Next to the Kastaiingskloof river, in deep sandy soils.

It was originally fynbos (or renosterveld), then for a very long period of time grazing pastures. Now, the adjacent land is ploughed for rooibos tea plantations. These grow in the fence. So they should be able to persist in the corridor adjacent the river.

Moth pollinating an aandblom, the flowers open in the late afternoon/early evening while it is still light. They are closed by sunrise, though I didn't find out when. I've looked for moth pollinators before by torchlight and never had any luck. At 5.50 with sunset at 6.40 it was still very light. About 10 moths were visiting a small population of flowers. So it would seem the action happens before sunset.
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flower here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16928125
full video here:
https://youtu.be/bXwQFGk_1Hw

minor ants approx 5mm.
Never seen this before, ants raiding antlion traps and stealing their prey, removing the dead/dying termites. Didn't see any antlions being attacked, but the ants were in the bottom of two different traps wrestling food from the antlions.

Antlion here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16928137

Prey here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16928134

She's STILL not forgiven me for once stroking her nymphal antennae!

I think Spike's a girl - fat tum & foul temper. All bluff, unlike her bigger cousins, Polyspilota aeruginosa, she never tried to stab me with her fearsome forelimbs and certainly didn't draw blood. Released quickly back in her thicket where she gradually calmed (last pic).

See her development from final nymphal instar. Here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16163662
And here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/16442575

Kleinmond wasper of wasps

Our yellowwood paper wasp nest was visited by a stranger. She inserted her ovipositor into each cell and then flew off... No sign of our resident wasps while the attack took place. Today they were back on their nest as usual... There is an interaction on its way.

After I eventually collected the nest I was surprised to observe two completely different wasp species appear, I've loaded them here:

- larger species
- smaller species

We saw the snake eagle as it flew up from the ground. It flew in slow circles while it controlled and started to eat the snake. One minute from pic 1 to pic 8 where it started to eat the snake. Total time for this series, three minutes.

Snake at https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/14774517

Pupae cases seen at the base of a Keurboom. With permission, the tree was removed, roots and all, taken in for a MIR scan, first image. Guided by the scan, section cut through the stem to confirm scan interpretation. The holes made by Leto venus larvae are confined to a 40cm section of the main stem, do not enter the roots and are parallel to the stem, near vertical.No larvae were seen, thinking the 5 holes were made by a single brood, all of which pupated within a short period of time.

Meerenvlei eggs, full life cycle

23 February 2017:

I collected a small Cliffortia twig with a cluster of eggs at Meerenvlei next to Kleinmond lagoon.

8 March 2017:

The eggs started hatching.

28 September 2017:

The first of my many caterpillars started cocooning. I released some of the caterpillars into my garden as they had become too much to cope with.

11 November 2017:

The first moth emerged. After a while there were several new moths each day, and many of them mated. I released the hundreds of eggs as well.

(Note written by Dr David Steen) On 27 May 2018 I was trolling at approximately 13 m depth and 70 meters from the nearest shoreline in New Melones Reservoir, California when he captured the A. nebulosus a non-native species in the state. Upon removing the hook, a dead juvenile C. oreganos was revealed in the mouth and stomach of the catfish. Both the catfish and the rattlesnake were approximately 36 cm in length.

ID suggested by Hanna Roland; this is the photo on which the CRG-logo is based; the caterpillars are Hannas darlings! We always look for them intensely - and also find many. Unfortunately we can't rear them. But we contribute by posting the pictures - and Hanna can ID quite a lot of them.

A movement on the road caught my eye and on approaching was thinking of either something had caught a chameleon or it was injured and thrashing about in death throes. They were absolutely still after this flurry of movement, just eyes moving. One brief flurry again, followed by another long period of almost absolute motionless, another brief flurry and they parted. Never seen one as pitch black as the female, marking around the eyes standing out almost as clearly as under UV light. Both returned to more normal colours rapidly after parting, both removed by hand to the relative safety of near by shrubs. Total time actually witnessed 1 hour and 5 minutes, but I believe from others that they started mating some time before that.
Comments of selling price of a breeding pair shocking at R12 000 or there abouts!

The lizard was so intent on keeping its prey it didn't skedaddle, giving us a chance to take pictures.
I assume it wasn't scavenging and actually caught it, but you've got to be fast to catch these insects!
Prey here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/10597608