Corn or Armoured Crickets (Acanthoplus discoidalis) are not true crickets, but instead are flightless grasshoppers in the katydid family (Tettigoniidae). They are native to southern Africa. Acanthoplus discoidalis is a wide-bodied species with very long antennae, a spiny pronotum (thorax) and powerful jaws, and remind me of aliens in science fiction movies. They are omnivorous, and eat a variety of plant matter, as well as protein that includes other Armoured Crickets killed on roads when their populations peak in autumn. When attacked both sexes will attempt to bite, and sometimes squirt their attacker with their possibly toxic yellow blood (called haemolymph). The haemolymph is distasteful, an may contain toxins from plants in their diet. This Armoured Cricket was crossing the H1-9 Road north of Pafuri in Kruger National Park.