south african wild life II: Phymateus Leprosus
picture was taken by M.R. (just keyed by me), therefore she maybe helds copyright
Nice african bushhopper, looks rather created by Japanese Manga designer, than a creation of nature. The size was a few centimeters. The picture was taken Dec’06 in Noetzie / Knysna Castle (located here)
For someone like me, grown up with that what civilization has left over from German nature, this nice Caelifera (Kurzfühlerschrecken) looks like a freak of nature. If you see them, it is not too hard to imagine, that they were the main actors of one of the plagues, mentioned in the splatter stories of the old testament (אַרְבֶּה / Exodus 10:1-20).
If you think it is a yucky creature, I will oppose Cmdr. Spock’s most famoust quote: “Fascinating!”
To be complete I also provide a pic of his German colleague:
by the way size was comparable, picture was taken summer’00, Bergisches Land / Germany
References:
- What’s that bug (Grasshoper page), scroll to middle of page for Phymateus Leprosus
- Wikipedia: Grasshoper, go to gallery section, look for African bushhopper
- Ingrids Welt: Noetzie, a really nice travellogue!
- Google Maps, showing up where picture was taken