Dudu Diaries

Category: Beetles, Culture, Ecology, Flies | Date: Oct 08 2009 | By: dududiaries

Hello - many thanks to Dana and Uwe for the kind comments.Here are a couple of insects from one of the most amazing habitats in East Africa - the alkaline lakes in the Rift Valley. These lakes are fed by volcanic activity and steamy, alkaline pools that support large flocks of flamingoes. But it is not only flamingoes that these lakes support. If you look closely at the edges of the water where a salty crust has formed, you will see lots of insects running about. They need to keep moving as it is so hot and alkaline they constantly need to avoid either being cooked or dessicated. The brine flies breed on decaying matter at the edges and the tiger beetles, are aptly-named, the little ‘tigers’ who are the major predators of the water’s edge. It was interesting to see the female tiger beetles have to hunt as they carry the males around on their backs. The males are mate guarding - preventing the female from being hijacked by another male. They do this by holding on to her with their sharp mandibles!More from the world of bugs soon…

Tags: , brine fly, dino j. martins, lake bogoria, lake nakuru, tiger beetle

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Category: Butterflies, Culture, Ecology | Date: Oct 06 2009 | By: dududiaries

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 second is of a Black-and-White Charaxes. These are both fast-flying denizens that sweep through the forest canopy at high speeds and rarely venture down close to us mere mortals unless drawn by the scent of some rotting fruit or something even more appetizing like carrion!

Tags: Butterflies, charaxes, Dino Martins, eyes, lepidoptera, proboscis

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Category: Culture, Ecology, Lakes, Termites | Date: Sep 23 2009 | By: dududiaries

Termites hard at work at Lake BaringoDear All, Hello - greetings from the road here. Have been travelling through the Rift valley and Western Kenya looking at plants, birds and insects along the way. Many of you will be familiar with the massive termite mounds that are found on the East African savannahs and in the drylands. Here is a typical mound from the Rift Valley area near Lake Baringo.It has been really dry, and therefore most insect life is lying low waiting for rain. Driving through the Rift and the highlands there are clouds building and it looks like the rains are finally on their way at least for this part of Kenya.A couple of nights ago as I was walking by a termite mound I heard a strange rattling noise. Like any good entomologist I went over and investigated. Peering down into the mound the most amazing sight greeted me. Thousands of termites were lining the walls of the main tunnel.They trooped up in organized squadrons and settled down to work on repairing the mound. There were two different castes of termites present - the workers - who are the smaller ones in the pictures with pale bodies and the soldiers who are larger with their very big heads and jaws. It was the workers who did all the labouring while the soldiers stood guard. We often think of termites as a nuisance when they feed on wooden structures. However, they are the ultimate re-cyclers of the bush taking indigestible plant matter and converting it into nutrients with the help of fungi and other micro-organisms (more on this soon).Here is a video of a view into the termite mound and some close-up pictures of them too.

Tags: baringo, dino j. martins, Ecology, isoptera, Kenya, Termites

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Category: Butterflies, Culture, Ecology | Date: Sep 12 2009 | By: dududiaries

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 - which consist of a long tubular proboscis. More soon - enjoy the weekend! 

Tags: Butterflies, butterflion, calotropis, Dino Martins, lepidoptera, papilio dardanus., pride of kenya

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Category: Butterflies, Culture, Ecology, Flies | Date: Sep 01 2009 | By: dududiaries

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 stand as still as possible and watch to see who this interloper was. After several tense seconds, he showed himself, pouncing on one of the butterflies painted on the lion’s mane!

Stunned, as this butterfly was not a juicy piece of prey but a layer of acrylic pigment on some rather hard fibre-glass, the attacker sat there and obligingly let me take his picture. This is a Robber-Fly, a common predatory insect that often seizes butterflies from the air and when they perch. However, this time he was fooled!

More soon – the launch of the lions takes place tomorrow morning and I will be there. Many thanks to everyone for their kind comments especially Dana, Christine, Tonee and Sheryl.

