Goggo Guide – The Arthropods of Southern Africa
by Dr Erik Holm and Dr Ansie Dippenaar-Schoeman
(Lapa Publishers, R270)
This book is probably the first comprehensive work on all of southern African arthropods, with the exclusion of insects and aquatic crustaceans. There have been numerous books written about either scorpions or spiders, but never one which covered the wide range of hard-shelled creepy-crawlies.
You might not think much of mites and spiders, and may be horrified to discover that you are transporting a variety of mite species around with you every day!
They are everywhere and you may have a million or two living in your mattress. This is not really a bad thing, however, as they gobble up your shed skin and groom your body – in a way.
Most people pull off a shoe at the appearance of any spider and whack the poor thing on sight.
This is a bad thing to do as most spiders are harmless to humans and do us a great service by chomping through vast quantities of flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches and other irritating insects.
It was interesting to be seated under an acacia tree in the Kalahari reading about the Tampan ticks, which ambush you from the sand – it was enough to make me lift my legs high up off the ground and look around in alarm.
For those who love the outdoors, it is always good to be acquainted with the goggos which may be able to do you some harm, and what symptoms to look out for if bitten. Knowledge is power – and this book goes into detail about each species’ lifecycle and feeding habits.
Scorpions have fascinated us for centuries, but not all are fatal to humans. In fact, most are relatively harmless. It is easy to identify the dangerous ones: they have small pincers and a thick tail.
When camping, I always take an ultraviolet light which lights up all scorpions in a fluorescent green colour at night.
It may encourage you to wear your slip-slops after dark when you see how many are running around.
Keep the Goggo guidebook handy for the next time you encounter a spider or scorpion in your house or on your patio.
Put a glass over it to prevent it from running away and you can examine it at your leisure.
Once you have read all about it, you will probably transport the offending octopede to the far side of your garden.This 300-page book is highly recommended. – Ed Lemke