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Learners
find new Insect at the Canyon
by Sven-Eric Kanzler
Insects which made headlines all over the world four
years ago can be found at the Fish River Canyon. This
is one of the findings of the most recent expedition
of the EduVentures initiative to southern Namibia. Living
specimens of this predatory insect, nicknamed Gladiator,
were first discovered in 2001 on Brandberg Mountain
in north-western Namibia. According to experts this
was as sensational as if a mammoth had been found alive.
Until now it was not known that the insects occur at
the Fish River Canyon as well. The ones found there
could even be another new species.
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| Slides
of the Gladiator and the expedition were shown
at the Habitat Research and Development Center
(HRDC) in Katutura on Friday evening, and EduVentures
rewarded participants of the expedition for commitment
and motivation during an award ceremony. Innocence
Agostinho (14), a deaf and dumb learner at the
Namibian Institute for Special Education (NISE),
was awarded the merit award, Francis Bassingthwaighte
(15) of St. Paul’s the best collector prize
and Anita Shoongeleni (15) of Immanuel Shifidi
Secondary School a special prize for the gladiator
find. EduVentures is an initiative within the
National Museum of Namibia to gather valuable
data and get young people excited about nature. |
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Gladiator in typical
surroundings at the Fish River Canyon.
Photo: EduVentures
 Image
Download (2,23 MB) |
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15 girls and
boys from Windhoek and Katutura took part in the expedition
from 20 August to 3 September. The first stop was Klein-Aus
Vista (Gondwana Sperrgebiet Rand Park) west of Aus,
where information about the Lesser Baboon Spider was
gathered – for a science project of spider expert
Tharina Bird. |
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Collecting
scientific material at the Fish River Canyon. Photo:
EduVentures |
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| Three
days later the group was hiking in the Augurabis
area, the northern part of Gondwana Cañon
Park at the Fish River Canyon. There, biologist
Samanta Mapfumo and learner Anita Shoongeleni
found three Gladiator insects. They are between
2 and 4 cm long, resemble young praying mantis
insects, but in contrast to the latter grab their
prey with front and middle pairs of legs. Since
they could not be classed with any of the 30 known
insect orders when they were discovered four years
ago, a new order – the first one in 87 years
- was established for them: Mantophasmatodea (Heelwalkers).
Apart from this exciting find the learners gathered
about 2,000 plant and animal samples for the scientific
collections of the National Botanical Research
Institute (NBRI) and the National Museum. |
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Heavily loaded: Innocence
Agostinho.
Photo: EduVentures |
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"I
really enjoyed looking for scorpions", Innocence
Agostinho says in sign language and smiles. "It
was simply great holding the Gladiator insect in my
palm", Karen Mutota (16, Immanuel Shifidi Secondary
School) recalls visibly enthralled. |
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"And
I caught a grass snake and fed it grasshoppers",
Francis Bassingthwaighte adds with shining eyes.
All of them agree that the most difficult part
was hiking with backpacks. But after the first
few days everyone got used to it.
The enthusiasm of the youngsters clearly proves
EduVentures’ success. The programme was
started two years ago by Tharina Bird (arachnologist
at the National Museum) and the late Nicholas
Krone, then a teacher at Immanuel Shifidi Secondary
School. Three expeditions and several weekend
excursions are arranged every year. Selection
of participants is strict.
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Anita Shoongeleni with
both of her Gladiator insects.
Photo: EduVentures
Image
Download (240 KB) |
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The expedition
would not be possible without donations and support.
Main sponsors were the National Museum, the Global Environmental
Fund (GEF), the Namibia Nature Foundation (NNF), and
the Gondwana Cañon Park. Valuable contributions
were also made by Tre Supermarket, Plastiprint, and
Klein-Aus Vista. |
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The
EduVentures team (from the left): Holger Vollbrecht,
Benson Muramba, Tharina Bird, Jonas Kazondunge, Samanta
Mapfumo and Patrick Rickert. Not present: Vera de Cauver
and Telané Greyling.
Photo: Sven-Eric Kanzler |
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