Kingdom Animalia Class Insecta Family Tettigoniidae Rank Species | Phylum Arthropoda Order Orthoptera Genus Parasanaa | |
Parasanaa donovani is large bush-cricket found in India and various countries in Southeast Asia.
Contents
This insect has also been called Typhoptera donovani, Gryllus donovani and Capnoptera donovani. The species was described by Donovan in 1834.
Description
The adult is black with lemon-yellow patches on the thorax and tegmina.
Habits
It is found throughout August on the cactus on which it feeds. It is heavy and sluggish, generally still by day, nestled among the cactus thorns, with the front legs and the long antennae stretched forward onto the plant's surface, parallel to each other. To escape predators it would rather drop from the cactus than take flight. It is more active at night, when it feeds and moves about.
When the thorax is pinched, the insect squirts a slimy yellow fluid from two slits on the dorsal surface of the mesothorax, with a range of three to four inches. One aperture may discharge at first, and the other after the insect is pinched again. Some fluid also oozes out from other apertures over the body and legs, and also from the stumps of broken-off legs.