Aularches miliaris is a colorful grasshopper from Pakistan, Myanmar and other South-East Asia countries, noted for ejecting a toxic foam when disturbed.[1][2]
The insect is commonly called Ghost Grasshopper, Northern Spotted Grasshopper, or Foam Grasshopper and enjoys some popularity as a pet insect. The systematic name was given by Linnaeus in 1758. It has also been named A. punctatus, A. conspersus, A. scabiosus, and A. verrucosus. [2]
The head and thorax are dark green with a canary-yellow band on the side. The tegmina are green with many yellow spots; the legs are blue, with a yellow serrated pattern on the hind femora. The abdomen is black with bright red bands. [1]
It swarms in October, the mating and egg-laying season, collecting on bushes and grasses. It is heavy and sluggish, able to make only short leaps, very visible on vegetation. [1]
When A. miliaris (of either sex) is disturbed or grabbed, it emits a sharp rasping noise from its thoracic segments. If its thorax is pinched, it also squirts a clear viscous mucus with unpleasant smell and a bitter taste, faintly alkaline, with many embedded bubbles. This foam comes out as a strong jet from apertures in the thorax, and more gently from other openings in the body (ten in total); it heaps up around the insect and partly covers it. [1]
 | This insect-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
