Radioactive Neon-green Cricket

It's probably not radioactive but I found this on a hike yesterday and its color was pretty amazing. I own a highlighter pen in the same shade.

Flying Spider-Moth

It's time for the weird South African bug of the day. This one was pretty shocking to stumble upon clinging to the wall of my bedroom. At first glance, it looked like a moth but the 8 spindly legs extending out from below it's wings made me do a double take. I looked up winged spiders on the internet and couldn't find anything, so here it is, a major discovery in the insect/arachnid world:

THE SPIDER MOTH

About an hour later I went back into my room to check on the beast, only to find the one of the wings was missing. Even later in the evening, it was just a normal spider again. So it turns out I must have walked in right after the spider had originally caught the moth in its mouth and began eating. 2 hours later and that moth was gone. I'll be really impressed if the same spider can eat the gecko that scampers around my bedroom as well.

Giant Stick Bug

That's a giant stick bug on my front door. Running shoe for scale.

Click on the picture for a full-size view.

Back at Klipwal

The hiatus at home has ended and I arrived back in Kwazulu-Natal to move in at the mine this past Sunday. There have been many changes and a few events that have transformed the entire stucture of the work being done here, so I think this stint in South Africa will be much different from my previous one.

For instance, on my walk back from the office today, I spotted a couple of dung beetles doing what they do best...rolling poop.