Elasmopoda valga (Elasmopoda valga)

Twig wilter Please excuse the fingers, a friend brought me this in a plastic container so I just wanted to get a few shots before I released it. Did not do this outside as they fly, plus it was really windy. What an awesome insect though! Coreidae,Coreoidea,Elasmopoda valga,Geotagged,South Africa,Spring,insects,south africa,twig wilters

Appearance

Up to 40mm long with red-banded antennae.

Twig wilter (top view) Its sitting on a pineapple. Coreidae,Coreoidea,Elasmopoda valga,Geotagged,South Africa,Spring,insects,south africa,twig wilters

Naming

Subspecies
Elasmopoda valga rufipes (Cannaviello, 1900)
Elasmopoda valga valga (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms
Cerbus affinis Herrich-Schäffer, 1840
Cimex hottentota Herbst, 1784

Distribution

South Africa, bushveld, subtropical forest, gardens and orchards

Habitat

Bushveld, subtropical forest, gardens and orchards

Food

Young shoots, seed, furits and squashes

Defense

Secretes a chemical compound from glands situated between the middle and hind legs

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://eol.org/pages/10461983/overview
http://www.ispot.org.za/node/144057?nav=search

Book: Insects of South Africa by Mike Picker, Charles Griffiths and Alan Weaving. Published by Struik Nature 2004

Taxonomy
Kingdom	Animalia
Division	Arthropoda
Class	Insecta
Order	Hemiptera
Family	Coreidae
Genus	Elasmopoda
Species	Elasmopoda valga

Photographed in
South Africa