Africa Wild

BluTuna: Have you got another angle on that bee (the top pic of the last trio you posted). Looks like a Cuckoo Bee but to be more certain we'd have to see if there are sharp, backward pointing projections either side of the thorax?

Hi Wynand,

Here are some more angles on that bee.





I hope these help. I can't see any projections but that's probably because I don't know what to look for. Could you ring the projections (or where they are supposed to be) on one of the pictures please?

wynand wrote:Thanks for the compliments. No, I'm not good. I just take an interest in invertebrate identification and I have some reference works.

Welcome to the Forum wynand your "interest" is certainly our gain

Please keep up the good work

Moved to permanent Mantid thread.

sand color in the sand

Tarachodes looks like this

WoW ExFmem, just look at those eyes!

Yes, Toko, that was my best guess as well. Should I enter it in the permanent mantid thread as Tarachodes sp. ? (or wait for a more specific identification)?

As you like, I don't find any reference for Id on species level.

Me too!!! I'm having a heck of a time identifying mantids.

I have another from KK in KTP (was posted previously in the Insects and Creepy Crawlies section) that I am quite sure is Episcopomantis chalybea, but my insect guide, (which looks EXACTLY like it), only shows it in the Eastern half of SA. I found 2 other pics on the web from Botswana and Namibia, but those specimens were greenish and mine is straw. Male/female? or color variation, but the description in my guide says "uniformly straw"...

If I can't tell a honey badger from a polecat, what are my chances of success w/ mantids
(But I did know it wasn't a zebra, as their distribution doesn't extent to the KTP )