Rock Hyrax

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn MammalsLeave a comment

Rock Hyrax (Procavia capensis) are not the most commonly spotted creature in the wadis, but they may be the most fascinating!

An image of a lone rock hyrax sitting on a rock in the sun.
“Common Rock Hyrax, South Africa” by Dave Govoni, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0


Rock Hyraxes, called wabr in Arabic, are tailless and have small, round ears and a very short neck that gives the impression that their heads have been stuck directly on their bodies. Their short snouts are pointed and have black whiskers. Their eyes are large and dark with a pale patch of fur above their them. The coats are short and dense but longer hairs that are sensitive to touch are scattered throughout.

With their stout, rabbit-like bodies, Rock Hyraxes are often mistaken for rodents (order Rodentia) but they actually belong to the order Hyracoidea, and their closest living relatives are elephants, manatees, and dugongs.

One of their most interesting features are their distinctive feet. The forefoot has four short toes. The hindfoot, however, has three short toes and one elongated one that is separated from the others and has a curved claw that is used to grasp⁴. The soles of their feet are rubber-like and kept moist by glandular secretions which allows their feet to act like suction cups. These structures of their feet make them very adept climbers, perfect for scrambling over the rocky areas and cliffs that they call home.

“Rock hyrax” by David Nunn, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Rock Hyraxes feed mainly on vegetation, predominantly the seeds and leaves of acacia trees, but they may eat a wide range of other food including insects and small reptiles. Juveniles must eat hyrax poop in order to acquire the gut bacteria needed to digest plants. Adults can even eat plants, such as nightshades and spurges, that are poisonous to other animals, and they don’t need to drink water.

“Rock hyrax” by orientalizing, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

While Rock Hyraxes have excellent sight, hearing, and scent, they are not great at regulating their body temperatures. They will, therefore, bask in the sun during the day or heap together to keep warm.

“Watchers” by Steve Crane, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Rock Hyraxes typically live in colonies and can be quite vocal. Several members of the group act as lookouts and use a sharp alarm call to alert others to dangerous predators – birds of prey, jackals, wild cats, foxes, and leopards. Male hyraxes also sing to attract females and apparently those that can keep a more steady beat get more mates.¹

The only Rock Hyraxes I have seen were, many years ago, those kept by Ramadan in his garden in Wadi Arba’een (St. Katherine). I do, however, come across their scat in the wadis around Dahab. Rock Hyraxes use communal latrines, meaning that the waste from all the hyraxes in a colony accumulates in one spot, called a midden. The waste slowly crystallizes into layers, trapping pollen, grains, and other substances similar to amber, fossilized tree resin. For scientists, these Rock Hyrax middens contain evidence of the past that is helping them understand climate change² and possibly even human development³.

The subspecies of Rock Hyrax that lives in South Sinai is Procavia capensis syriaca. Sadly, it’s been reported that their population has been greatly reduced due to hunting and the clearance of acacia trees, their main food source, to make charcoal⁴. However, in the high mountain region of South Sinai, they are likely to consume other vegetation, like the leaves of wild fig trees, and the Jebeliya Bedouin attribute the decline in Rock Hyrax numbers to an increase in Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes), a predator. There have been no studies to confirm this though⁵.

Have you spotted a Rock Hyrax in South Sinai?

1 – Why these furry male mammals sing with humanlike rhythm. (2022, September 16). Animals. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/why-these-furry-male-mammals-sing-with-human-like-rhythm

2 – Fuzzy Critters’ Crystallized Pee Changes Climate Record? (2026). Animals. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/101015-urine-pee-rock-hyrax-climate-science-ancient-prehistoric

3 – Cutts, E. (2023, April). Stone Age Animal Urine Could Solve a Mystery about Technological Development. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stone-age-animal-urine-could-solve-a-mystery-about-technological-development/

4 – Hoath, R. (2003). A Field Guide to the Mammals of Egypt. Amer Univ in Cairo Press.

5 – Coals P, Gilbert F. Notes on hyrax in South Sinai’s highmountains. AFROTHERIAN CONSERVATION. 2015;(11):5-8.

African Monarch Butterfly

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn ArthropodsLeave a comment

Considering how much time I have spent with these beauties over the years, I’m surprised that I haven’t featured them on the blog before now!

