2d65c84745148bc09250d426ce795666

TitleHandsome Trig
Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/
Rating3
VettedTrusted
Description
Phyllopalpus pulchellus - Red-headed Bush Cricket, also known as the Handsome Trig. I found this crawling on a bridge railing in the sun. Length, about 7 mm. I believe this is a male. Those large palpi are something else--they look like clubs or fans.  To me, this cricket has always looked weird. The bold pattern strikes me as mimicry of something with chemical armament. Those palps are weird, too, and (aha!) I realize they remind me of beetle mandibles. The female has wings very convex, shiny, and beetle-like. Double-aha, this cricket is, perhaps, a mimic of chemically-defended ground beetles, such as the Bombardier Beetles, Brachinus.
Original URLhttp://farm5.staticflickr.com/4111/5058553599_95818658ac_o.jpg
photographerPatrick Coin
providerFlickr: EOL Images
Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith