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South African grasshopper
I attach a photo of a grasshopper I saw in Karoo National Park in South Africa while on holiday this January. It was at least 75mm long and I have never seen an insect so beautifully coloured. Can you possibly identify it for me please?
Thanks,
Geoff White

Hi Geoff,
Most of the colorful South African Grasshoppers are poisonous. We are consulting with Eric Eaton for a possibly species identification. Here is Eric’s input: “The South African grasshopper is in the Pyrgomorphidae, will try to remember to check my book at home for a possible species ID.”

Colorful South African Grasshopper (05/21/2006)
I believe that the colorful South African grasshopper on your homepage is Zonocerus elegans. If I am correct, they can have long wings or short wings, but they are all very colorful. Hope this helps,
Chad Lensbower

Update (05/24/2006) Eric Eaton has this to add:
Ok, the South African grasshopper is probably something in the genus Zonocerus, perhaps Z. elegans. Apparently they can be quite the pest, and even ‘Livestock avoid eating bushes infested with this species,’ according to my Field Guide to Insects of South Africa, by Mike Picker, Charles Griffiths, and Alan Weaving. You don’t say! Ha, I wouldn’t eat a bush full of those ‘hoppers, either. Eric”

Related Posts

1. South African Grasshopper (February 3, 2006)
2. South African Bush Locust (November 7, 2005)
3. Elegant Grasshopper: A Bushlocust from South Africa (March 23, 2008)
4. South African Cuckoo Bee (February 20, 2006)
5. Milkweed Grasshopper from South Africa (January 3, 2009)