''Plangia'' is a genus of

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

in family

Tettigoniidae Insects in the family (biology), family Tettigoniidae are commonly called katydids (especially in North America) or bush crickets. They have previously been known as "long-horned grasshoppers". More than 8,000 species are known. Part of the subo ...

. In

Afrikaans Afrikaans is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento, Chubut, Sarmiento that speaks the Pat ...

they are generally known as ''krompokkels'', roughly meaning "little fat hunchbacks"; this name refers to their arched

dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...

profile. The genus is indigenous to

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. It includes the following species: * '' Plangia albolineata'' * '' Plangia deminuta'' * '' Plangia compressa'' * '' Plangia graminea'' * '' Plangia guttatipennis'' * '' Plangia karschi'' * '' Plangia laminifera'' * '' Plangia nebulosa'' * '' Plangia ovalifolia'' * '' Plangia segonoides'' * '' Plangia unimaculata'' * '' Plangia venata'' * '' Plangia villiersi''

Description

Typical ''Plangia'' species are moderate-sized katydids, fairly effective green leaf mimics, that lay their rather large, flattened oval eggs under bark, or in individual incisions in the edges of leaves of their food plants. They make the incisions into the leaf

parenchyma upright=1.6, Lung parenchyma showing damage due to large subpleural bullae. Parenchyma () is the bulk of functional substance in an animal organ such as the brain or lungs, or a structure such as a tumour. In zoology, it is the tissue that ...

, between, and parallel to, the

and

ventral Standard anatomical terms of location are used to describe unambiguously the anatomy of humans and other animals. The terms, typically derived from Latin or Greek roots, describe something in its standard anatomical position. This position prov ...

leaf

epidermis The epidermis is the outermost of the three layers that comprise the skin, the inner layers being the dermis and Subcutaneous tissue, hypodermis. The epidermal layer provides a barrier to infection from environmental pathogens and regulates the ...

. The

ovipositor The ovipositor is a tube-like organ used by some animals, especially insects, for the laying of eggs. In insects, an ovipositor consists of a maximum of three pairs of appendages. The details and morphology of the ovipositor vary, but typica ...

is specialised for the purpose and it has a peculiar shape rather like the curved blade of a

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

stick. In this respect, the ovipositor differs from most other katydids, that tend to have straight, sometimes very long, ovipositors. The best-known pest species is ''Plangia graminea'', a lightly built katydid; it is not of much commercial or agricultural importance, rarely worth controlling, but sometimes causes damage to foliage in vineyards and gardens.

References

Phaneropterinae Tettigoniidae genera {{tettigoniidae-stub