Southern DRC

[Westley Price]

Hey guys

I am currently in southern DRC and will be working here on/off for the next few months so I thought I'd start a topic for sharing pics.

I'm not great at telling stories so the pictures will have to suffice.

I will be doing some copper prospecting in the south of the country, Lubumbashi being the closest large place. Just so you get an idea where I am, I am about 200m NW of Lubumbashi, 40km SE of Kolwezi.

I will add to this topic every few weeks to hopefully these are the first of many pictures. I haven't had time to ID everything so please excuse the lack of IDs.

Amphibians







Inverts

Uroplectes sp?



Ants bringing their eggs "upside" during rain.







Reptiles

Panaspis sp.



C. dilepis









Lygodactylus sp. (angolensis?)





A. armata?



N. mossambica? This guy was gaping but never spat once. Also shammed death after picking it up with GOP.



And of course, how can you go ANYWHERE in Africa without finding Mabouia!



Miscellaneous







Orchids grow everywhere in most trees. This was one of the few that was still flowering.

[Pythonodipsas]

Hi Westley, thats very and cool thanks for sharing. I think your cobra may be Naja nigricollis rather than mossambica.

[Eyelash]

I agree with Craig on the cobra...

Amazing pics bud !I cant wait to see some more !

[Westley Price]

Thanx for the correction guys. The light colour just put me off nigricollis.

[mmwc]

Nice pics, thanks for sharing. We happen to be working on a project in the DRC too.

[Sico]

Awesome man! The kite spider is a Gasteracanthus sp. Keep the pics rolling

[levi_20]

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to your future finds.

[Wolf777]

Another great thread in the making, keep them coming and thanks for sharing!

[John Rees]

Very nice post. I love these posts and photos from exotic places. We are spoilt on this site.....Belize, Liberia, DRC, Angola, Zambia......etc,etc. Thanks!

[s'mee]

Nice finds.
That cobra is definitely Naja nigricollis

[Warren Klein]

Very nice Westley, N. nigricollis are very grey when they are babies, except for the black neck.

[Gooey Toes]

WOW I wouldn't mind going there it looks amazing.

[WW]

The N. nigricollis from southern DRC and neighbouring areas tend to keep a brown head - they have been described as a separate subspecies (N. nigricollis crawshayi).

[Westley Price]

I saw one of Don Broadley's articles, "The Reptiles of Southeast Katanga, an Overlooked 'Hotspot'" and he states that N. crawshayi is a seperate species, stating that it is "a sister species of N. nigricollis."

Great article to prepare myself for the trip!

Thanx for all the optimistic comments guys.

[Bizzle]

Nice pics. I live in Kasanka National Park, just on the other side of the panhandle in Zambia. We have a species of spitting cobra too which we have always assumed to be a black-necked spitting cobra (Naja nigricollis). I have attached some pics. Based on your knowledge of the area/species and the above-mentioned area, would you say our cobra would also fit the N. crawshayi description? Would be interesting to find out as we are part of the Congo System rather than the Zambezian Savannah Woodlands.

Thanks!