the richtersveld cultural and botanical landscape - SAHRA

Richtersveld Cultural and Botanical Landscape World Heritage Site Nomination 25
myriad of grasshopper, cricket, spider and other arthropods which take the
colouring and shape of rocks. Because of the lack of dense vegetation, insect
species, notably the grasshoppers, exhibit shape and colour characteristics to
resemble stone types instead of vegetation with a variety of colouration resembling
blue-grey of dolomite, rusty reds of quartzite, grey browns of shale-shist, shinier
grey of quartzite, purples of shale, yellows and oranges of sandstone and
weathered granite, and pinks and greens to resemble different soil types. Other
survival strategies in insects include those of the bug species which also use their
surroundings for protection, and in the case of some Eurychora species this is
affected by emitting a waxy substance onto which particles of sand and debris stick
to hide the bug from predators. Several beetle species also use waxy coating for
conservation of water by decreasing direct exposure to the sun.
The cryptic colouration of a Richtersveld stone cricket
2.a.vi. Flora of the Richtersveld Community Conservancy
The Broader Richtersveld
Geographically the “Richtersveld” is very broadly considered as the area between
the Orange River in the north and the Port Nolloth-Steinkopf road in the south; the
Atlantic Ocean in the west and the Vioolsdrif-Steinkopf road in the east. This broad
geographical area also coincides with what is widely known to be a unique
geological and botanical area. There have been many biogeographical delineations
of the Richtersveld, and even today the exact area is still debated. Looking at the