Thorny Tree Hopper
Oxyrachis tarandus ?
Observed on stems of Calliandra calothyrsus at Kitale, Kenya, December 2012. On the pronotum there are two lateral spine-like projections and also a long narrow dorsal spine extending to the posterior.
Calliandra calothyrsus has been promoted and widely planted for use as forage crop in Kenya and elsewhere in tropical Africa. It is a large leguminous shrub or small tree originally from tropical America; it fixes nitrogen and is pallatable to livestock. This tree hopper was found feeding on several of the plants in a Kitale demonstration garden. Normally, exotic plants are relatively free of herbivorous insects - this hopper can probably found on related legumes in Kenya's natural habitats. These bugs feed with piercing type mouthparts which penetrate into the stems to withdraw sap.