Subject: Strange Bug!
Location: Harare, Zimbabwe
September 22, 2013 11:16 am
Hi,
We saw this bug yesterday at around 20:00, in a house yard at Harare, Zimbabwe.
The size was about 1 cm for the body and 2 cm for the tail.
What is that???
Signature: African S.
Dear African S.,
This appears to be a member of the order Orthoptera, and it is probably a Shieldbacked Katydid. Judging by the ovipositor, it is a female. We hope by posting your photo, one of our readers may be able to assist with a species identification.
Dear Daniel Marlos,
Thank you for your quick and interesting answer!
I’ll keep following,
Yours,
Shira
Hi Shira,
One of our readers supplied a comment suggesting this might be a Blattid with an Ootheca, which translates to a Cockroach with an Egg Capsule.
Update: Septmeber 27, 2013
After receiving a few comments, we agree that this is a Cockroach, but we have not had any luck finding any similar looking images on the internet.
I believe that this may in fact be a young blattid, with the ‘tail’ being an ootheca. It is missing the saltatorial hind legs of most orthopterans.
You might be right. It would be great to have a link to a matching photo posted online.
Certainly a cockroach, although not a young one since only adults can produce oothecae. Maaaaaybe Blattellinae, although I don’t know all those zosterias very well.
Thanks Joshua. We will remove Orthoteran from subject line.
Female Cartoblatta pulchra