Another nice mantis

Salima hotel wildlife

Lake Chilingali - Lethrinops chilingali is not extinct! Still not sure about the Rhamphochromis.

Fish attraction device in southern Lake Chilingali yesterday

Heading for smaller lakes & reservoirs near Nkhotakota today. Expect to see lots of these philander) but hoping for something more exciting!

Not entirely sure what this doubtless esteemed Malawian emporium is all about.

Nkhotakota 7.20 - up for 2 hours & ready to head south to sample a reservoir between the Kaombe & Chia catchments

Lake Tabitabi- fishing boats are made of tree bark & punted with poles. Trees are hollowed out and a fire set within (saw one). In deep water, they paddle with poles, no blades- hard work!

Juvenile Serranochromis robustus from Lake Tabitabi. This predatory species grows to a huge size. Although a haplochromine cichlid, it is not closely related to the lake malawi adaptive radiation, which comes from (the ancestor of) Astatotilapia calliptera.

Spectacular huge carpenter bee robber fly noshing on a paper wasp at Nkhotakota, Malawi.

Last day: first Lake Kamphambe, upstream from Chilingali yielded 8 species from 20 specimens in a gillnetter's catch. No endemics but first appearances in this survey for Labeo cylindricus and Brachyalestes imberi. Lots of T. sparrmanii.

Beach seine at Lake Nadzenje yielded a lot of Lethrinops chilingali, including some really big specimens, but no Rhamphochromis. First Coptodon rendalli of the survey too.

Lovely, well-camouflaged scorpion today, Nkhotakota district, Malawi.

Berta Verd Massive thanks to my supervisors Berta Verd and Roger Benson (BensonLabOxford) for their guidance. Martin Genner and George Turner for letting me scan their specimens and providing manuscript feedback, and James Maclaine Natural History Museum for organising the NHMUK specimens we scanned

A wide-eyed morning, Malawi

Monkey Bay wetland