Eleven day metamorphosis - Three stages of Acraea zetes butterfly

Metamorphosis - Three stages of Acraea zetes, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Katy and Dina brought back a caterpillar from the botanical garden at the TASOK school. We let it go in our garden and it attached itself to one of the plants and quickly turned into a chrysalis. Yesterday we were happy to welcome the butterfly stage of what is thought to be Acraea zetes species. To give you an idea on the process - the top picture of the larva was taken on 18 December, the second set of chrysalis pictures were taken on 22 December, the third set of pictures were taken in the morning of 29 December and the shiny new butterfly was taken on the same afternoon of December 29. More images of the metaporphosis here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !! 

Happy Holiday Season !!

Happy Holiday Season !!, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

From Congo

He went thata way

He went thata way, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Katy's SPORE Jumpie

Katy's SPORE Jumpie, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Inspired by the jumping spiders we are finding here in Congo, Katy designed a cool one using her SPORE computer program.

Day dreamin'

Day dreamin', a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Hidden irridescence

Hidden irridescence a video by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

A cool beetle found at Katy's school.

Jumpie Jamboree

Jumpie Jamboree 5.11.11, a set on Flickr.

With the onset of the rainy season, our porch and house have become a jumping spider hangout. We are happy to share our abode with these little fly and mosquito hunters. Check out the shot with my index finger in the lower right corner to give you an idea on the size of these little guys.

Porch Welcoming Committee

 

 

Today's jumpie

 

The rainy season is in full swing.  With more rain come more bugs and more jumping spiders.   Here are a few pics of a latest visitor to our porch. 

 

Cool Antenna

Orb Weaver Spider in Kinshasa Botanical Garden

Gutted

Gutted, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

The spider seems to have filled the dead moth with eggs.

Big 'n Scary

Big 'n Scary , a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

This spider's abdomen was about 1 inch long and had caught a large moth. At the top of the moth are some egg-like balls.

Baby star fruit

Baby star fruit, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Nectar trap

Nectar trap, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

This mantis waits for insects attracted to the nectar produced in the nodes on the plant structure above it.

Frills

Frills, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Katy thought our friend Brian over at UWET would especially love this one.

Metallic zebra eyes

Metallic zebra eyes, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

"Hey George, how do you drive this contraption ?"

"Hey George, how do you drive this contraption ?", a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Lying in wait

Lying in wait, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

This little spider was hiding in a fold in a leaf

Speckled

Speckled, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

...and striped.

Coral-like

Coral-like, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

One more especially for Brian.

Cool water flower

Cool water flower, a photo by Nick Hobgood on Flickr.

Knowing how much our friend Brian loves flowers, we post this photo from a visit to the Kinshasa Botanical Gardens today in his honor.

Jumpie vs. Hibiscus

We found a jumpie in the garden and coaxed it onto a hibiscus flower to get a nice red background and in the process it got some pollen grains stuck to its fur.

While taking the pictures the jumpie jumped straight into the pollen covered end of the hibiscus flower. 

The little guy was just covered in sticky pollen grains which took about 15 minutes to clean off.

Lola ya Bonobo

Lola ya Bonobo, a set on Flickr.

Images from last weekend's safari to the Bonobo sanctuary. Lots of cool bugs including some strange alien-like spikey spiders.