Koppie Foam Grasshopper (Dictyoporus spumans) or Common Milkweed Locust (Phymateus morbillosus)????
Dictyophorus spumans, the koppie foam grasshopper or rooibaadjie, is a species of grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae indigenous to Africa. The name "foaming grasshopper" derives from the insect's ability to produce a toxic foam from its thoracic glands. It is closely related to Phymateus.
It grows up to a length of 80 millimetres (3.1 in). The neck shield has a warty surface, and their color is highly variable. It is toxic due to the poisons that it sequesters from its diet, which includes a large number of toxic and distasteful plants such as milkweed.
The other creature that it may be is
Phymateus is a genus of grasshoppers belonging to the Pyrgomorphidae family.
This species of the genus Phymateus are African locusts about 70 millimetres (2.8 in) long. Some species at maturity are capable of long migratory flights. They raise and rustle wings when disturbed and may secrete a noxious fluid from the thoracic joint.
These locusts feed on highly toxic plants and usually congregate in large numbers on trees and shrubs, arranged in such a way as to resemble foliage. Females of the species Phymateus morbillosus are unable to fly, despite fully developed wings.
I am not sure which species this is, but am inclined to think that it is a Common Milweed Locust. The only problem is that the creature was much, much larger than the 70 or 80 millimetres mentioned in relation to the above 2 creatures.
This image was taken at La Ferme near Franschhoek in the Western Cape of South Africa
Koppie Foam Grasshopper (Dictyoporus spumans) or Common Milkweed Locust (Phymateus morbillosus)????
Dictyophorus spumans, the koppie foam grasshopper or rooibaadjie, is a species of grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae indigenous to Africa. The name "foaming grasshopper" derives from the insect's ability to produce a toxic foam from its thoracic glands. It is closely related to Phymateus.
It grows up to a length of 80 millimetres (3.1 in). The neck shield has a warty surface, and their color is highly variable. It is toxic due to the poisons that it sequesters from its diet, which includes a large number of toxic and distasteful plants such as milkweed.
The other creature that it may be is
Phymateus is a genus of grasshoppers belonging to the Pyrgomorphidae family.
This species of the genus Phymateus are African locusts about 70 millimetres (2.8 in) long. Some species at maturity are capable of long migratory flights. They raise and rustle wings when disturbed and may secrete a noxious fluid from the thoracic joint.
These locusts feed on highly toxic plants and usually congregate in large numbers on trees and shrubs, arranged in such a way as to resemble foliage. Females of the species Phymateus morbillosus are unable to fly, despite fully developed wings.
I am not sure which species this is, but am inclined to think that it is a Common Milweed Locust. The only problem is that the creature was much, much larger than the 70 or 80 millimetres mentioned in relation to the above 2 creatures.
This image was taken at La Ferme near Franschhoek in the Western Cape of South Africa