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Gaudy Grasshopper
Poekilocerus pictus
15.3173, 75.7139
Field Notes
Description:
Colourful grasshopper... canary yellow and turquoise stripes on its body...yes, almost gaudy. You can see the Crown flower host in the second shot.
It also attacks crop plants so farmers call it a pest...to my eyes it is beautiful. I first saw one on Project Noah...and now I have seen one for myself.
Habitat:
On a Crown flower (Calotropis gigantea) plant in the parking lot of a small diner on the Highway from Bengaluru to Hampi in Karnataka, India. We had stopped here for breakfast. I knew Crown plants are hosts to caterpillars and went looking.
Notes:
Exotic pest:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8322141.stm
Apparently nymphs can squirt a toxic liquid to deter predators. Feeding on the Calotropis plants helps them to sequester the toxin. The liquid contains Cardiac glycosides. These are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and decrease its rate of contraction.
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