The Smaller Majority

Mozambique Diary: The stuff of dreams

Isn’t it fascinating that the same thing can be the subject of one person’s worst nightmares, and another person’s wildest dreams and desires? Nothing illustrates this point better than the Golden orb spiders (Nephila), which my wife doesn’t even call spiders – they are simply her Nemesis, clearly intent on luring her into their enormous…

Mozambique Diary: It is loud out here

I am back from the first reconnaissance trip to the Cheringoma Plateau in the eastern part of Gorongosa. It was slow going and in nearly all places we were forced to do a lot of road clearing, removing or finding a way around fallen trees, but the rewards were great. The eastern part of the…

Mozambique Diary: Back in Gorongosa

Yesterday I arrived in the spectacular Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique. Last time when I was here the place was dry and dusty, but now, at the end of the rainy season the luxuriant vegetation is vibrantly green and after the misery of Boston’s winter the air feels throat-soothingly humid. During the day Gorongosa’s woodlands…

Spring grasshoppers

Lately things have been slow on The Smaller Majority blog. This is mostly because I have been crazily busy with preparations for my upcoming trip to Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, where I will be staying until June. While there I hope to be able to make regular updates to the blog and, if my…

African Tuesday: Beware of the snail

I had always been under the impression that snails defended themselves mostly with their calciferous shells, and that otherwise they were pretty vulnerable creatures. That changed when I ran across an interesting encounter between a pulmonate snail and a predatory ground beetle (Carabidae: Anthiinae) in the rainforest of Atewa plateau in southeastern Ghana. I did…

Coneheads

A fact that entomologists are well aware of, but one that usually comes as a surprise to everybody else, is that most insect species are still unknown to science, and only a relatively small portion of them have been formally named and described. According to recent estimates only about a quarter of currently living species…