A bush trail is about spending time in the bush observing nature in every form from the large animals to the small, getting insight into how it all comes together, the trees, soil, rivers and flowers. Think of it as a nature walk with your own personal guide, pointing out things you and I could easily miss.
Yesterday afternoon, we braved the elements and took a gamble on the weather, the thunder was rolling in but rolled down into the next valley, leaving us without rain and although the lighting was beautiful, I only had my phone camera with me as normally happens on impromptu walks! So the pictures are not of good quality, sorry.
Our bushtrail allowed us a close-up sighting of a Winged Predatory Katydid, that’s a Clonia wahlbergi for all those entomologists who read my posts!!! It was a female – laying her eggs in the sandy ground.
The Winged predatory katydid has a very slender but long body (40-65mm in length); it is an apple green colour with fine markings as though it were carefully painted making such a veracious predator look quite beautiful!
Since our sighting did not allow us to view its wings, we returned back to read more – the wings are fully developed and the anal area of the hind wings is whitish with brown bars. It is wide spread in bushveld, forest margins and grasslands, so taking a bush trail when next you can on a game reserve could result in you also sighting this fascinating insect!
