Animal of the week

Leopard tortoise

Derivation of scientific name The genus name Stigmochelys is a combination of the Greek words stigma meaning ‘marked’ and chelone […]

Lantana bug

Common names: Lantana bug Orthezia insignis (Lantana bug), is an elegantly structured scale insect no farmer wants to see. Kozar […]

Helmeted Guinea-fowl

Common names: Helmeted Guinea-fowl (Eng.); gewone tarentaal (Afr.); impangele (Xhosa); mhangele (Xitsonga) Introduction The Helmeted Guinea-fowl is widely distributed throughout […]

Cape Weaver

Derivation of scientific name The species name capensis is Latin and it means ‘after the Cape of Good Hope’. It […]

Leopard

Common names Leopard (Eng.); luiperd (Afr.); ingwe (Zulu & Xhosa); nkwe (Tswana); yingwe (Xitsonga) Derivation of name From the Latin, […]

South African abalone

Common names: Abalone, South African abalone (Eng.); perlemoen (Afr.). South African abalone, mostly known locally as perlemoen (from the Dutch […]

African mantis

Common names Common green mantis, African mantis, praying mantis, soothsayer, prophet (Eng.), isithixo (Xhosa), bidsprinkaan (Afr.), mandzewulani (Xitsonga) The common […]

African honeybee

Common names: African honeybee (Eng.); heuningby (Afr.); inyosi (isiXhosa), nyoxi (Xitsonga). The African honeybee is native to central and southern […]

Cape rain frog

Derivation of scientific name The genus name, Breviceps, means ‘short head’, while the Afrikaans common name, blaasoppie [blow-up] refers to […]

Meerkat

Common names Suricate, slender-tailed meerkat, meerkat (Eng.); meerkat (Afr.). Standing at only 30 cm tall, meerkats, also known as suricates, have […]

Giant girdled lizard

Derivation of scientific name Named after its relative size in the group of girdled lizards. It is the biggest species […]

African elephant

Derivation of scientific name Proboscidea derived from the Greek word proboscis meaning ‘before the mouth’, referring to the trunk of […]

Spotted Eagle-Owl

Derivation of scientific name Bubo is the genus name for the Eagle-Owls, including the Eurasian Eagle Owl (Bubo bubo). The […]

Verreaux’s Eagle

Common names Verreaux’s Eagle, Black Eagle (old name), ukhozi (Zulu), witkruisarend (Afr.), ntsu (Sotho), gama (Xitsonga). Derivation of name The […]

Yellow mongoose

Common names Yellow mongoose; rooimeerkat, witkwasmuishond (Afr.); mosha (Sesotho). Derivation of name Members of the genus Cynictis are often referred […]

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