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Africa Malawi Zambia

Butterflies and bugs

Nymphaea pubescens / hairy water lily OR Nymphaea lotus / white Egyptian lotus

Flowers, dragonflies, butterflies and bugs taken on safari in Zambia and Malawi April/May 2023.

Many taken with a long lens from the vehicle, some on foot when it was safe to get out and some when in the camps.

 

Crocothemis erythraea / scarlet dragonfly / broad scarlet / common scarlet-darter / scarlet darter

Above the Shire River by the deck of the tent at Kuthengo

Brachythemis leucosticta / banded groundling / Southern banded groundling

These were common, darting so quickly over the ground, and only possible to photograph when at rest near water.

Junonia natalica / Natal Pansy on the Shire River bank, Liwonde

Sandmen / grizzled skippers (Spialia) ??? in Majete

Hamanumida daedalus / Guineafowl Butterfly at Mkulumadzi

A dozen more butterflies in the gallery.

 

Now some bugs

 

Gonimbrasia belina is a species of emperor moth. Its large edible caterpillar is known as the mopane worm. South Luangwa NP.

Held in place by Edward.

Grasshopper

At night, a katydid cricket on the Mkulumadzi deck

Small Green Dung Beetle maybe Gymnopleurus humeralis on the way to the car park at Kuthengo

Dorylus / driver ants / safari ants / siafu in a column, crossing the track in South Luangwa NP.

 

More “horrors” – spiders, scorpions and millepedes in the gallery.

 

Finally, baobab bark

Most ID’s derive from Google Lens and are open to correction. Please use the comment form below if you spot any errors.

2 replies on “Butterflies and bugs”

Terrific photographs, David. I walk two transects for Butterfly Conservation in Bernwood Forest near Oxford.

Do you run the trips to Africa?

Thanks, Trevor. We walked once in Bernwood Forrest, but at the wrong time of year for butterflies, and I dont think I’ve posted any photos.

This trip, this year, was a “standard” safari at our expense. In the past, pre-covid, and when I was maintaining safari company websites, we used to visit my clients, which gave time in the bush, as well as in the office.

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