''Phymateus aegrotus'', sometimes called the blue bush locustCOPR (Centre for Overseas Pest Research) (1982) ''The Locust and Grasshopper Agricultural Manual''. COPR, London, 690 pp. or East African bush locust, is a pest species of

grasshopper Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshopp ...

in the family

Pyrgomorphidae Pyrgomorphidae is a family of grasshoppers in the order Orthoptera; it is the only family in the superfamily Pyrgomorphoidea, with a pan-tropical distribution. Their name is probably derived from ''pyrgos'' (Greek: ''Πύργος'') meaning "tow ...

. Unlike "

locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...

s" the adults are not known to change their

morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines * Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts * Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies ...

on crowding, but at the hopper stage, marching behaviour of small bands may occur.

Distribution

This species is present in Africa, Northeast Tropical Africa, Somalia.

Description

''Phymateus aegrotus'' can reach a length of in males, of in females.Saltatoria
/ref> Body is green in colour, while fore-wings are blackish and yellowish. The

nymphs A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are typ ...

(hoppers) in the first instars are mostly black with several small yellowish markings, while in the last instar they are bright green.

Biology

''P. aegrotus'' lay eggs in the substrate (humus-sand mix), The eggs hatch after about 12 months. The life expectancy of adult animals is of 8–12 months. They are capable of long migratory flights. As with other ''Phymateus'' species it raises and rustles its wings when disturbed and may secrete a noxious fluid from its thoracic joint.''Field Guide to Insects'' - Picker, Griffiths & Weaving (2004) Insects feed on ''

Asclepias ''Asclepias'' is a genus of herbaceous, perennial, flowering plants known as milkweeds, named for their latex, a milky substance containing cardiac glycosides termed cardenolides, exuded where cells are damaged. Most species are toxic to humans ...

'' sp.. and bittersweet nightshade, ''

Cestrum nocturnum ''Cestrum nocturnum'', the lady of the night, night-blooming jasmine, night-blooming jessamine, night-scented jessamine, night-scented cestrum or poisonberry, is a species of plant in the potato family Solanaceae. It is native to the West Indies, ...

''.

References

Bibliography

*Bolívar, I. (1884) Monografía de los pirgomorfinos, Anales de la Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (An. Soc. Espan. Hist. Nat.) 13:1-73, 418-500 *Bolívar, I. (1903) El género "Phymateus" Thunberg, Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (Bol. R. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat.) 3:188-192 *Dirsh (1956-1958[) Missione biologica Sagan-Omodiretta dal Prof. Edoardo Zavattari: Acridoidea, Rivista di Biologia Coloniale (Riv. Biol. colon.) 16:61-66 *Dirsh (1965), The African Genera of Acridoidea, Cambridge University Press, Antilocust Centre, London 579 pp. *Griffini (1897) Intorno ad alcuni Ortotteri raccolti dal Rev. L. Jalla a kazungula (Alto Zambesi), Bollettino dei Musei di Zoologia ed Anatomia Comparata della R. Università di Torino (Boll. Musei Zool. Anat. Comp. R. Univ. Torino) 12(290):1-12 *Hemp, C. (2009) Annotated list of Caelifera (Orthoptera) of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Journal of Orthoptera Research (Jour. Orth. Res.) 18(2):183–214 *Johnston, H.B. (1956), Annotated catalogue of African grasshoppers, The Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 833 pp. *Johnston, H.B. (1968), Annotated catalogue of African grasshoppers, The Cambridge University Press, Cambridge Suppl:448 pp. *Kevan, D.K.M. (1949) Notes on East African bush locusts with special reference to Phymateus aegrotus (Gerstaecker, 1869) (Orth. Acrid., Pyrgomorphinae), Bull. Ent. Res., London (Bull. Ent. Res.) 40:359-369 *Kevan, D.K.M. (1957) Orthoptera-Caelifera from northern Kenya and Jubaland. II. Pamphagidae, Pyrgomorphidae, Lentulidae and Romaleinae, Opuscula Entomologica, Lund (Opuscula Entomologica) 22:193-208 *Kevan, D.K.M. (1962), Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 31 *Kevan, D.K.M. [Ed.] In Beier [Ed.] (1977) Superfamily Acridoidea, fam. Pyrgomorphidae, Orthopterorum Catalogus, Orthopterorum Catalogus 16:1-656 *OrthopteraSF: Orthoptera Species File. Eades D.C., Otte D., Cigliano M.M., Braun H., 2010-04-28 *Rehn, J.A.G. (1901) The Acrididae, Tettigonidae and Gryllidae collected by Dr. A. Donaldson Smith in Northeast Africa, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia (Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad.) 53:370-382 Pyrgomorphidae Orthoptera of Africa Insects described in 1869 Taxa named by Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstaecker {{pyrgomorphidae-stub