Variegated Grasshopper, Nigeria
A variegated grasshopper commonly known as painted grasshopper is a species of insect that belongs to the Pyrgomorphidae. This grasshopper is a native to tropical Africa and it is crop paste to central and west Africa.
Scientific name for variegated grasshopper is Zonocerus variegatus.
Description
It is very colourful to behold. It has pattern ed red, yellow, black and white body and green wings with reddish compound eyes.
In terms of size, it tends to be larger than average grasshopper.
They are herbivores and normally feed on varieties of green plants becoming pest in agriculture.
They have an offensive odour that they can release as a defense mechanism .
Common species
Common species of this grasshopper include:
Zonocerus elegans also known as elegance grasshopper.
Zonocerus variegatus also called variegated grasshopper.
The young ones(nymphs) also posses some characteristics of the adults except that they lack wings and are black with some yellow and white stripes.
Habitat
It's habitat are in West and Central Africa especially in countries like Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana, Congo, Benin and in the Sahel region. Living in bushes and eating grasses and crops.
Distinctive Behaviours
When I was a working on the farm, I observed that the female grasshopper is bigger in size than the male.
And that during mating, the male normally mount on the back of the female, because of this, they are vulnerable to attack because they cannot fly during this moment since the male is perching on the female's wings.
The female curled up her abdomen so as to meet and have contact with the male's reproductive organ called aedeagus which will release spermatophore. This took longer time for the insect to mate for sexual reproduction.
Of course, since I started working on the farm till when I left the farm, they were still mating. I spent more than 5 hours working on the farm that day.
I carefully observed that only the female will be able to crawl or walk while looking for a suitable place to mate, carrying the male around on her back .
As a source of protein
It shouldn't be a surprising thing to learn that grasshoppers are the most widely eaten insect because of it's amino sugar which helps to repair body tissues according to research, though I have not eaten it before.
This contains a high quality source of animal protein superior to that of beef and chicken according to those that have consumed it.
Chitin from these insects are very useful in medical application.
It's structure is comparable to cellulose.
The species, Zonocerus variegatus is the most widely eaten in northern Nigeria during dry seasons, where they are gathered from grasses, de-winged, salted and finally fried and eaten.
I am inviting these friends to share with us what they have observed in insects. They are:
@manuelhooks,
@ninapenda
@udyliciouz
Thank you all for reading
All pictures are Author's own except as indicated
Good photos, I like their quality. But chitin is not a protein, it is rather a shell.
Хорошие фотографии, мне нравится их качество. Но вот хитин белком не является, это скорее оболочка.
It is a biopolymer and it is not absorbed by our body.
Это биополимер и он не усваивается нашим организмом.
$upvote40%
Well, I know that it contains units of amino sugar called glucosamine that helps repair the body tissue and that's the work of protein.
It is found in the exo-skeleton of these insects.
глюкозамин можно получить из хитина, но не с помощью нашего организма.
Мы не можем перерабатывать хитин.
Хитин, к примеру, является оболочкой клеток грибов и по этой причине содержание клеток нам почти недоступно. Только если разрушить предварительно клетки гриба каким-то способом.
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A pair of grasshoppers of the species Zonocerus variegatus, also called variegated grasshoppers.
You demonstrate great observational skills and a good eye for photography, as well as extensive research, although you didn't include the sources consulted. The photos are quite good; it seems they were difficult to take. Just remember to include close-ups and wide shots in the future.
You added a video, and that's good, but I think when you recorded or edited it, the grasshoppers don't appear well; the leaves of the plants are more visible than the grasshoppers. Please be careful with that. To locate the geographic coordinates, you can use Google Maps.
Photograph:
7 photos max. Different shots; close-up, medium, context.
Research
- Common and scientific names. -Habitat. -Distinctive behaviors. -Opinion. -References.
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