Unlocking Nature's mysteries

I have always enjoyed Dr Claassens' butterfly articles, and particularly the last one on the Peninsula Skolly and its intriguing relationship with the Pugnacious Ant (Veld & Flora September 2011). What an absorbing piece of writing, supported by a helpful array of explanatory photographs! One feels so privileged to benefit from his years of painstaking research, undertaken with no material reward in mind, but rather driven by a true amateur's love of learning more about his chosen subject and then sharing this knowledge with others.
As Desmond Murray, another amateur lepidopterist once wrote, "Untouched, Nature lies out before us, like a path strewn with wonders, her secrets often difficult to find and far more difficult to solve, but there, if only we have eyes to see, and hearts to understand". Dr Claassens, I salute and thank you for unlocking yet another of Nature's amazing mysteries!
I have hiked among the Peninsula mountains for many years, yet never given the rather inconspicuous Peninsula Skolly anything more than a passing glance. Now, from mid November, when it is again on the wing, I shall be much more alert.
Hilary Mauve