''Phymateus viridipes'', also known as the Green milkweed locust or African bush grasshopper, is an African

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 ...

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 ...

(gaudy grasshoppers).

Body characteristics

It is about long at maturity and capable of long migratory flights. Its body and fore-wings are green in colour while the hind-wings are bright red and blue, presenting a striking appearance in flight. The

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on ea ...

, or dorsal area immediately behind the head, is covered in spines or carbuncles which are often tipped with red.

Development

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 ...

or hoppers are bright yellow and black and highly gregarious, forming large groups during this growth stage and are more or less

polyphagous Feeding is the process by which organisms, typically animals, obtain food. Terminology often uses either the suffixes -vore, -vory, or -vorous from Latin ''vorare'', meaning "to devour", or -phage, -phagy, or -phagous from Greek φαγε ...

Behaviour

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) This locust feeds on highly toxic plants such as ''

Acokanthera oppositifolia ''Acokanthera oppositifolia'' , poison arrow tree, is a shrub used as the source of an arrow poison and to coat caltrops made from the sharp fruits of the puncture vine (''Tribulus terrestris''). All plants of the genus ''Acokanthera'' contain t ...

'', ''

Cascabela thevetia ''Cascabela thevetia'' (syn: ''Thevetia peruviana'') is a poisonous plant native throughout Mexico and in Central America, and cultivated widely as an ornamental. It is a relative of ''Nerium oleander'', giving it a common name yellow oleander, a ...

'' and ''

Secamone alpinii ''Secamone'' is a genus of plant in family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. It is widespread across much of Africa, northern Australia, southern Asia, with numerous species endemic to Madagascar Madagascar (; mg, Madagas ...

''. They congregate in large numbers on trees and shrubs, arranged in such a way as to resemble foliage.

Gallery

References

Pyrgomorphidae Orthoptera of Africa Insects described in 1873 Taxa named by Carl Stål {{pyrgomorphidae-stub