Dictyophorus spumans

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.[2] It is closely related to Phymateus.

Koppie foam grasshopper
in Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, Roodepoort, South Africa
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Orthoptera
Family:
Pyrgomorphidae
Genus:
Dictyophorus
Species:
D. spumans
Binomial name
Dictyophorus spumans
(Thunberg, 1787)
Synonyms
  • Gryllus spumans
  • Poecilocera spumans
  • Petasia spumans
  • Phymateus spumans
  • Tapesia spumans[1]

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.[3]

Races
  • D. s. subsp. spumans – South Africa
  • D. s. subsp. ater – northern South Africa and Zimbabwe
  • D. s. subsp. pulchra – eastern South Africa and Mozambique
  • D. s. subsp. servillei – widespread in Africa
  • D. s. subsp. calceata – widespread in Africa
  • Eating Aloe flowers
  • Mating
  • nymph
  • dorsal view
  • ventral view
  • Releasing toxic foam from thoracic glands

References
  1. Googlebooks
  2. Whitehouse, Christopher. "Foaming Grasshoppers". Phillipskop Mountain Reserve. Phillipskop Discovery Trails (Pty) Ltd. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  3. Mike Picker, Charles Griffiths & Alan Weaving (2004). Field guide to insects of South Africa. Struik. ISBN 978-1-77007-061-5.

Media related to Dictyophorus spumans at Wikimedia Commons


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