#1269 & 1270 - Godzilla vs GIANT VALANGA
#1269 - Valanga nigricornis - Javanese Grasshopper
Since I’ve finally posted all the species from Cue that I was able to ID, time for a few that people have asked me to ID, such as this grasshopper from the remote atoll of Ulithi, in the state of Yap in Micronesia. David V Wallace wanted to know what it was, and hoped it was widespread across the Western Pacific to improve the odds that someone would recognise it. He was half-right.
I could tell it was something in the Acrididae family, although black and yellow colour schemes are also worn by large grasshoppers in other families. That meant I could go through checklists of Micronesian Orthoptera and narrow it down. A fellow bug nut then confirmed it as a Valanga species, and the checklist only had two. Of those, only V. nigricornis has black and yellow markings this intense, although the many subspecies (found across SE Asia and into Micronesia) vary widely among themselves, and there’s strong sexual dimorphism as well.
#1270 - Valanga irregularis - Giant Hedge Grasshopper
Another photo sent to me, by a friend here in Perth. The Giant Hedge Grasshopper is Australia’s largest, with females easily up to 75mm, and occasionally up to 90.
The weird thing is seeing one down here in Perth, since they’re supposed tropical and subtropical. But I keep being sent photos of them around here for ID
I don’t have one in my collection, however, although my mother did live in Brisbane for a time, and posted me one. Unpreserved. In summer. The ungodly stench that welcomed me when I opened the box was best compared to well-rotted seafood.
Perth