Tags: , born free, butterfly, Dino Martins, pride of kenya, Robber-fly

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Category: Butterflies, Culture, Ecology | Date: Aug 26 2009 | By: dududiaries

Hello!I’ve been meaning to share what I’ve been up to over the past few days. I have been painting a lion for the Pride of Kenya event, which is being organised by the Born Free foundation to raise awareness about the plight of Kenya’s lions and the need for their conservation.Of course as an insect-lover you can guess what I painted on my lion…The entire surface of the lion is covered in details from Kenyan butterflies and a few other bugs. There are a couple of pollinators – who are some of my favourite organisms and so important to farming and the survival of ecosystems.There are also a few ticks and ants hidden here and there on the lion. This will be a small fun activity for children to locate all the ticks and ants that are on the lion.Painting one of the butterflies was done in honour of George Adamson and his incredible work for lion conservation throughout his life. The small, humble blue butterfly in the middle of the picture below is of a species that was found at Kora, where George Adamson lived his last years. This butterfly had been named in honour of him, Leptotes adamsoni.I’ve gotten several requests for better views of the lion. Therefore, here is my amateur attempt at this by taking a video while walking around the lion and the result is below. Please enjoy the Butterflion and in appreciating the beauty and intricacy of these creatures spare a thought for all the wonderful animals and plants that we share the planet with and who need all the help they can get today to survive. And remember, without them our own survival on this fragile planet is tenuous.

Tags: born free, butterfly, Dino Martins, Kenya, lion, pride of kenya

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Category: Culture, Ecology, Spiders | Date: Aug 25 2009 | By: dududiaries

Big female, tiny male!

On a recent walk through one of the coastal forests I came across this amazing example of ‘sexual dimorphism’. This is where there are striking differences in size, shape, colour and other features between males and females of the same species. In this case it is a striking example of size-based sexual dimorphism with a gigantic female and a puny dwarf male.

Orb-weaving spiders are common in the coastal forests – among the more striking are these magnificent Nephila, who hang their massive webs, often over a metre in diameter, along forest paths. These spiders are incredible creatures. They are not just large and colourful (this one here was about 7 inches from toe to toe!), but also highly intelligent.

I have actually seen some of them gather up their webs when they see a person or a large animal approaching. After you’ve passed, they drop the web back down into place. This means that the spider doesn’t have its web snagged every time some large bumbling mammal walks by.

While taking a closer look at the spider’s magnificent web and beautiful colours, I noticed that there was another creature clinging to the web beneath her. On closer inspection I realised that this was a male. These Nephila spiders have really tiny stunted males in many species.

The reason behind this is thought to be female aggression. The female Nephila are famously aggressive (even as I watched her from a safe distance she rotated her fangs at me like a pair of macabre bicycle pedals!). Males have gotten smaller and smaller through evolution so that they can sneak into the webs and mate with the females without getting eaten.

Males do compete for access to females, and therefore there is a trade-off: you need to be big enough to fend off the other boys, but not too big or else the female will notice you and take you for an intruder and despatch you before you can mate with her!

In many cases the males still get eaten after they mate with the female. In fact in some spiders the males actually somersault onto the females jaws after mating with her! Notice how in this pair of would-be lovers the male is keeping to the opposite side of the web until the female yields to his charms. Just in case he needs to make a quick escape! Talk about living life in the fast lane!

Many thanks to everyone for the kind comments. More from the wonderful world of bugs soon!

Tags: insects, invertebrates, Kenya, nephila, orb weaver, sexual dimorphism, spider, Spiders

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Aug 05 2009 | By: dududiaries

The battle of the sexes has been taken to extreme in many insects. Males and females engage in all sorts of strategies and schemes to manipulate the opposite sex in the insect world. Sometimes females have to fend off amourous males. This is what I found a couple of mornings ago when I noticed a female wasp being mobbed by two males. They both hung on to her back trying to mate with her even though she didn’t want to mate with either of them!More soon!

