African Wildlife & Environment Issue 82

GARDENING FOR BIODIVERSITY

The pupa of the Common Zebra Blue butterfly (Photograph: S Woodhall)

Although they look vicious, they are harmless; in fact, not a single South African lizard is poisonous. Usually in summer, in areas of rampant vegetation to which untrimmed P. auriculata can effortlessly contribute, the observant gardener may also spot predators such as hangingflies.These hang from plants by their front legs and catch passing prey, sometimes more than one item at once, using the other legs. Not to be confused with somewhat similar looking craneflies, which are vegetarians, hangingflies mate after the female has been presented with a nice juicy insect, caught by the male. This sounds like insects being romantic but, in fact, the male is just keeping his predatory spouse occupied so she doesn’t eat him! Although often called ‘scorpionflies’, they cannot bite or sting. There is also an invasive alien plant that has blue flowers which are superficially similar to P. auriculata. The Forget-me-not Tree Duranta erecta (previously named D. repens ) is also known as Golden Dewdrops or Sheena’s Gold on account of its orange berries carried in dense, drooping clusters. Like P. auriculata,

Hangingflies are fond of untrimmed vegetation

40 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 82 (2022)