Animal of the week

Common fruit fly

Description/How to recognize a…….. An adult Drosophila melanogaster (common fruit fly) is yellow-brown (tan) in colour, and is only about […]

Honey badger

Derivation of scientific name: Even though primarily a carnivore/insectivore, honey badgers search out honeybee hives, hence their English common name. […]

Hover flies

Hover flies are among the most important pollinators globally, providing pollination services to many crops and natural vegetation. About 230 […]

Guttural toad

Derivation of scientific name (if known) The species name gutturalis derives from the loud calls of the guttural toad. Common […]

Blue duiker

Derivation of scientific name The genus name Philantomba has no known origin and the species name monticola refers to the […]

Agar animal

Derivation of scientific name: The animal has a disc-shaped cephalic shield (hard structure covering the head region) that protects its […]

Land hopper

Common names: Land hopper Talitriator africana is talitrid land hopper, which occurs mainly in forest and transitional areas between forest […]

Cheetah

Common names: cheetah, southeast African cheetah, hunting leopard (Eng.); jagluiperd (Afr.); lengau (seSotho, seTswana); xikankanka (Xitsonga); ihlosi (isiXhosa); ingulule (isiZulu) […]

Small Minnow Mayfly

Common names: Small minnow mayfly (Eng.) (note: all members of the family Baetidae are referred to as Small minnow mayflies). […]

Rhizobium rhizogenes

Introduction Soil microorganisms form an important link between soil and plants, a link characterised by ecosystem processes that keep both […]

African Wild Dog

Official Common name: African Wild Dog, Cape Hunting Dog, Painted Hunting Dog French: Cynhyene, Loup-peint, Lycaon Spanish: Licaon Xitsonga: Hlolwa […]

Paradise Skipper

Common name: Paradise Skipper (English); ibhabhathane (isiXhosa); paradys-dartelaartjie (Afrikaans), phaphatani (Xitsonga) Abantis paradisea is commonly known as the Paradise Skipper. […]

African Wood Owl

Official Common Name: African Wood Owl Derivation of scientific name: The African Wood Owl and a number of Neotropical owl […]

Fall Armyworm

Derivation of scientific name The scientific name derives from frugiperda, which is a Latin word meaning lost fruit. It is […]

Barn swallow

Common names: Barn swallow (English); Europese swael (Afrikaans); Ucelizapholo, Udlihashe (Xhosa); iNkojane (Zulu); Lekabelane (South Sotho); Nyeganyenga (Shona); Inkonjane (Swazi); […]

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