Armored Ground Cricket vs Queen Butterfly

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Armored Ground Cricket Queen Butterfly
Scientific Name Acanthoplus discoidalis Danaus gilippus
Order Orthoptera Lepidoptera
Family Tettigoniidae Nymphalidae
Size 40-50mm 67-78 mm wingspan
Habitat Deserts & Drylands Deserts & Drylands
Diet Carrion Feeders Herbivores
Regions Africa Southern USA, Central and South America
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Armored Ground Cricket

A large heavily armored katydid with sharp spines on its thorax and legs. It is flightless and moves in large migratory bands. When threatened, it can squirt hemolymph from its joints.

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Did You Know?

Individuals in marching bands become cannibalistic, and those that stop moving are eaten by those behind them.

Queen Butterfly

A close relative of the Monarch butterfly with similar orange coloring but darker. Found across the Americas. Like the Monarch, it sequesters toxic cardenolides from milkweed.

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Did You Know?

A close cousin of the Monarch that is equally toxic but does not undertake the same famous migration.