Southern rock agama chilling on a rock along a hiking trail. Baviaanskloopf, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2020). Called the ' dark agama' in French. Short, plump body, with a thin dorsal crest, a thin tail and a triangular head.During the breeding season, the heads of males become bright blue. Males take to sitting on top… Continue reading Southern rock agama (Agama atra)
Tag: Terrestrial
Manapany day gecko (Phelsuma inexpectata)
Reunion Island day gecko taking a sunbath on a common screwpine. Manapany-Les-Bains, Reunion Island (2025). Also called Reunion Island ornate day gecko. One of the smallest day geckos. Body dark green. Snout with a greenish or blueish spot. Three red stripes extend from the snout to the neck. On the side of the head, two… Continue reading Manapany day gecko (Phelsuma inexpectata)
Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Painted Lady feeding on a nodding thistle on the farm. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). Formerly known as Acraea acara subsp. acara but revised by Williams & Henning (2023). Male and female. Upperside. Ground-colour reddish-ochreous, basal areas olivescent-ochreous-brown. Cilia black, alternated with white. Forewing with an outwardly-oblique black irregular-shaped broken… Continue reading Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)
Cape glossy starling (Lamprotornis nitens)
Cape glossy starling perched on the rails of a cattle kraal. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape, South Africa (2024). A fairly large, short-tailed, uniformly glossy starling. Green head, with bright orange-yellow eyes but without darker ear coverts. Reddish-bronze shoulder patch, and glossy green belly and flanks. Larger than the arboreal black-bellied starling (Notopholia… Continue reading Cape glossy starling (Lamprotornis nitens)
Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)
African drongo hanging on a tree branch, close to the farm house. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). Black body with a blue-green iridescence in specific regions. Underside and belly uniformly black, contrasting with the glossy black-blue upper body. Robust black beak. Red eyes. Deeply forked lengthy tail. Males and females alike, with… Continue reading Fork-tailed drongo (Dicrurus adsimilis)
Réunion Stonechat (Saxicoles tectes)
Curious 'tec-tec' hanging onto a branch. Maïdo, Saint-Paul, La Réunion (2025). A short and round little bird, very familiar, curious and not so shy. Male is mostly black - head, back and wings - with white brows and mirrors on the wings, white throat and belly with a rufous chest patch. But males displays a… Continue reading Réunion Stonechat (Saxicoles tectes)
Spotted sand lizard (Pedioplanis lineoocellata ssp. pulchella)
Spotted sand lizard in situ. Bavianskloof, Eastern Cape (2020). Orange to grey lizard, with white-blue and dark bordered ocelli (eye-like markings) on flanks and numerous paler spots on the back, which may fuse into a dorsolateral lines.Sexes distinguished in adults by the presence of a hemi-penal bulge (a bulge on the base of the tail… Continue reading Spotted sand lizard (Pedioplanis lineoocellata ssp. pulchella)
Micragrotis interstriata
Shiny specimen of Micragrotis interstriata. Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2025). Thorax blackish-brown. Abdomen brownish-ochreous. Forewing blackish-brown in the coastal-marginal area and in the cell, bluish-grey below it, browner in the marginal area, where there are black streaks at the veins and brown ones between them. Interior line fin, double, very strongly dentated inwards. Ring-macula and… Continue reading Micragrotis interstriata
Lycus poultoni
Two specimens of Lycus poultoni on top of each other. You can see two pairs of antennae. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). A member of the net-winged beetles in the tribe Lycini, family Lycidae. An ochraceous bug with species-specific black markings. Head very deeply depressed, eyes forming two deep pits, and long… Continue reading Lycus poultoni
Recurved swallowtail (Urapteroides recurvata)
Close-up of a specimen of recurved swallowtail. The Walsingham Farm, Port Alfred, Eastern Cape (2024). Forewing 21 - 26 mm. Front margin of forewings slightly convex and bearing tiny brown spots. Wings white, bordered by a thin brown line, variably spotted, with fine black spots in some individuals, and neatly divided by 3 fine transverse… Continue reading Recurved swallowtail (Urapteroides recurvata)
F*CK FISH 