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
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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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