African Monarch butterflies (Danaus chrysippus), also called African Queen or Plain Tiger butterflies, are widespread and abundant in Egypt. In fact, the oldest representation of a butterfly in the world is of an African Monarch and it’s on a pharaonic wall painting in Luxor.

African Monarchs are members of the family Nymphalidae, often called brush-footed butterflies or four-footed butterflies because their first pair of legs are small or reduced. The caterpillars of this family of butterflies all have spiky projections on their heads and their chrysalids have shiny spots.

Larvae of African Monarchs prefer to feed on the leaves of Dead Sea Apple Trees (Calotropis procera) but will feed on any Asclepiadaceae, or milkweed plant, so this is where the adult butterflies will lay their eggs. The eggs are dome-shaped and ridged and typically hatch in 3 – 5 days.

The caterpillars are striped white, yellow, and black and have black spines protruding from their bodies. As you may know, milkweed plants contain toxic compounds. These do not harm the caterpillars. Rather, the larva sequester these toxins, making the adult butterflies inedible/poisonous or distasteful to predators and acting as part of their defense system.

Because these butterflies, and their host plants, are common in Dahab, I have reared many of them indoors with my students. When indoors among inanimate objects, the pupa, or chrysalis, is white or pale colored. Outside in the wild, these chrysalids are bright green. In either situation, the chyrsalis has shiny gold spots, including along a black line near the top which I like to think of as a necklace.

Pupation lasts between 9 and 15 days and then the adults eclose, the verb used to describe when a butterfly emerges or hatches from their chrysalis.

The vibrant coloring of the adult butterflies acts as a warning sign to predators, alerting them to their toxicity. The upperwings are a burnt orange color with black edges and white spots. The underwings are a dull yellow, edged with a fine black line and white dots.

The body of the butterflies are black with many white spots. Females have three black spots on their hindwings, but males have a fourth black spot with a white center, a scent gland. Now that you know that, look back at the pictures in this post and see if you can tell the males from the females.

Adult African Monarchs feed on nectar from a variety of flowering plants and are easy to spot around Dahab. Have you spotted these beauties in town or on your wadi wanders?

More about the Hairy Rose Beetle in Sinai

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn Arthropods4 Comments

Wow! It’s been just over a year since I last posted on the blog. Where does the time go? I know that for a good part of last year, I was busy updating and publishing the fourth edition of my guidebook. Now that I’ve finished that, my intention this year is to share one of the many cool plants and animals of Sinai at least once a month. Let’s see how it goes. 🙂

I’m going to start the year off with the Hairy Rose Beetle (Tropinota squalida). I spotted one in my garden last week – a clear indication of our recent warm weather and the winter that hasn’t really come to Dahab yet.

Hairy Rose Beetles are a type of scarab beetle, a member of the Scarabaeidae Family of insects. If you’ve also spotted them in your garden, you probably know that these beetles can be an agricultural pest. That’s because the adult beetles feed on flower buds and all parts of the mature flowers – the pistils, stamens, and petals – making the production of fruit by that flower impossible. These beetles really liked the nimnam plant (Schouwia purpurea) that used to grow in my garden, and I was often alerted to their presence by the debris left behind. (See photo below.)

The beetles, both larvae and adults, live primarily underground and have legs adapted to digging. The adults emerge from the ground to eat and then return to the soil, only to come out again in a few days to continue eating. The larvae feed on roots and rotting plant material, playing an important ecological role in the recycling of decomposing vegetable matter into the soil.

Hairy Rose Beetles are just that – hairy! Their dark brown bodies, 1 – 1 ½ cm long, are covered with thick tawny-colored hair on their elytra and abdomens. (Elytra are the hardened forewings that protect the hindwings that are used in flight.) This hair wears off with age. The elytra are also covered with small yellowish flecks.

These beetles are sun seekers and are typically found in bright, open areas. They are energetic but clumsy fliers. In fact, you can often catch them easily with your hands.

I can’t say for sure if I’ve seen Hairy Rose Beetles in the wadis, but I have spotted other closely-related chafer beetles, like the one pictured below – an Oxythyrea species (maybe O.noemi) feeding on a starthistle (Centaurea scoparia).

Have you seen Hairy Rose Beetles in your garden? Are they pests?

