Dactylotum bicolor variegatum ‘western rainbow grasshopper’ nymph
The intense colors are aposematic as these grasshoppers eat Baccharis wrightii.
B. wrightii is quite toxic, containing macrolytic trichothecenes and cardiotoxic saponins and sequester these chemicals- most animals that actually eat one of these grasshoppers will go into cardiac arrest.
Even ruminants like cattle and goats cant handle these toxins and tend to avoid browsing on Baccharis, as these chemicals are known to interfere with the rumen, causing whatever they eat to spoil inside them rather than be digested, as well as causing paralysis and other nasty effects.
Cattle from baccharis-free regions often poison themselves- having no exposure to these plants, they see a lush green bush and assume it’s good eating.