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Category: Ants, Butterflies, Culture, Ecology | Date: Aug 04 2009 | By: dududiaries

The Ant and the Caterpillar

On a recent trip to the Kenyan coast I was wandering down a path and noticed a bright purple blob ambling along beside me. I looked down and admired the plump, brightly coloured caterpillar wondering what butterfly or moth it might eventually turn into.

As I watched it making its way down the path, I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye. I was not the only one who had spotted the caterpillar.

A large Stink Ant, a common predator of the coastal forests, was also making its way towards the caterpillar. The ant appraised the caterpillar briefly before running up and grabbing it with its large, sharp and serrated mandibles. The caterpillar twitched back and forth, but could not free itself. Now the Stink Ant curved her abdomen forward and delivered a powerful sting to the caterpillar.

The hapless caterpillar continued to struggle while the Stink Ant clung on tenaciously with its powerful jaws.

As the caterpillar tried to free itself, another tiny ant ran up briefly to the pair engaged in battle. It drummed its antennae against the caterpillar then, likely sensing the presence of the other larger Stink Ant, ran away as fast as its little legs could carry it! It looked like the smaller ant was fleeing, but little did any of us; caterpillar, Stink Ant or yours truly know what was in store…

The Stink Ant and the caterpillar continued to battle on. At one point the caterpillar tried twisting around to grab hold of its tormentor. However, the clever Stink Ant clung on with its jaws, while carefully holding its legs back so that the caterpillar could not get a hold. The caterpillar’s small weak jaws were no match for the ants’ jaws and venom anyway.

After what seemed like an eternity of twenty-seven minutes, the caterpillar began to weaken. No doubt the venom delivered by the Stink Ant’s powerful sting was beginning to take effect. The caterpillar acquiesced to its fate and allowed the Stink Ant to drag it down the path deeper into the forest.

At this point, my camera battery ran flat. I rushed back to the house flailing about for a spare battery. I quickly changed it and rushed back to down the path to where I had left the caterpillar and the Stink Ant.

For a moment, I couldn’t find them and my heart sank. I so wanted to see the battle through to its end. Then I noticed a frenetic struggle going on at the edge of the path. On closer inspection, it proved to the be the same caterpillar now being devoured by hundreds of Big-Headed Ants!

The tiny ant who had visited the battling pair earlier on was no shy wanderer. It was a sneaky spy! That little ant was a foraging scout, sent out by the colony in search of potential food. She had summoned her sisters and here they were now carting off the caterpillar! The Big Headed ants have several worker castes, as you can see from the picture, including ones with massive heads and jaws. These individuals with extra-large heads and jaws are known as ‘majors’.

As I wondered what had happened to the Stink Ant, who had worked so hard for her supper, I noticed another pile of Big Headed ants battling away a couple of feet from me. On closer inspection it turned out to be the Stink Ant being devoured herself!

As I noticed this several of the Big Headed ants had by now found their way up my sandals onto my feet. As one of the ‘majors’ sank its jaws into my skin I leapt back, brushed them off and made my way down the path appreciating the fact that nature is truly ‘red in tooth and claw’!

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Category: Culture, Ecology, Flies | Date: Aug 03 2009 | By: dududiaries

There is a poem by Jonathan Swift (1733) that goes:

 So, naturalists observe, a flea

Hath smaller fleas that on him prey;

And these have smaller still to bite ‘em,

And so proceed ad infinitum.

Thus, every poet, in his kind,

Is bit by him that comes behind.Which has been recently re-hashed as:

 Big fleas have little fleas

Upon their backs to bite &em;

And little fleas have lesser fleas

And so, ad infinitum.Whichever version you prefer - I think that you will agree it aptly sums up what is happening to this poor fly that I found hanging out on a Euphorbia a few days ago… More soon and thanks to everyone for the kind comments!

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