Armoured ground cricket
The armoured ground cricket is a chunky, wide insect from southern Africa with sharp spikes on its back like a knight's armour. It cannot fly, so it walks everywhere. When it is attacked it has some very surprising tricks.
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Fun facts
To scare away enemies it can squirt its own bad-tasting blood from little holes in its body, up to 3 centimetres away.
After squirting, it carefully cleans itself so other crickets are not tempted to eat it.
The boys sing by rubbing body parts together to call the girls, but the girls cannot sing.
Because it cannot fly, farmers can stop it by digging a deep ditch around their field.
The boy gives the girl a little packet of food as a present when they pair up.
Most asked questions about Armoured ground cricket
?Can the armoured ground cricket bite?
Yes. Its strong jaws can give a painful nip, so it is best not to pick it up.
?Why does the armoured ground cricket squirt blood?
It is a trick to scare off enemies. Its blood tastes bad to lizards and other hunters.
?Can the armoured ground cricket fly?
No. It has no wings for flying and walks everywhere.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Acanthoplus discoidalis
- Group
- Grasshoppers and crickets
- Family
- Tettigoniidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Orthoptera > Tettigoniidae
- Lives on
- Africa
- Also known as
- Armoured katydid, Armoured bush cricket, Corn cricket
Where the facts come from
- Acanthoplus discoidalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by SoniaSoma. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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