Dictyophorus spumans
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
Dictyophorus spumans, the koppie foam grasshopper, rooibaadjie, or African foam grasshopper, is a species of grasshopper in the family Pyrgomorphidae indigenous to southern Africa. The name "foaming grasshopper" derives from the insect's ability to produce a toxic foam from its thoracic glands. The foam is created by a combination of haemolymph with air from the grasshopper's spiracles. Its genus Dictyophorus is closely related to Phymateus.
Adult males are typically 4.5–5 cm (1.8–2.0 in) long and females typically 5–7 cm (2.0–2.8 in), but can grow up to a length of 8 cm (3.1 in). The neck shield has a warty surface, and the grasshopper's colours are highly variable but usually with at least parts that are contrasting and bright. It is toxic due to the poisons that it sequesters from its diet, which includes a large number of toxic and distasteful plants such as milkweed. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Coast National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | De Hoop Nature Reserve | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pretoria | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 2 | Cape Town | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 3 | Johannesburg | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Likely
About 40% of wildlife watchers report a Koppie Foam Grasshopper sighting in De Hoop Nature Reserve on a given day, based on 29 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 3rd most-seen of the 25 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
October
In that month about 60% of wildlife watchers report a Koppie Foam Grasshopper in De Hoop Nature Reserve on a given day, against under 5% in March, May–June and December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Koppie Foam Grasshopper sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 4
Of the 4 parks where we can rate Koppie Foam Grasshopper sightings, De Hoop Nature Reserve ranks 2nd at about 40%. The best odds are in West Coast National Park (South Africa, about 50%).
Same order: Orthoptera
The closest relatives of the Koppie Foam Grasshopper that you can see in De Hoop Nature Reserve (order Orthoptera, Grasshoppers, Crickets, and Katydids) are Garden Locust (about 20%) and Thericlesiella meridionalis (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Koppie Foam Grasshopper is recorded against all the insects logged in De Hoop Nature Reserve (29 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
