Favoritos de botswanabugs

Ladyant Birdlion - Montagu WCape

This is a bit of a weird thing and I hope I've got it all correct...

31/12/13: Collected larvae that came in on soetdoring cut for pillars. They look like ladybird larvae to me. Next day they've disappeared...

06/01/14: Funnel appears in the soil. Thought perhaps my "ladybirds" had been noshed by an antlion. Dug up antlion, and it turns out to be the "ladybird". Separated the "ladybird" into another jar. Funnel appears in "ladybird" jar and not the original jar. So, my conclusion is that the "ladybird" is in fact an antlion. Fed it ants. All well in antlion world.

Funnel disappeared next day. Assume larva moulting to next instar.

14/01/14: Funnel appears. Much antage consumed. Funnel disappears again later in the day.

15/01/14: New funnel appears. Ant biomass reduced by several kilograms.

19/01/14: Funnel disappears.

23/01/14: New funnel appears. Eating 10-20 ants a day (don't know how many they'd consume in the wild, but he eats everything put into the jar).

24/01/14: New, MUCH larger funnel appears. Dug him up to see what he looks like now. Very sandy, so hard to see detail beneath.

...still eating many ants... Will update when there is something to report.

12/02/14: Funnel disappears

18/03/14: Adult emerges! I did not realise they need something to climb to dry out. So, I think I put the stick in the jar a minute too late, and the lion's wings never opened properly :-( I shall know better in future. Lovely banded abdomen.

Little tree/bush I found unfortunately with just dry leaves. I am waiting to come back to the plot I did in there, hoping to find the trees in a better moment of their phenology, but it would be great if someone can still help me to recognize this species.

Short description: small shrub, heigh <50 cm, smooth bark, no spikes, base diameter of 1.6 cm, spatulated/cuneiform leaves with linear margin.

I'm sure this little shrub is part of Fabaceae. Very peculiar tiny twisted pods, that turn to this form after they open and get dry. iNat is unable to recognize the species, so I hope that some botanist can hopefully help me. Thank you.