African Wildlife & Environment Issue 84 2023

GOOD READS

A few spiders have venom that is toxic to humans, but spider bites are relatively rare. In my 18 years at the South African Institute for Medical Research we saw very few cases, and most of these were the cytotoxic bites from sac spiders Cheiracanthium furculatum which are commonly found indoors, resting under silk sacs during the day and wandering around looking for food at night. People get bitten when they roll on them in bed or brush them off while sleeping.The bites are painless, and only later develop into a red, swollen lesion that may become secondarily infected. Treatment with antibacterial ointment usually sorts out the problem.The violin spiders also have a potent cytotoxic venom, while button spiders (genus Latrodectus ) have neurotoxic venom. This Field Guide has a useful section on spider bites.

Children can learn not to be afraid of spiders. In our Johannesburg house we often have a visiting House Rain Spider Palystes superciliosus which is quite a formidable-looking creature that lies hunched up in a high corner during the day and wanders around the house at night. We have become very used to its hairy presence and are never bothered by our guest… This is a superb book and another fine natural history publication from the Struik Nature publishing house; we are really privileged to have a publisher of this calibre at the southern tip of Africa. Everyone who appreciates nature and the outdoors will want to have this definitive spider book at hand to look up the identity and habits of those many eight-leggers we encounter in our homes, gardens and wild habitats.

For young birders

Loon, Hélène (2023). Kids’ Birds of Southern Africa . Soft cover, 21.5 x 28 cm, 400 pp, illustrated in colour throughout with photographs and drawings. ISBN 978-1 77584-831-8. Struik Nature, an imprint of Penguin Random House South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Cape Town. RRP R480.

The Struik Nature promotion tells us that “this lively, jam-packed book introduces kids to more than 60 bird groups found in southern Africa: long-legged flamingos, speedy falcons, jewel like sunbirds, plucky hornbills and many more. Learn to identify different birds, and discover their intriguing behaviours - how they find food, choose a mate, build a nest, raise their young and avoid predators. A detailed introduction explains birding concepts such as courtship, migration, mobbing and moulting. More than 500 stunning photographs are included, with many annotated to highlight interesting features and traits.” The back cover features a Bokmakierie calling out the rhetorical question “Why do birds sing?”

6 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 84 (2023)