Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast
Results 11 to 20 of 21

Thread: Garden pest identification

  1. #11
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    2,642
    Thanks
    119
    Thanked 94 Times in 77 Posts
    I found this spider in my post box a little while back, and was wondering what kind it is. The body size was around 5mm (I think). Follow the link for a larger photo.

    (PS. Dave, could you change the thread name to "Garden insect identification"?)
    Attached Images Attached Images  
    [SIGPIC]Engineer Simplicity[/SIGPIC]
    Turn ideas into products | The Art of Engineering blog

  2. #12
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,648
    Thanks
    3,304
    Thanked 2,676 Times in 2,257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    Hmm. Poses a problem - arachnids are not insects. Two too many legs.
    For me it gets better - I've just discovered I don't have an ID book on spiders.

  3. #13
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    2,642
    Thanks
    119
    Thanked 94 Times in 77 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Dave A View Post
    Hmm. Poses a problem - arachnids are not insects. Two too many legs.
    Ja, ja, I know
    [SIGPIC]Engineer Simplicity[/SIGPIC]
    Turn ideas into products | The Art of Engineering blog

  4. #14
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    2,642
    Thanks
    119
    Thanked 94 Times in 77 Posts
    It looks like the spider is a brown widow spider (commonly known as a brown button spider in South Africa). I happened to find another one in my braai (female with larger abdoment), and decided to find out what it was. I suspect that it is a male in the photo.
    [SIGPIC]Engineer Simplicity[/SIGPIC]
    Turn ideas into products | The Art of Engineering blog

  5. #15
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,648
    Thanks
    3,304
    Thanked 2,676 Times in 2,257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    Interesting distribution. Apart from the lack of origon, wikipedia is talking about tropical areas. Capetown is not exactly tropical!

  6. #16
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    2,642
    Thanks
    119
    Thanked 94 Times in 77 Posts
    Did you have a look at the second link? It has distribution maps for the various button spiders in South Africa. Of the two brown types, the only one that is indicated for this area is the L. Geometricus, which is actually an alien species. The Geometricus also has quite a distinct egg sack (lots of little spikes on it, there is a photo on wikipedia), which I found attached the the braai cover.
    [SIGPIC]Engineer Simplicity[/SIGPIC]
    Turn ideas into products | The Art of Engineering blog

  7. #17
    Gold Member garthu's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2008
    Location
    Midrand
    Posts
    595
    Thanks
    39
    Thanked 65 Times in 55 Posts
    Hey Duncan,
    Like your photos - some of them really cool.
    Garth

    Electric fence Installation : www.midrand-electronics.co.za
    Free Classified Adds : www.bgone.co.za

  8. #18
    just me duncan drennan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Cape Town
    Posts
    2,642
    Thanks
    119
    Thanked 94 Times in 77 Posts
    Thanks, I'm trying to take more and hopefully improve my skills a bit - posting regularly to flickr helps me to keep focussed.
    [SIGPIC]Engineer Simplicity[/SIGPIC]
    Turn ideas into products | The Art of Engineering blog

  9. #19
    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Durban, South Africa
    Posts
    22,648
    Thanks
    3,304
    Thanked 2,676 Times in 2,257 Posts
    Blog Entries
    12
    Quote Originally Posted by duncan drennan View Post
    Did you have a look at the second link?
    I confess, no. Maybe you should propose a change to the wikipedia entry
    The fact that it's an exotic species doesn't surprise me. In fact, given the distribution and preferred locations, it was highly likely. It probably loved wooden ships.

  10. #20
    Email problem
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    los angeles
    Posts
    6
    Thanks
    1
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by duncan drennan View Post
    I've been struggling to identify this bug, and this is the only place in South Africa that I know of that might be able to help. Any ideas what this is?
    Its a monkey beetle

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Organic pest control
    By duncan drennan in forum Pest Control Industry Forum
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 29-Jun-23, 03:28 PM
  2. Top 5 unethical practices in pest control.
    By Dave A in forum Pest Control Industry Forum
    Replies: 2
    Last Post: 23-May-18, 09:30 AM
  3. Registration as a Pest Control Operator
    By landsberg1 in forum Pest Control Industry Forum
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 07-Jan-16, 02:28 PM
  4. Durban pest problems set to continue.
    By Dave A in forum Pest Control Industry Forum
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 28-Mar-07, 04:46 PM

Tags for this Thread

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Did you like this article? Share it with your favourite social network.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •