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Green grasshoppers popping up in gardens around Gqeberha are normal and only seasonal.
That is according to Gqeberha conservationist Mark Marshall who has been inundated with calls about swarms of grasshoppers found in different areas in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The green milkweed grasshoppers have been found as far as Jeffreys Bay, Kariega, Richmond Hill and Theescombe.
He says they are seasonal and eat toxic plants in the garden.
Marshall told Algoa FM News that the grasshoppers were very poisonous to humans, cats, dogs and birds that might ingest them.
“They are toxic to animals who consumes them because the grasshoppers are immune to the poisonous plants that they eat, but any animal that consumes them will get the poison as it congregates in their stomach," he said.
WHAT TO DO?
Asked about the excess skeletons that they leave behind Marshall says they degrade into the grass and can be left alone.
Marshall says people who have animals should take the grasshoppers into the wild.
“You can catch them by hand because they are not toxic to touch. You should just wash your hands when you are done,” he added.
