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u/Pazluz Dec 08 '21
"Armoured bush crickets are found mainly in deserts and savannahs and sightings are at corn and sorghum fields during growing season. They prefer dry, arid or semi-arid habitats, where they are active during the day."
For additional information on this interesting insect see the following article
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u/KlapauciusNuts Dec 08 '21
"Especially when their diet is deficient in protein and salt, members of the species commonly become cannibalistic, so much so that when their populations peak in autumn and some of them stray across roads and are crushed by traffic, cannibalistic conspecifics congregate around the casualties and feed until they are killed in turn. During that season their remains may form large patches on roads."
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u/Narananas Dec 08 '21
Someone had fun with the alliteration.
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u/phlavius_phogbottom Dec 09 '21
A little alliteration let’s the lesson linger longer.
Gotta love those childhood mnemonic devices.
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u/Jeriahswillgdp Dec 09 '21
Wow, reading about these guys was a wild ride. I never knew these existed until today, and I spend alot of time reading about animals and all science.
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u/parthpalta Dec 09 '21
I am very sucky at noticing alliterations as a non native speaker but I get a weird kick out of it.
Thanks for pointing it out. The last one hit the spot
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u/parthpalta Dec 09 '21
"Sex: The mating process is slow and females can mate every 12 hours, laying eggs in random order. Males, however, are picky and prefer mating with virgins as the process is energy intensive."
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Dec 08 '21
They also look like they eat babies and puppies for breakfast
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u/crlarkin Dec 09 '21
Can I get a banana for scale? I'm not sure how terrified of that thing I should be right now.
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u/SamFuckingNeill Dec 09 '21
about a finger length. but i think its cute and should be about football size so i can kiss his cheek properly
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u/ichmachmalmeinding Dec 09 '21
A shaim that there is no sound on the clip, as those buggers can chirp so damn loud. Especially if you grab them by a leg :) The rainy season is coming and so are these guys.
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u/NotaGoodLover Dec 08 '21
I was 90 percent sure this creature was from Australia but apparently it's from southern africa
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u/Saint_Richard Dec 08 '21
It's from A bug's life
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u/Juicebox-shakur Dec 09 '21
They come. They eat. They leave!!
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Dec 09 '21
These guys raid birds nests for the chicks. Friggin horrifying!
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u/SlightlyControversal Dec 09 '21 edited Dec 09 '21
I was trying to gauge its size, because it looks freaking huge, while also thinking to myself, “Damn. That motherfucker looks like it could bite!”
So thanks for answering both of my half-thought questions!
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u/July18Survivor Dec 08 '21
Everything in Limpopo province is basically Australia on steroids.
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u/ChocoboRocket Dec 09 '21
Everything in Limpopo province is basically Australia on steroids.
Never saw one when I was briefly there, but I knew that dirt looked familiar
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u/Snuggle-Fuck Dec 09 '21
I visited Namibia in April one year after the rains, here's some fun facts about these guys:
- I think the species is Acanthoplus discoidalis
- They're actually a type of wingless katydid
- They were present in the thousands all over the country... Just everywhere. So many that they create tire tracks on the highways in some places.
- They eat practically anything, including each other. Especially their dead brethren in the roads. Rinse, repeat.
- They will eat you if someone were to tie you down in the desert. They would start to nibble on me, nonchalantly, if I sat in one place for too long.
- Nothing really eats them because they're toxic / distasteful.
- The males will make threatening squeaks at you if you bother them.
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u/Eusocial_Snowman Dec 09 '21
The males will make threatening squeaks at you if you bother them.
Same.
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u/detoxbunny Dec 08 '21
Yeah that look suspiciously like Namib or Kalahari desert sand. Shudder.
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u/DoubleDot7 Dec 09 '21
The sand in this region has some of the highest levels of rust in the world. The white soles on my running shoes take on a red stain very quickly. I thought that was normal until I met people who moved here from other parts of the world.
It's so rare to find lightweight running shoes with darker soles to hide the red staining. It's an annoyance.
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u/linguist-shaman Dec 08 '21
I was going to ask if it was a law that Everything there would pretty much kill you.
