla soon fell asleep, though he did cough a little bit (you can hear the recording of this and other amazing gorilla sounds on Paula’s outstanding podcast about the trip on the WildlifeDirect Baraza blog).
Of course, being a scientist, my feelings of adulation and awe were spiced with curiosity and I kept looking around at the bugs. Yes, even in the presence of gorillas I will look for insects – I am a true insect-lover! It was especially amazing to see the many different kinds of flies that settled on and around the gorillas.
There were so many different kinds, many of them difficult to get pictures of, but here are some of the species that were closest to the gorillas.
The commonest flies were ‘Green-bottles’ and their relatives, who settled both on the massive hairy bodies and the fresh dung. Most of these looked like they were in the genus Chrysomya.
There were also a number of blood-sucking flies, similar to Horse-flies, that are likely to be sucking blood from the gorillas. These flies may not just be pests of the gorillas, they visit flowers in large numbers too and are pollinating some of the plants that the gorillas feed on. There is so much to learn from the other incredible creatures, no matter how tiny, obscure or even ‘gross’, as they too are part of the ecosystem that the gorillas live in. And so, if there’s one lesson from this incredible meeting that I would like to share, it is that we cannot undervalue even a single species with whom we are privileged to share the earth. They all matter. We need them all, and we should love, and care about them all, from giant gorillas to tiny flies.
One thing I must do is thank all the wonderful people who made this trip possible. First a big Asante to Craig Hatkoff for the kind invitation, and to the rest of the amazing team: Juliana, Ben, Noah, Joe, Bill, Brian; Beth, Eric and Jennifer for being such good organisers, and especially to our great ranger-guide Francis (in the picture below), and all of the people in Rwanda involved in protecting the mountain gorillas, and to Paula (on the left in the second picture below!), for her patience with me stopping to look at insects all the time!
More soon – currently in Mwanza, Tanzania on the shores of Lake Victoria looking at ant-acacias and other amazing creatures.
PS-Sorry for not posting this sooner. It’s taken me some time to get all the pictures and other stuff sorted. And many thanks to everyone who reads and sends comments. Please forgive me if I don’t respond immediately – I am still learning how to use the blogging software and all the different aspects of the blog that I need to manage.
Gorilla bugs
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 26 2008 | By: dududiaries
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 continental plate, some of the most diverse and dramatic landscapes have formed as a result.
The flanks of the mountains and volcanoes in East Africa are covered with distinctive bands of vegetation that change as you move higher up the slopes. At lower altitudes there is dense forest, with montane forest where the trees are covered with moss and ferns above this. From the montane forest if you keep climbing you enter a zone of giant bamboo.
The bamboo grows in dense stands with very little else growing in between. The tall, sombre culms rise from a thick leaf litter that is churned into rich mud where hooves have trampled it. Sunlight is filtered by the overarching tapestry of leaves, and the result is a diffuse, cathedral like quality that is mostly silent, save for the occasional creaking or hollow knock when the wind gently stirs some shoots.
The rich, thick leaf litter that forms beneath the bamboo is a perfect home for many different creatures that like damp and dark places. We found one of these as we climbed up the steep path. I heard Paula cry out “Oh – what’s that? It’s disgusting!” Of course, being a good biologist she then picked it up. It was part of a (baby) giant earthworm.
These are one of several giant earthworms that can be found in the high altitude vegetation of the Albertine Rift. They can grow up to a several feet long, and are more hard and rubbery than their smaller more familiar cousins.
In some particularly damp places the earthworms even live on trees that have thick layers of moss growing on them! We only found baby earthworms crawling on the surface of the leaf litter. Their much bigger parents were hidden deeper in the thick humus. These worms were also much faster moving than the more common smaller species. They wriggled like snakes using their powerful muscles to twist out of my hands as I tried to photograph them.
After watching the magnificent earthworms, we walked on and on along the steep path through the bamboo. At one point there the leaves above shook vigorously and some of the bamboo stems waved about. A loud cry “Niiaooow- chuck” echoed from the crashing leaves. This was a Golden Monkey, a species endemic to the area. I only managed a few glimpses of the monkeys as they were extremely shy.
We carried on to the steepest section. Here you had to use all your strength and limbs to keep moving up the path. The mud was slippery and luckily the bamboo made nice handholds. After what seemed like ages we stopped to rest in a small glade.
As I searched for insects on flowers I noticed a flash of light zipping down from the canopy. I moved closer. It dropped again, this time to about eye level. A gentle wind picked rustled through the glade and the creature calmly drifted to and fro. What could this be? Who can levitate so effortlessly?
