Animal of the week

Derivation of scientific name In 1856, Bonaparte described the African Black Oystercatcher as a species for the first time. He […]

Derivation of name  The lapwing’s name derived from its unique, metallic alarming call, which sounds like a blacksmith’s hammer ringing […]

Derivation of scientific name The species name silens is based on the Latin word for ‘silence’ or ‘resting’; describing these […]

The marine snail Cymbula oculus (Born, 1778), formerly of the genus Patella, is commonly known as the goat’s eye limpet. […]

Derivation of scientific name Named after the herpetologist, Martin Pickersgill, who discovered the species in 1978 in Mount Edgecombe, Durban. […]

Common names Southern Red Bishop, Red Bishop (Eng.); rooivink (Afr.).  Derivation of name The genus name for the Southern Red […]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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