Living on Beans

When picking beans this morning I was busily dodging the Green ants who live on the vine, doing a good job of keeping the bean fly away, when I noticed there were quite a few grasshoppers hiding on and amongst the leaves.  They are, no doubt, enjoying some nutritious fresh, green bean leaves.  I don’t usually worry too much about our vigorous bean vines but this crew may give them a bit of a beating so I’ll keep an eye on things.  I may have to resort to some relocation!  Given a chance these beans –  a Dwarf Snake Bean and a Rattlesnake Bean – will keep growing through the wet season when many other vegetables struggle, although so far we’re still producing a good supply of capsicum, eggplant, shallots  and an assortment of edible greens.

The bean leaf should give some idea of the size of this Giant Grasshopper, (Valanga irregularis).  There is a lot more information available on the Brisbane Insects site including photos of nymphs of various sizes – many of which I noticed today.

The back view, above, shows the spines on the back of the legs which they will use to defend themselves when necessary although their first defence when disturbed is to move into shadow under a leaf .   Below; caught with a mouth full of green and some conspicuous holes in the leaf nearby!