The breeze died down, and the creature came to rest perfectly still in mid-air! Now I could see that it was suspended by the thinnest of threads. This was a caterpillar absailing down from the canopy. Perhaps it was startled by a hungry bird and using its silken ‘safety rope’ had bungee-jumped off the leaves high above. I guess if you’re about to be eaten it’s worth the risk!
We had to move on, as there was still a lot of ground to cover before we got to the gorillas…
More about meeting the gorillas and the other incredible ‘dudus’ living with them soon!
Africa distilled
Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 23 2008 | By: dududiaries
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 was to look for new species of insects associated with the mountain gorillas and their precious habitats. This will be a long term project and I’m hoping to just help out right now with developing the preliminary butterfly checklist. The pictures in this post show the volcanoes of the Volcanoes National Park and some typical views of the countryside.
Rwanda is an amazing, beautiful, green and peaceful country. The country is currently making huge strides in development, stability and a safe and secure place for investment and development. It is so different from the drylands of Kenya. The landscape is made up almost entirely of rolling hills that tumble down to beautiful lakes, with the spectacular Virunga volcanic range on the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Ugand in the northwest, and the vast, muggy Akagara swamp-savannah in the East towards the border with Tanzania.
The Virunga volcano chain is one of Africa’s most spectacular massifs. They rise from the hilly plain high up into the sky, strewn with mist and cloud more than half the time. Their forested flanks are home to the incredible mountain gorillas, who along with the chimpanzee and bonobo are humankind’s closest surviving relatives on the planet. When the clouds shift, the steep volcanic cones are briefly visible, their mottled flanks farmed up to the very edge of the Parc des Volcans (Volcanoes National Park). This truly is ‘Africa distilled’ as the author Isak Dinesen summed up the equatorial highlands of Africa. It is bright and sunny, yet never hot, and crisply cool at night – just the most perfect weather in my opinion!
From the little that I’ve seen of the countryside so far, what’s most impressive is the intensity and diversity of the cultivation. As a landlocked country in the heart of Central Africa with a population of over 9 million people, Rwanda needs to work very hard to feed its people. Basically every square inch of land that can be cultivated is. And the farms are incredible, perched on terraced slopes and carved out of rock and floodplains.
So many different crops are grown in gorgeous mosaic of intensive cultivation. Beans, maize, rice, potatoes, cassava, wheat, tree tomatoes, passion fruits, papaya, mangoes… the list is endless. The combination of equatorial sunshine, fertile volcanic loam soils and industrious people make for an incredibly productive agrarian system, allowing both tropical and temperate crops to be cultivated side by side. (Both Paula and I have been gorging on the fruit, especially the extra-yummy tree tomato juice!).
There’s lots and lots to write about, especially the wonderful insects and plants and of course the gorillas – more on that soon! So look out for my next post will highlight the amazing insects of this unique volcanic part of Africa
A colourful freeloader
Category: Ants | Date: Jun 05 2008 | By: dududiaries
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 (through sugary nectar secreted from special glands), and the ants provide patrolling protection against hungry mouths and mandibles that might chance to nibble on the plants.
One particular ant is very aggressive and an extremely good partner for the plant. This is a cocktail ant (Crematogaster mimosae) who provides regular patrolling and rushes to defend the plant when it is disturbed.
However, no arrangement is perfect and every relationship is subject to infiltration in nature. Many different creatures exploit the ant-plant mutualism for their own selfish ends. I found one of these remarkable creatures the other morning. While watching the ants tending scale insects on the young shoots of an acacia I noticed a bright green form moving among them. At first I thought I was seeing things - perhaps the result of spending too much time in the sun?
A closer look revealed that they little green person was indeed an alien intruder in the form of a beetle. This beetle lives among the ants as a total freeloader. It cons them through a mixture of tactile and no doubt chemical communication into thinking that it is one of them. It even taps them on the head in the right way and the hapless ants regurgitate food for it!
Orchid mystery
Category: Pollination | Date: Jun 02 2008 | By: dududiaries
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 wet and slippery so we made very slow progress through the forest. There were lots of orchids on the trees and some of them were flowering.
One tiny orchid, a Polystachya, had fascinating flowers. They hang like miniature xmas decorations from a tangled branch. Despite their tiny size (less than 1cm across) they exude the most enticing perfume. A mixture of lemon and marzipan that slightly tickles when you lean in close for a deeper whiff.
