Painted Grasshopper Zonocerus variegatus

The pretty Painted Grasshopper, also called Variegated Grasshopper and Harlequin Locust, is native to most of Africa.

It is some 3-5cm long. Its bright colours tell potential predators that it is distasteful and toxic.

It is a crop pest in much of its range and, while it absorbs toxic chemicals from its plant diet, it also eats chemicals sprayed onto crops which increase its toxicity to predators.

Despite their wings, they prefer to walk or hop rather than to fly. Two other grasshoppers share its name: Z. elegans of central/southern Africa and Madagascar and Dactylotum bicolor of India.