Subject: Grasshopper
Location: Kruger Park, South Africa
February 28, 2013 7:07 am
can you help me identify this bug
Signature: Allison

Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

Dear Allison,
This is a Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae.  It looks similar to, but different from, the Koppie Foam Grasshopper.

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Subject: grasshopper
Location: mountains of Swaziland, southern African
February 17, 2013 6:50 am
I have identified this as a foam grasshopper, genus Pyrgomorphidae, but not been able to narrow it down further.
Can you help?
Signature: Barbara R.

Koppie Foam Grasshopper

Hi Barbara,
Pyrgomorphidae is a family, not a genus.  This is either a Koppie Foam Grasshopper, Dictyophorus spumans, or a very closely related species.  Koppie Foam Grasshoppers are in the family Pyrgomorphidae that contains the Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers, a group so named as they feed on milkweed and they are able to retain the toxins in their own bodies as defense mechanisms against predators.  The PHotographs from South Africa website has some images that are a visual match to your individual, but they are only identified to the family level.  The same family identification applies to this image on FlickR.

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Subject: What is this?
Location: Pietermaritzburg [South Africa]
January 28, 2013 7:46 am
I found this eating a plant in my garden at the weekend. Can you help me identify it? I think it’s a locust or grasshopper.
Thanks
Signature: Sally

Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

Hi Sally,
This is a Grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae, a group sometimes called the Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers because many family members feed on milkweed and they are able to retain toxic compounds in their bodies that act as a deterrent to predators.  Many Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers also have aposomatic or warning coloration.  The striped antennae and cobalt blue markings near the base of the legs are distinctive and we will attempt to find a species name for you.  We have not seen any examples with this much black in the coloration and we are not certain if this is a subspecies, an example of individual variation or a new species for our site.

Toxic Milkweed Grasshopper

Hi,
Thanks for your swift response. It will be interesting to see if you come up with a species!  I hope it was of interest to you.
Regards
Sally Wood

They are lovely photos of a beautiful Grasshopper and we are happy to include them in our archive.

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Subject: Which Grasshopper?
Location: Nelspruit [Ed. Note:  South Africa]
January 16, 2013 1:39 am
Hi, can you tell me which Grasshopper this is. My thoughts were something in the line of a Milkweed Grasshopper, but I dont know if you get different Milkweed Grasshoppers?
It was about 2cm in size.
Thanks
Signature: Robert Wienand

Milkweed Grasshopper

Hi Robert,
We agree that this appears to be a Milkweed Grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae.  It looks like an immature specimen of this unidentified species we found on iSpot.  Here is another individual, also on iSpot.  We are having trouble matching your individuals markings and striped antennae with a definite species identification. 

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Subject: Grasshopper
Location: Nepal – Himalaya
December 24, 2012 2:42 pm
Hi. Here’s another photo from my friend Skip Moss, from his recent journey to Nepal. My search for more info on this guy is painfully slow – computer/browser issues today. Thanks so much for any insights…as always!
Signature: Tracy

Coffee Locust

Hi Tracy,
This is the Coffee Locust or Spotted Grasshopper, Ausarches miliaris.   According to Western Ghats, it “Damages Coconut, arecanut, jack, plantain, tea, cocoa, rubber and many poisonous plants. When disturbed produces a white foul smelling deterrent…” The species was originally described by Linnaeus in 1758 according to the Orthoptera Species File website.

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Subject: Please identify this grasshopper.
Location: Simonstown, Cape Town
December 23, 2012 4:41 am
I came across this bug (what I think is a grasshopper of some sorts), Along Simonstown coastline. It was just sitting in the shade on one of the boulders. I took the photo with my cell phone and it made no attempt to flee even though I came pretty close to it. Is it a juvenile of some locust species?
Signature: Roland

Koppie Foam Grasshopper

Dear Roland,
This is a Koppie Foam Grasshopper, Dictyophorus spumans, and it has aposomatic or warning coloration to indicate it is poisonous or foul tasting because it feeds on milkweed.  Grasshoppers in the family Pyrgomorphidae are called Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers or Gaudy Grasshoppers.

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Subject: grasshopper?
Location: Tansen, Palpa district, Nepal
September 14, 2012 9:21 pm
I am new to this site and would like help with the little guy that I met this week (Sept 13 2012) sitting on the railing in our hospital.
Signature: Theo

Coffee Locust

Dear Theo,
This is sure an attractive Grasshopper, one of the members of the family Pyrgomorphidae, commonly called the Toxic Milkweed Grasshoppers because many members of the family feed on milkweed, storing the toxic compounds from the plants in their own bodies as a defense mechanism.  We believe we have correctly identified your individual as a member of the genus Aularches, perhaps Ausarches miliaris which we identified on the Siam Insect Zoo site, though it is the subspecies A. m. scabiosus.  Though your individual looks very similar, including the yellow banded face, there are differences, though we cannot say for certain if these are individual differences, local variations, subspecies differences or if they are in fact different species in the same genus.  The Western Ghats website calls Ausarches miliaris the Coffee Locust.

Coffee Locust

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