Egyptian Pink Velvet Spider

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn Arthropods3 Comments

Meet Fred. Fred is the name I give to all my pet spiders, regardless of their sex. I have had countless pet spiders over the years. They are the spiders living in my house, the ones I notice and try not to disturb. And many of my pet spiders have been Egyptian Pink Velvet Spiders, aka Desert Velvet Spiders (Stegodyphus dufouri).

Velvet Spiders is the common name given to all spiders in the Eresidae family. There are nearly 100 different species in nine genera. Six of those species can be found in Egypt and three of those belong to the Stegodyphus genus. Their name is derived from the Ancient Greek word stegos, meaning “covered”. Velvet Spiders are covered in thick, glossy hair.

Egyptian Pink Velvet Spiders are typically solitary critters, living alone in separate nests. They build their silken nests in vegetation and prefer higher places in the wind and sun. The webs are cluttered with plant debris. Can you spot the spiders in the nests below?

The spiders feed mostly on flies (which is one reason they are welcome in my house), but will also eat wasps, ants, butterflies, moths, lacewings, antlions, and beetles.

The Velvet Spiders in my garden eat a lot of African Caper White Butterflies (Belenois aurota). The Velvet Spiders use the stickiness of their webs and their venom to subdue their prey.

Female Egyptian Pink Velvet Spiders create a round, light yellow-colored egg sac that they keep under their back legs. Spiderlings cannot emerge from this sac on their own; the mother uses her fangs to open the sac.

The mother feeds her young spiderlings by regurgitation for several days. Then she uses her silk to close the entrance to the nest, feeds herself to her spiderlings and they suck her body dry, a behavior known as matriphagy.

Before feeding themselves to their young, Egyptian Pink Velvet Spiders may also be preyed upon by Oriental Hornets (Vespa orientalis) and Mole Crickets (Gryllotalpa gryllotalpa). The spiders can also be killed by pompilid wasps. These wasps, in the Pompilidae family, are also known as spider wasps or spider-hunting wasps because they capture spiders for their larvae to feed on. When the wasp finds a spider, they attack, paralyze it and carry it back to their larvae. Some pompilid wasps, however, after paralyzing the spider, lay their egg inside the spider’s body. When the larva hatches, it emerges from the spider’s body and eats it. Then the larva will spin itself a cocoon in which to complete its metamorphosis into an adult wasp. Many years ago, one of my Freds was a victim of a spider wasp.

Sad, but fascinating!

Do you have any pet spiders?

References:

El-Hennawy, H. & Mohafez, M. (2003). Life history of Stegodyphus dufouri (Audouin, 1825) (Arachnida: Araneida: Eresidae) in Egypt, A step on the way from asocial to social. Serket vol. 8(3): 113-124.

Two-spotted Cricket

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn Arthropods3 Comments

For a few weeks this past spring, we were treated, as we lay in bed at night, to the lovely sound of chirping. I woke up one morning to find a cricket hanging on my front screen door and so my curiosity about who exactly had been chirping was satisfied. Our serenaders were Two-spotted Crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) – large, stout, blackish crickets with two dot-like marks on the base of their wings.

But while this critter helped me solve the mystery, she was not actually part of the chorus of chirping crickets. It’s the male crickets who chirp – by rubbing their two outer wings together. They do this as part of their mating behavior – to attract females – or to warn off other males.

The cricket on my screen door is female, identified by the ovipositor, or tube-like organ that she uses to lay eggs. Eggs are typically laid into moist ground, sand, or soil and hatch in two weeks.

Two-spotted Crickets, also known as African or Mediterranean Field Crickets, are the most widely, naturally distributed Gryllus species. They consume living and dead plant parts and live under logs or grasses and in crevices. They might also dig holes in the ground or hide in holes made by other animals.

Two-spotted Crickets are often used as a food source for spiders and reptiles that are kept as pets or in zoos. And in Northeast Thailand, these critters are considered a delicacy – they are fried in oil and seasoned with soy sauce and pepper. Something to think about if these crickets ever keep you up at night. 😉

Green Drab Moth

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn ArthropodsLeave a comment

If “drab” can be defined as “not interesting, plain, or dull”, then it seems the wrong adjective to describe this moth, Ophiusa tirhaca, which I find simply stunning in appearance.

But “drab” can also mean “a dull greyish to yellowish or light olive brown”, which I suppose is a more fitting description for the adult females of this species, pictured below.

