Colossopus grandidieri

Colossopus grandidieri
In Parc Mosa, Ifaty, Madagascar
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Orthoptera
Suborder:	Ensifera
Family:	Tettigoniidae
Subfamily:	Conocephalinae
Tribe:	Euconchophorini
Genus:	Colossopus
Species:	C. grandidieri
Binomial name
Colossopus grandidieri Saussure, 1899

Colossopus grandidieri ^[1] is a nocturnal bush cricket endemic to southwestern Madagascar. ^[2] C. grandidieri appears to be omnivorous and is the only member of its genus that has been bred successfully in captivity, with a diet including leaves, fruit, living and dead insects, and processed food including dog food and fish flakes.

Description

The pale brown, cigar-shaped eggs are deposited singly in soil, measuring only 6 mm when laid and swelling in size as they develop over three months to a year. Females lay 150 to 200 eggs in a lifetime. Adult females and males have similar coloration, except that the labrum ("upper lip") is orange-red in females and yellow-orange in males. When confronted, adults rear up on their hind legs, spread their forelegs, and open their mandibles in a defensive posture. Adult males make a shrill noise when in this position, and adult females do not make a sound. If the disturbing organism approaches, C. grandidieri attempts to grab it with the forelegs and bite it with the jaws. ^[3]

References

1. Saussure HLF (1899) Abh. Senckenb. Natforsch. Ges. 21: 628.
2. "Colossopus grandidieri". iNaturalist. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
3. ÜNAL, MUSTAFA; BECCALONI, GEORGE W. (2017-10-31). "Revision of the Madagascan genera Oncodopus Brongniart and Colossopus Saussure (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae; Euconchophorini), with description of Malagasopus gen. nov" . Zootaxa. 4341 (2): 193. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4341.2.2. ISSN   1175-5334.