Parkhurst Prawn

As you know, Africa has lots of unique flora and fauna.  Most people think of elephants, lions, and wildebeest, but the smaller forms of animal life here are pretty unique and amazing also.   We have some small lizards that run around on our walls in our garden.  We have a small fish pond filled with cute Carassius auratus auratus.  

 A dead Libanasidus vittatus that was pulled out of our pool.  They are terrible swimmers.  Note that the measuring  tape is in centimeters! (Should the antennae count in length measurement?  You decide?)

One creature that strikes fear in the hearts of homeowners in the Johannesburg suburbs is the Parkhurst Prawn. (It is also known as the Parktown Prawn or the African King Cricket.)  We have had some up close and personal experiences with one of these creatures.  They get their name because of their similar size and coloration to a prawn and the fact they have become commonly found in the in the Park suburbs of Johannesburg.  They are a favorite food of the Hadida Ibis, which I will describe in a future post.

We find these crickets on a somewhat regular basis floating in our swimming pool.  We try to rescue them when we can, but often it is too late.  Read more about them here in Wikipedia!