Green Drabs belong to the Erebidae family of moths and are native to Europe, Africa, Australia, and parts of Asia. The adult female moths have brownish-colored forewings, with a darker, irregular-shaped, broad band along the bottom edge. There is a dark spot near the middle of the wing and a black mark about halfway along the front edge. Males have a similar pattern but the forewings are more greenish, or yellow in several of my observations.

The hindwings of both sexes are yellow with a broad, dark band near the bottom edge.

“Ophiusa tirhaca larvae” by Sir Shurf is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Host plants include pistachio, pomegranate, sumac, and eucalyptus trees. Eggs are laid on trunks or older stems and the young larvae emerge and search for young leaves to feed on. Older caterpillars can be quite cryptic and difficult to see, resembling the branches they are attached to in shape and color.

Although the larvae might be a pest on some fruit trees, the adult moths are always a joy to spot!

Oleander Hawkmoth

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn ArthropodsLeave a comment

The Oleander Hawkmoth (Daphnis nerii), aka the Army Green Hawkmoth, is the most magnificent moth I have seen in the wild. Look at those wings! The colors and designs are truly stunning. That’s why I was so excited last week when my husband called me over to point out the one he had spotted in our desert garden.

This species of hawkmoth is native to areas of Africa and Asia. They are a migratory species, however, and fly to parts of eastern and southern Europe during the summer months. Oleander Hawkmoths have also been introduced in many places around the world.

The larvae, or caterpillars, feed mainly on oleander bushes (Nerium oleander), which of course explains their common English name, as well as other plants in the dogbane family. These plants are highly toxic, but the caterpillars are immune. Oleander, which is not native to Sinai, is the most popular bush to plant along the streets in Dahab because of it’s toxicity. The goats and sheep roaming the streets of Assala typically won’t eat these bushes, so they one of the few that can survive in this part of town. And so there is plenty of food around in my neighborhood for these caterpillars to munch.

“MMB_6870” by mmariomm is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

And if you thought the were amazing – check out these larvae! They are yellow when they hatch and turn green as they grow older. Like all hawkmoths, there is a “horn” protruding from the rear end of their body. There are large blue and white eyespots near the head (which are used as part of their defense system), a white band along the side of the body, and white and bluish dots. The caterpillar can grow up to 8.5 cm in length and turns brown shortly before it is ready to pupate.

“Daphnis nerii” by acherontyus is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
“Hawk moth caterpillar” by DocJ96 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.

Fresh pupa are cream-colored but turn reddish-brown in color and will lie directly on the ground or under leaf litter.

“File:Daphnis nerii (Pakistan, Islamabad) (Muhammad Ather Rafi) pupa 2.jpg” by Muhammad Ather Rafi is licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Adult moths have a greenish head with a gray band at the vertex and a green thorax with a black/tan belt across the center. The forewings are patterned with green, whitish, and rosy-colored curved bands. At the base of these wings is a white patch with a black spot.

Adults drink the nectar from a variety of flowers and are especially active at twilight, just after sunset. Oleander Hawkmoths may be important pollinators, and can find themselves prey to birds, lizards, and bats.

Their life cycle, from egg-laying to adulthood, takes between 28 – 30 days.

Read about other hawkmoths in Sinai:

Convolvulus Hawkmoth (Agrius convolvuli)

Eastern Death’s Head Hawkmoth (Acherontia styx)

Striped Hawkmoth (Hyles livornica)

Dodder – A Parasitic Plant

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn Plants3 Comments

The Cuscuta genus is the only parasitic genus in the Convolvulaceae, otherwise known as the bindweed or morning glory, family of plants. And Cuscuta species, commonly known as dodders, are the most well-known and widely spread example of stem holoparasitic plants. That’s right, these plants are obligate parasites. They do not contain chlorophyll and cannot, therefore, photosynthesize to make their own food. They must acquire the needed nutrients and water from their host plants.

Folk names, in English, for plants in this genus include wizard’s net, devil’s ringlet, strangleweed, and witch’s hair, to name just a few. I love the imagery of these terms! And once you’ve seen this plant in action, you realize these are great descriptions of these plants that climb, scramble over, and entwine themselves on their host plants with their slender, thread-like stems.

