Family: Pyrgomorphidae (gaudy grasshoppers)
Life
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Arthopoda > Mandibulata >
Atelocerata > Panhexapoda >
Hexapoda
> Insecta (insects) > Dicondyla > Pterygota >
Metapterygota > Neoptera > Polyneoptera > Anartioptera >
Orthopterida > Orthoptera > Caelifera
> Acrididea > Acridomorpha > Pyrgomorphoidea
Pyrgomorphids are usually very colourful grasshoppers, the bright colours warning
predators that they are poisonous. They occur worldwide except for north
temperate regions and Antarctica. Twenty-two genera and 39 species are
native to southern Africa.
Genera native to southern Africa
List from
Orthoptera Species
File. These genera all fall in the broadly distributed subfamily
Pyrgomorphinae. The other subfamily, Orthacridinae, is more patchily distributed
and does not occur in the subregion.
Afrosphenella
Two species, Afrosphenella capensis and
Afrosphenella
senecionicola, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Atractomorpha
Twenty-seven species, distributed through Africa, Madagascar, Asia and
Australia. One species, Atractomorpha acutipennis, is native to
southern Africa. |
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Carinisphena
One species, Carinisphena producta, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Chirindites
One species, Chirindites odendaali, endemic to southern Africa
(Zimbabwe). |
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Chrotogonus
Ten species, distributed through Africa and Asia. One species,
Chrotogonus hemipterus, is native to southern Africa. |
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Dictyophorus
An African genus of four species. Two species,
Dictyophorus griseus
and Dictyophorus spumans, are native to southern Africa. |
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Maura
Four species, occurring in Africa south of the Sahara. Two species,
Maura
marshalli and Maura rubroornata, are native to southern Africa. |
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Ochrophlebia
One species, Ochrophlebia cafra, occuring in southern Africa and
Angola. |
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Ochrophlegma
Three species, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Parasphenella
Four species, occurring in southern Africa and East Africa. Two species,
Parasphenella carinata and
Parasphenella meridionalis, are native
to southern Africa. |
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Pezotagasta
Two species, occurring in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia and Malawi.
One species, Pezotagasta bredoi, is native to southern Africa. |
|
Phymateus
Twelve species, with a distribution that includes Africa, Madagascar and
China. Five species are native to southern Africa. |
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Phymella
One species, Phymella capensis, endemic to southern Africa. |
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Phyteumas
Three species, occurring in Africa south of the Sahara. One species,
Phyteumas whellani, is native to southern Africa. |
|
Plerisca
Three species with a distribution that includes southern Africa and the
Indian subcontinent. Two species, Plerisca peringueyi and
Plerisca
rubripennulis, are native to southern Africa. |
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Punctisphena
One species, Punctisphena pustulata, endemic to southern Africa
(Zimbabwe). |
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Pyrgomorpha
Twenty species, with a distribution that includes Africa, southern Europe
and Asia. Three species are native to southern Africa. |
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Stenoscepa
Twelve species, occurring mainly in East Africa but with two species,
Stenoscepa gracilis and
Stenoscepa picticeps, native to
southern Africa. |
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Tanita
An African genus of nine species, with two species,
Tanita lineaalba
and Tanita purpurea, native to southern Africa. |
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Tanitella
Two species, Tanitella prasina and
Tanitella sanderi, endemic
to southern Africa. |
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Taphronota
An African genus of eight species, with two species,
Taphronota
calliparea and Taphronota stali, native to southern Africa. |
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Zonocerus
Two species, occurring in Africa, Madagascar and Romania, with one species,
Zonocerus elegans, native to southern Africa. |
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References
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