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Sticker of African cone-head
Bug card No. 0016 of 4,939

African cone-head

Conocephalus conocephalus
Eats: A bit of everythingGrasshoppers and cricketsGardens and meadows6 legs

The African cone-head is a slim bush-cricket with a pointy, cone-shaped head. It lives in Africa and in southern Europe. It is the very first cone-head that scientists named, so its whole group is named after it.

Lives in
Africa and southern Europe, including France, in grassy places
Top speed
about 3 km/h (1.9 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not sting.
What does it eat?
Cone-heads like it eat grass seeds and soft plant parts, and sometimes small insects.
For real!Photo of African cone-head
Picture by Chopard. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It was named in 1767 by Carl Linnaeus, the famous Swedish scientist who gave names to thousands of animals and plants.

2

Its whole genus, the cone-heads, uses it as the main example.

3

The first specimens Linnaeus used have been lost, but they probably came from Africa.

you asked

Most asked questions about African cone-head

?Why is it called a cone-head?

Because the front of its head is pointed, like a cone.

?Where does the African cone-head live?

In Africa and in southern Europe, including France.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Conocephalus conocephalus
Named by
Linnaeus, 1767
Group
Grasshoppers and crickets
Family
Tettigoniidae
Classification
Insecta > Orthoptera > Tettigoniidae
Lives on
Africa, Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Conocephalus conocephalus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Chopard. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this 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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