The arrival of the rains not only triggers striking changes in the landscape with the vegetation turning from brown yellow to lush green, but it also brings an amazing diversity of insects and other creepy-crawlies out. If you are not a big fan of such forms of life, that can make your life quite miserable, but when you start paying attention to their colourful buzzing life, it is quite fascinating (even for someone working on mammals)!
Brown-veined white (Belenois aurora) is a rapid flying butterfly often seen in large numbers on flowers and mud. This one had just hatched from its cocoon.
Oriental bee hawk (Cephonodes hylas), a widely distributed moth with striking colours. They feed during the day, hovering over flowers to sip their nectar.
Red velvet mites (Trombobidae sp.) or ‘rain bugs’ are small arachnids and active predators.
Winged predatory katydid (Clonia wahlbergi), a voracious predator of other large insects, mainly active at night.