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Project Noah Nature School
Sphenarium sp.
This colorful little cone-headed grasshopper was everywhere on plants close to the ground. I thought they were wingless nymphs until I began to find mating pairs. The third picture is a dorsal view of the females, the 4th and 5th are the male.
Shrubbery along the highway between San Cristobal de Las Casas and Tuxtla Gutierrez, km 11.5, 865 meters.
Bayucca is right, this is a grasshopper that is commonly eaten in Mexico, the last picture shows this same species fried and served with lemon and chile. The picture is not mine and the author is unknown, source: http://www.taringa.net/posts/imagenes/93.... Many other species of grasshoppers are also eaten in this way in Mexico.
I agree Juan, I tried some in a taco and they really don't taste like much of anything. The crunching of the chitin is definitely unpleasant :)
I tried these guys when I was living in Mexico. They don't have a very strong flavor; to me, they taste like potatoes chips.
On the other hand, I can understand some people find them disgusting for eating, is weird to feel little legs in your tongue.
Pyrgomorphidae, Pygromorphinae, Sphenariini, Sphenariina, Sphenarium sp.. Common food grasshopper in Mexico! And not the silliest idea to fight crop pests by collecting and eating the bugs...
Sphenarium pupurascens?? There is no reliable ino about these bugs, they were obviously eaten before being examined...
Maybe you findsome more infos.
http://orthoptera.speciesfile.org/common...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/54748182@N0...
http://www.boldsystems.org/index.php/Tax...
Spotted on Dec 26, 2013
Submitted on Jan 2, 2014
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