photography

Spot the beasts 88

Driving near the red rocks in the Bateleur rest camp area of the Kruger National Park, we stopped for a deserved leg stretch and were welcomed by this sight:

It is difficult to spot anything, I know. However, if you look very carefully, you may see some tiny red dots on the ground. These are gian red velvet mites that, after the rains, have come up in numbers to feed and, I imagine mate and multiply.

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The following videos will give you an idea of what they are (set the videos to high resolution to enjoy them better).

I also took some pictures:

Giant red velvet mites in Kruger National Park are probably Dinothrombium tinctorum. They are among the most striking invertebrates in the soil ecosystem. These arachnids are famous for their vibrant coloration, which serves as an warning to predators that they are toxic or unpalatable.

Biologically, they are distinguished by their relatively large size—up to 12 millimeters—and a dense coating of fine, velvety hairs. As larvae, they are ectoparasites, attaching themselves to insects like grasshoppers and beetles to feed on their hemolymph. However, as they mature into nymphs and adults, they become active soil-dwelling predators, hunting for small invertebrates, particularly termite workers and insect eggs.

Their behavior is highly seasonal and weather-dependent. Often referred to as “rain mites,” adults spend most of their lives buried deep underground. They emerge en masse just after heavy tropical or desert rains to engage in a synchronized, elaborate courtship ritual. Males create intricate “love gardens” of spermatophores on twigs and grass, guiding females to them using silken trails. As vital predators, they help regulate subterranean pest populations, maintaining the delicate balance of soil health.

Please note that the above summary was AI drafted and edited by the author.

Insect zombies and vampires

Recently I saw an interesting article (1) regarding a fungus known as Massospora that infects cicadas. It destroy their abdomen. So what? you may think. The interesting thing is that, despite the damage, the cicadas continue flying around but now under the control of the fungus, like insect zombies! The fungus grows in the abdomen while the goes about its business.

But this is not all!

More bizarrely, the fungus makes male cicadas to imitate the females’ mating behaviour so that they attract healthy potential mating males that get infected by contact, increasing the transmission of the disease.

This news reminded me of a find I have photographed in Salta, Argentina a while ago but since forgotten where I thought I have found a “abdomenless” one. A long search through my computer files followed and I managed to find the pictures that I took in 2018. (Below the “cicada” with what I thought to be the fungal infection).

After a careful search and comparing pictures, I realized that the “cicada” from Salta was not affected by the fungus. Still, I thought that there was something very wrong with its abdomen! Obviously my interest was spurred and I spent more hours than I had planned trying to clarify what I have found years back.

I was wrong on all counts but what I could put together was still interesting.

First error: what I thought it was a zombie cicada was in fact a planthopper and what I took for the fungal infection that destroys its abdomen, were filamentous wax strands produced by special glands. The insect would release the filaments as decoys to protect itself from predators allowing it to escape. Something comparable to the lizards dropping their tails to distract our cats or dogs.

So, my find was a perfectly normal planthopper, possibly Phenax variegata, a species belonging to the family Fulgoridae that lives on tree trunks in South American forests and feeds on plant sap.

Second error: While taking pictures of the insect I had noted (and forgotten since) that there was something else that had called my attention. The planthopper was carrying two tiny grubs of about 4 millimetres long attached to its body. After another long search, I found that there is a very rare kind of moth that are unique in that their caterpillars, instead of feeding on vegetable matter, parasitize planthoppers. This is what I believe I found!

They belong to the Fulgoraecia genus within the family Epipyropidae. (Dorsal and ventral views below).

So, although I did not find a planthopper zombie, I came across a kind of “vampire” moth that sucks the haemolimph of the planthoppers!

I am aware that the title of the post is very dramatic but these days you need it to attract readers!

It would be good if someone with more entomological knowledge than me would see this small post and perhaps correct my observations.

(1) https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/03/us/zombie-cicadas-west-virginia-fungus-scn-trnd. Read on 16 August 2026.

Wet creatures’ day

Before I describe the events of the title, I wish to explain why I have been absent from the blog. Luckily, it was not a health issue but a literary one.

A few years back, I hatched the idea of writing a historical fiction novel, without realizing what kind of work this implied. In short, the result was that all my spare time was taken by the writing as I needed to get fully immersed in the work to be able to make sense of it! Fortunately, although is not yet completed, the novel is suffciently advanced by now and, while the editor works on the final touches, I have some spare time to get back to my neglected blog. (If I manage to publish the novel I will let you know!)

So, here we go.

As every year at this time, we are spending time in Salta at our small “wildlife” farm. We have had sustained rain for the last week and yesterday there was a break and we went out to explore the surroundings and to assess any damage the rain may have caused to our entrance road,. We also needed to see if the small stream that usually looks harmless but gets quite lively with the rains, had damaged our fording place.

The water was still running quite fast but our road had suffered no damage. While checking it, we came across a sight we do not see very often.

Rococo

The toad was there for a purpose, probably to get some insects. As soon as we looked another way, it quickly disappeared.

After this distraction, we decided to check our water well as, when there is a lot of rain, the water surges up submerging the pump and ruining it.

Luckily, the pump was still way above the water but, we found another unexpected event. A small snake, probably a brown “culebra” (Paraphimophis rustica) had fallen in the water and it was swimming around without much chance of claimbing the vertical and smooth wall.

A rescue operation was organized.

After a tricky “fishing” exercise, the snake was finally retrieved and released.