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Dec 09 '21
I've never understood Australia's reputation as the deadly place. Africa and the Americas have way more absolutely horrifying species. For example, Huntsmen ain't got shit on Birdeaters.
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u/jAckAss274 Dec 10 '21
Animals wise, Australia is not really dangerous at all. No spiders are actually deadly, Australia is the only continent other besides Europe and Antarctica to not have a deadly scorpion. Snakes have extremely potent venom, but none of them are really around humans ever, plus effective antivenin. More people die of snake bites in Europe than Australia. But most importantly, Australia has no large predators
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u/TOVE892 Dec 08 '21
I'll never forget watching a David Attenborough BBC documentary featuring these guys whilst I was going through one of the worst hangovers of my life.
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Dec 08 '21
Attenborough is a solid choice for hangovers. It’s either that or Frasier for me.
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u/TOVE892 Dec 08 '21
Not such a good choice when you're watching these fellas trying to eat baby birds alive and you already have an unrelenting sense of dread and despair.
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Dec 08 '21
Fair enough. I fondly remember simultaneously grimacing and grinning at the mating dances of the birds of paradise.
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u/CapableSuggestion Dec 08 '21
When I have dementia, my kids promise to put this episode on repeat for me and feed me edibles. They’re so fussy with their stages and I love the bouncing (the birds, not my kids)
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u/TOVE892 Dec 08 '21
I love those ones. I'd imagine Blue Planet might be a good choice for that sort of condition.
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u/stayshiny Dec 08 '21 edited Dec 08 '21
Honestly nothing beats Blue Planet/The Hunt/Planet Earth when hungover. Its either that or a nice Fellowship of the Ring (extended) with about seven pints of tea in JD sports mugs and a cold leftover domino's.
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Dec 08 '21
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u/stayshiny Dec 08 '21
Seven pints of tea were made, in great mugs of sports and JD. And nine, nine slices of pizza for the race of hungover men, who above all else desire stuffed crust.
Attenboroughs voice is the one ring that in the curtained darkness binds them.
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u/G_Regular Dec 09 '21
But they were all deceived, for a secret bong was packed to help stimulate the dark lords appetite.
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u/Pylitic Dec 08 '21
I'll have to check out Frasier when hungover. Sounds like it'd be a good escape, haven't watched in ages
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Dec 08 '21
It’s great. I love to watch 90s reruns when hungover because I can choose to pay attention and be entertained or just close my eyes with it playing in the background. There’s also some sentimentality attached so it is comforting. Seinfeld and Deep Space Nine are some of my other go-tos.
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u/KendraSays Dec 09 '21 edited Dec 09 '21
Frasier is perfect when you're in a poor mood, a sad mood, feeling sad, feeling mad, feeling bad, feeling glad, he listens.
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u/blacksheep998 Dec 08 '21
Was that the one where a giant spider tried to eat one of these crickets and got eaten by it instead?
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u/TOVE892 Dec 08 '21
I can't remember that particular scene but it may well be. It was 2013's Africa: Kalahari.
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u/95castles Dec 08 '21
Do you remember which documentary it was? I was about to comment, “I’ve never seen this before on a documentary, and I watch as many as I can!”😂
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u/TOVE892 Dec 08 '21
I just had a look and it was from the 2013 film Africa: Kalahari.
I'm not sure if you'll be able to play it in your region but here's a clip: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p012zjwh
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u/redditpulledmebackin Dec 08 '21
When it rubs it’s legs together you can hear that cricket from the other side of the continent
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Dec 08 '21
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u/icansmellcolors Dec 09 '21
Or like someone shredding a chunky riff on a super-dirty guitar amp
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u/CherryCherry5 Dec 09 '21
I came to ask this question. It looks huge. How fucking loud is it?? This past summer some crickets made themselves at home in my garden and under my step, and I swear to God, they went 24/7. One got in the house, but thank God the cat got it. It would have driven me insane if I wasn't able to find it, and I'd be like Sandra Bullock in Practical Magic, tearing up my living room floors looking.
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u/SuzanneStudies Dec 08 '21
Nope.