The orchid’s flowers are unusual too in that the reproductive parts have been rotated 180 degrees. Therefore, the potential pollinator will have the orchid’s pollen deposited on its belly! Orchid pollen is not fine and powdery but packaged into solid bundles called pollinaria that attach to the pollinator with a special glue! I hope to solve the mystery of this flower soon - for who could be its pollinator?
As my camera was back at home charging, I decided to sketch the plant…
Unexpected Diversity
Category: Butterflies, Dragonflies, Spiders | Date: May 12 2008 | By: dududiaries
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
The Kibera Slum is probably not the kind of place you would ever
expect to hear about on a conservation blog. Many people associate the
slum with images of violence and chaos especially in the recent
violence that erupted in Kenya. However, given that a third of the
population of Nairobi lives in the slum (estimated at nearly 1 million
people!), the needs and hopes of the people who live there need to be
part of the big issues addressed by conservationists.
To those who livet here, garbage is just a part of the landscape. It is dumped in any open spaces, and is the unbelievable playground and hunting area for young children.
We went to look at a wonderful project that is literally, just taking
root, with a local Youth Group. A group of former prisoners are
cleaning up and restoring a piece of land that is basically a garbage
dump on the edge of the railway tracks. This piece of land is being
turned into an organic farm.
After one week the garbage had been cleared from the dump and neatly piled for erosion control, and soil prepared for planting
What impressed me about this project, apart from the incredible joy,
hope and determination of the people involved, was the way that life
itself – biodiversity – has made an unbelievable comeback on the land
being restored.
Sorrel and other plants grow wild here - the seeds come in the garbage
Negotiating the open sewers clogged with plastic bags and refuse, eyes
smarting from the fumes from endless fires burning everything from
dried fish to old batteries, one would be forgiven for thinking that
life barely survives here. But nothing could be further from the
truth. Given just a little breathing space to heal, Mother Nature has
begun to bounce back with vigour.
One of the first things was to restore the natural processes of decay
and nutrient cycling to the soil. And of course who better to do this
than those tireless soil-making machines, our dear little friends the
earthworms. In beds fed with scraps, the earthworms have been
established and are rapidly increasing in number (they are
hermaphrodites and can mate multiply!).
These children have hardly been exposed to natural vegetation or animals. On being introduced to worms the first child thought they were snakes and the first worm was hurled onto the railway tracks - the little boy believing he’d rescued us from a deadly bite!
As I walked over the soft, fragile soil, carefully raked clean of
debris, a brief rapid fluttering caught my eye. Intrigued, I followed
the tiny grey fleck as it whirled through the air. Finally, after
several frustrating minutes, it settled on a piece of paper lying on
the ground. I peered closely and was very pleasantly surprised. This
was a Woolly Legs – a strange and wonderful butterfly whose
caterpillars are carnivorous and feed on scale insects and other
similar pests! This makes them a useful insect and a cherished friend
of farmers who need to control scale insects on their crops.
Later, as the sun warmed the red soil, another flash of colour swirled
around coming to rest on a rock. Here was a newly arrived Painted Lady
– a migrant species, that has come to the tiny patch of land to start
a new generation of butterflies. She sat sunning herself on the rocks
in between the freshly dug furrows. Her choice of this spot also
indicates that the land is healing and welcoming to living things. The
herbs now allowed to sprout freed from the suffocating piles of
rubbish will bring in more and more insects. We saw 15 different
species of butterflies on the farm over the rest of the day –
absolutely amazing and wonderful.
Butterflies were not the only creatures making a comeback. We saw five
different kinds of bees, including honeybees, feeding from the small
patch of flowers at the edge of the little farm. These will be
important pollinators once the crops are established. A number of
dragonflies were also patrolling the area. They too are friends well
worth having as they feed on pesky flies and mosquitoes. Even the pile
of plastic bags raked out of the plot, piled up and planted on as an
erosion barrier was beginning to attract creatures – several small
spiders had taken up residence here.
As the land continues to heal and more and more plants are established
the numbers of creatures is bound to grow and I look forward to
visiting again and seeing who else has come back to live on the farm
and help the farmers keep the land healthy and productive. This also
goes to show you that life can thrive absolutely anywhere – we just
have to give her a chance!
The children were absolutely amazing, funny, happy and healthy! They have been incorporated into the project for future generations. They had the privilege of being the first to plant seeds in the seedbeds.
Tags: Kenya, Kibera, organic farming, slum upgrading
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