The Spinders

Most of see them and ignore them even some going into an extent of killing them. Spiders exist in all over the world, both venomous and non venomous. In your adventure safari holiday is a must encounter bust most are unnoticed .Spiders form   a large and diverse group. They vary in size from tiny species less than 1 mm across, to giant exceeding 15 cm. spiders usually have unsegmented abdomen, strongly constricted at the end. With a group of finger-like spinnerets at the head. Spiders can be divided into two groups namely: mygalomorphae which are primitive and contain the big hairy spiders and Araneomorphae the true spiders. The difference between the two is the way the jawswork. The jaws of the mygalomorphae strike downwards, whereas the jaws of the araneomorphs oppose each other.

Spiders can live for a long time without food as long as they have access to water. External digestion takes place with use of venom ,which serves the function of immobilizing the prey and pouring digestive enzymes on them. These enzymes gradually digest the prey ‘s internal organs and the spider then sucks up the liquid. In order for successful mating to take place, the structure of the male palp has to be complementary to that of the female epigyne, much like a lock and key mechanism. 

Spiders produces silk which are produced by the abdominal silk glands and at least seven different kinds are known to exist. It is proteins with amazing properties, for the strongest types have a breath taking strain of that of steel wire of the same diameter. The silk produced can stretch to roughly double its length before it breaks. Spiders often recycle the protein by eating their silk before they rebuild a web. It has been shown that some species eat the silk as pollen gathers on it, as food source. Silk is produced as a liquid and is emitted from the spinnerets much as tooth paste from the tube. The spiders may climb to some point, lifts up its abdomen and releases a stream of silk which is called ballooning. This is caught by wind and the spider floats gently away. 

The longest lived spiders are those of the trap doors which may live for up to twenty years. Some common seen spiders in your Kenya safari adventure includes; of Araneidae family, cteniziade, eresidae and scytodidae.many varieties  exists in the world with black window spiders seen most with most  . They have a varying colour and other minor details but all of these species have similar lifestyle and all are dangerously toxic. Next time when you are in your safari holiday, have a look at them also since they are very interesting insects.

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The Dung Beetles

Beetles make up the largest order in the whole animal kingdom, approximately 300,000 species have been discovered. Dung beetle belongs to the family scarabaeidae together with rhino beetles. In Africa there are about 2000 species of dung beetles. Dung beetles were associated with resurrection in ancient Egypt, due to their behavior of burying dung and themselves and reemerging a couple of months later. Symbols of dung beetle were therefore placed in tombs in the belief that the deceased will be resurrected. Males carry horns, which serve the function of impressing females. 

The front part of the tooth is toothless; this serrated edge is used to cut out dung. The front arms are toothed and used as digging instruments. The thorax is well developed to aid in flying and digging. Dung beetle have antennae, which are covered with sensory organs, these are fanned out are used by beetle to smell the air for dung. The mount parts are highly adapted to feeding on dung, they act like a filtering brush when feeding, discarding the unwanted bits. The hind legs are bowed and longer for ball rolling.

Males usually initiate ball rolling in the ball rolling type. After cutting the ball away, he moves away from the pile of dung and secrets a pheromone to attract the female. once a female have been attracted by the scent ,she will make some adjustments to the dung ball and then either follow the  follow the male, or perch on top of the ball.  In doing so the female, conserves much needed energy for the brood stage .a suitable site is located, often under a bush and the dung ball is buried. At this stage, mating takes places over  a period of two to three days. 

The male then abandons the brood and then returns to normal activities. The females takes the ball apart and removes the sticks ,stones ,etc and rebuilds it, leaving  a chimney in the top of the ball vents for the larvae, which digs down into the ball and breathe through  the event .larvae emerges and remain  in the dung ball for four to five months until the dung beetle finally emerges.

The females feeds on fungus growing on the dung ball, this serves to clean the ball. The larvae do not defecate in the ball, they store their feaces in a fermentation chamber and use the fermented dung to plaster their ball as it begins to show signs of weakness. Dung beetles are divided in four main types namely; telecoprids , paracoprids, endocoprids and kleptocoprids.The rollers (telecoprids) make up only 10%of dung beetles found In Africa. They get balls of dung away from the dung heap as quickly as possible to avoid the competition, sometimes it takes only thirty seconds to cut out a suitable ball. Some of these balls roll a food ball and a separate and lager brood ball. Most roll backward, some forwards.

The tunnellers (paracoprids)are active during the early evening and night. They emerge from the ground  and can measure light intensity, once the desired conditions are present and the beetle emerges like a rocket and searches for food. Once located it tunnels under the dung  and constructs a series  of tunnels under heap into  which it rounded balls of dung  are stored and used. The dwellers (endocoprids) live in the dung heap itself and also cut out balls of dung. These species are well adapted to cold, dry conditions where the ground is hard. kleptocoprids steal other dung beetles balls and roll them as their own.

Dung beetles are of great significance since they constructs tunnels network underground, this aerates the ground .They fertilize the ground by spreading the dung out and burying it. They also prevent flies and maggots and other parasites from breeding  in the dung, in vast numbers by dispersing it within a couple of hours, thus preventing the spread of deadly diseases. They also control human feaces where about 40,000 tons of waste are buried by dung beetles. Livestock also dependent  on dung beetles, which protect them against flies ,parasites like worms ,and against ticks.

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