Bug found in Kruger National Park
July 10, 2010
Last February my girlfriend and I spend 5 days driving around in Kruger National Park and found this fellow sitting on a trunk next to our cabin in Satara Restcamp. I know for a fact they are preyed upon by Yellow-billed Hornbills as I saw one trying to swallow on whole. They are about 50mm in length and width and are equipped with preying mantis like frontal pincers. No idea what they are, even after trying to find them online. Could you guys help?
J.W. Smienk
Kruger National Park (South Africa)
Dear J.W.,
This looks to us like the exuvia, or sloughed off larval skin, of a Cicada. The immature Cicada lives underground feeding from plant roots. When it is ready to metamorphose, it digs to the surface and molts for the final time. The Exuvia or cast off exoskeleton is left behind when the adult Cicada flies away.