Nieuwoudtville - Place of hidden treasures

With its high diversity of flowers, Nieuwoudtville is also a remarkable place to observe pollinators. There are many species of bees, flies, beetles, moths and butterflies, as well as birds (especially sunbirds) and rodents that are involved in pollination.

Many of the fascinating interactions that make the fynbos and the succulent karoo regions so unique are found in the Nieuwoudtville area.

Long-tongued flies are a special feature of the pollination system in fynbos and renosterveld vegetation where butterflies are often quite scarce. They are associated with flowers that have long corolla tubes such as Babiana, Gladiolus, and Lapeirousia and tongue length can vary from a modest 1cm to over 8cm. The south-western part of South africa is particularly rich in species of long tongued flies belonging either to the horse-fly family (tabanidae) or the family of tangle-winged flies (Nemestrinidae) and they are fascinating insects to observe.

The flies around Nieuwoudtville are mostly tangled-winged flies, with large grey-brown bodies and long tongues (rostrums) that hangdown below their heads (in horse flies the tongue projects forwards). They can be seen hovering around patches of suitable flowers in the 'trekpad' (watch out for them on Babiana vanzyliae and Lapeirousia jacquinii), and in the dolerite koppies on the Wild Flower Reserve and Glenlyon (look for them on Lapeirousia oreogena and Babiana framesii). Very little is known about the biology of these important polinators except that related species of fly in North America are parasitic on grasshoppers.

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Oil collecting bees are also interesting pollinators to look out for. Most plants provide bees with a reward of nectar or pollen, but some species provide bees with oil as a reward.The oil glands are usually found in spurs protruding from the back of the flower, giving rise to the Afrikaans common name of 'horinkies' (little horns) for oil producing species of Diascia.

Oil-collecting bees have long, hairy front legs that they can insert into the spurs to get oil. The oil collecting bees (Rediviva) are quite rare but look out for them on members of the snapdragon family (Diascia and Hemimeris) or on moederkappie orchids (Pterygodium).

Monkey beetles are another group of pollinating insects that are found mostly in the south-western part of south Africa. These robust beetles, with large hind legs, are usually found in open flowers such as daisies, romuleas, and chincherinchees (Ornithogalum).

They are originally thought to be messy generalist pollinators but recent research has shown that they can have quite specific poliinator interactions. The beetle larvae live in the soil and scientists have shown that these beetles are associated with shale soils won't pollinate flowers that grow on dolerite soils and vice versa

.Even flowers that look almost identical, such as Romulea sabulosa (tillite soil) and Romilea monadelpha (dolerite soils), have different pollinators because they grow in different soil.

In addition to honeybees, which live together in colonies or hives, there is a rich variety of solitary bees.Solitary bees make nests either in the stalks or stems of plants, in sandy soils, or in mudbanks. As a result, they often need special features in the landscape in order to survive, and stream banks, old burrows, termite mounds, erosion gullies, or plants with pithy stems (e.g. Aloe flower heads) are particularly important.

One of the large and prominent bees in the Nieuwoudtville area nests in old termite mounds and they make impressive 2 cm tall turrets at the at the nest entrance (these can be seen along the 'trekpad' and at Glenlyon during September and October).

Other species nest in 'bee villages' where hundreds of bees build their nests together in mudbanks (look out for them in erosion gullies). Some polinator interactions are best observed after sundown.When the March flowers (Brunsvigia) are blooming in March/April, the stillness just before dark is punctuated by the rapid flurry of wings as hawkmoths flit between flowers.

More clumsy noctuid moths can also be seen at the same time. Some plants (such as Massonia echinata and Daubenya capensis) have their flowers close to the ground where their musty scent will atract mice and other rodents.

Bird pollinators are attracted to brightly coloured red or orange flowers. The birds are usually rewarded with copious amounts of dilute nectar in exchange for the responsibility of pollination.The bright yellow flowers and conspicuous reddish stamens of the kokerboom (Aloe dichotoma) provides a feast for malachite sunbirds.

On warm days in the flowering season (winter to early spring) the kokerboom forest is simply teeming with excited little birds.

Look out for bird pollinators on the brightly coloured flowers of Veltheimia, Kniphofia, Lessertia (=Sutherlandia), Microloma, Melianthus.