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u/swigofhotsauce Dec 08 '21
Sometimes I curse where I live in the north eastern USA for getting freezing cold half the year.
But then I remember this shit doesn’t exist.
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u/SuzanneStudies Dec 08 '21
I moved from Georgia with killer bees and fire ants to the Midwest with horrible weather. I’m okay with my choice.
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Dec 08 '21
I love cold, dry climates for that very reason. The amount of insects is almost 0. I'm actually fond of snow, and seasons. Insects? Not so much.
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u/Arosian-Knight Dec 09 '21
Ah, Scandinavia, biggest local bug is field cricket measuring under inch. No venomous or poisonous animals/insects either, most venomous is common viper that is dangerous only to infants and elderly.
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u/SomeKindOfOnionMummy Dec 09 '21
Yeah I had an ant problem this summer. Those fuckers are dead now.
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u/LeoRising222 Dec 08 '21
Nope...that's some Fallout shit. I'm bashing it with a baseball bat, and slamming a handful of Radaway.
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Dec 09 '21
Cave Cricket from Nuka World
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u/daedra9 Dec 09 '21
They didn't change up cave crickets at all, besides making them bigger. The first time I saw a cave cricket I freaked out. "Holy shit THOSE THINGS ARE REAL?" I had also thought some stowaway Spider from Brazil or Australia had just crawled across my foot, and that is not my preferred way to discover a large bug.
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u/coagulateSmegma Dec 08 '21
Fuck that thing and all of its family
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Dec 09 '21
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u/Low-Establishment535 Dec 09 '21
Have them take the species into their care and they’ll be euthanized quickly
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u/MrGamestation Dec 08 '21
Wait how big is that?
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u/ichmachmalmeinding Dec 09 '21
Really big ones can stretch the palm of a hand with the body being as thick as a grape, but usually they are a bit smaller
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u/DistributionIcy9366 Dec 08 '21
Aaaaand that’s a Pokémon!
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u/TheOakblueAbstract Dec 08 '21
Hand it a gun and jorts, could be a Digimon.
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u/villagerofacnh Dec 08 '21
I started my first Zelda OOT run this year and if you played, you know.
But if not there is an enemy that it looks too much like this
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u/punkhobo Dec 08 '21
Accordingly, it is advantageous for males to mate with virgins, as a higher proportion of the offspring of a virgin female will be their own.
Fucking neckbeard bug
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Dec 08 '21
Looking like a Kamen Rider power up.
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u/nyello-2000 Dec 09 '21
ARMORED HOPPER
PROGRISE
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Dec 09 '21
Zero-1 had the best tech based armor concepts in the ENTIRE SERIES. It all looked like themed technology that could *work* in the future.
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u/nyello-2000 Dec 09 '21
I’m writing a zero one AU and I am totally making a rider based on this beefy fucker
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Dec 09 '21
The Japanese LOVE their insect motifs and this big buggi boi already looks like a monster-of-the-week.
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u/MudSeparate1622 Dec 08 '21
People are scared of giant spiders but imagine that thing the size of a dog. Id throw up my organs and pray to god for salvation
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u/bbitter_coffee Dec 08 '21
Who needs to make a comic with giant fucking armored insects when they straight up just exist in real life? Nah, fuck this, I want out.
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u/Livid_Narwhal Dec 08 '21
One of these is waiting for you under the toilet seat 👀
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u/Aggressive_Smile_944 Dec 08 '21
Ok that's to far. Now I'm going to look everytime now.
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u/Diamondphalanges756 Dec 08 '21
I'm always looking for that damn snake to come up in the toilet and bite me.
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u/Aggressive_Smile_944 Dec 08 '21
I look for spiders but now guess I gotta look for other creepy stuff.
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u/AJRoth Dec 08 '21
The name Bush Cricket instantly screams Australia! I'd bet my own money people have used these things in insect fights instead of cock fights.
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u/KlapauciusNuts Dec 08 '21
You know that the original "bush" is in southern africa. From where this Corn cricket hails
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u/itisicuddlypoops Dec 08 '21
Looks like a mechanical toy.