And it is from these many stems that grow haustoria, specialized tube-like growths that insert themselves into the vascular system of the host plants. This allows the dodder to absorb nutrients and water, and therefore grow and attach itself to multiple plants.

“Lab 7 4f) Cuscuta haustoria on host stem xs” by Botanical Voyeur is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Because the plant does not photosynthesize, there is not much need for leaves, and so the leaves on dodder are very tiny scales. The stems range in color from reddish to yellowish. The small flowers are white, yellow, or cream colored and always hermaphrodites. The stems coil in a counter-clockwise direction.

The parasitic dodder seedlings can germinate and sprout but need to find a host plant quickly, usually within 5 – 10 days, or they will die. They have therefore adapted to use chemosensory, or an ability to sense chemical signals, to grow towards nearby plants. Until they are able to reach a host plant to parasitize, they rely on the food stored in the seed.

Dodder is parasitic on dwarf shrubs, herbs, and grasses and prefers soil with low salinity. We came across dodder in the small oasis of Um Saida (pictured below), near Wadi Kid. The dodder was growing across shrubs of Fagonia sp. as well as herbs such as wild mustard, or jahag (Diplotaxis acris). The dodder was tangled and growing over many plants, clearly illustrating how this could become a problem if the plants parasitize agricultural crops.

There are three species of dodder found in Sinai: Cuscuta palaestina (Palestinian Dodder), C. planiflora (Flat-flowered or Small-Seeded Alfafa Dodder), and C. campestris (Field Dodder). Although Cuscuta species have a rich history of traditional uses in folk medicine around the world, I came across no recorded uses in Sinai in any of the research I was able to access. I am curious to speak with more Bedouin who are familiar with the dodder growing in Sinai.

Eastern Death’s Head Hawkmoth

On By Bernadette SimpsonIn Arthropods1 Comment

These beautiful wings above belong to a hawkmoth – specifically, to an Eastern Death’s Head Hawkmoth (Acherontia styx). Hawkmoths (family Sphingidae) are known for their sustained and agile flying abilities, reminiscent of a hummingbird’s flight and giving rise to another common name, hummingbird moths. There are 12 species of hawkmoths in Egypt. (You can read about two others on the blog – the Convolvulus Hawkmoth and the Striped Hawkmoth). Like all hawkmoths, the Eastern Death’s Head Hawkmoth has narrow wings and a streamlined abdomen, aiding their fast flying.

Acherontia styx is also known as the Small or Lesser Death’s Head Hawkmoth. Globally, there are three species of Death’s Head Hawkmoths (Acherontia spp.), all named in reference to Greek myths of death. A. styx is named after one of the rivers that divides Earth from the underworld. The moths were given this name in reference to the skull-like markings, with two black spots for eyes, on the back of the thoraxes, in addition to their somewhat-gloomy coloring.

Adults have brown heads, dark thoraxes, and a yellow-striped abdomen. Their forewings are mottled brown, grey, and a reddish color. The hind wings are yellow with two black bands. Eastern Death’s Head Hawkmoths have a wingspan of 80 – 120 mm.

Eggs are laid, and the larvae (caterpillars) feed, on a range of plants – potato, aubergine, tomato, tobacco, olive, as well as Capsicum, Solanum, Datura, and Nicotiana species. The larvae are yellow/green with yellow lateral stripes and go through several instars. When mature, they dig under the soil to pupate.

And these critters get more interesting!

Death’s Head Hawkmoths can, if disturbed, rapidly expel air to emit a loud squeak, similar to that of an agitated mouse. And these hawkmoths are also known as bee moths because of their ability to safely enter bee hives and drink the honey. They do this with the use of a chemical camouflage; they mimic the scent of bees.

Another fun fact: A. styx was featured in the film The Silence of the Lambs. (A victim was found with a pupa of this moth in her windpipe and there is a scene with entomologists determining the species.)

Interestingly, Acherontia styx was, in a study published in 2022, a new record in Egypt. The previous study on Sphingidae moths in Egypt was completed in 2005.

References:

Abdelfattah Mabrouk Amer Salem. Lepidoptera of Egypt Part III: Revision of Family Sphingidae (Bombycoidea). American Journal of Entomology. Vol. 6, No. 1, 2022, pp. 7-13. doi: 10.11648/j.aje.20220601.12

Specimen of the Week 194: The Death’s-Head Hawkmoth