For the identification of insects and other fauna and flora of South Africa.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Bush - Part 6

Another species I have been looking for, for about 4 years now!! Monkey Beetles!! What a bonanza day this was!! And two different ones too. Luck was definitely with me.
The belong to the Scarabaeidae (Scarab) family and are very small in size, less than ½ and inch.
They tend to bury themselves half inside flowers and come in the most fantastic bright colors. Trust me to only find dull brown ones. :)
All of this species are covered with soft hairs and the females are smaller than the males.
A pretty caterpillar feeds on the small wild flowers.
Stinkhorn mushrooms attract all kinds of flies but secreting a brown substance which smell awful. The flies help disperse its spores. I have never seen one of these either except in books. This is about 4 inches in height.

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